Day 4 - Poperinge to Gent

Currently I am in the Tyne Cot cemetery museum, I am the only person here which is quite surprising as it is chucking down outside.  Tyne Cot is the largest Commonwealth Cemetery in the world with about 12000 soldiers buried here.  I will look outside and pay my respects once I finish this.

The day started a muggy cloudy 23C, but is now raining and 17C.  I had a leisurely breakfast chatting to Graham, his father and his father in law, and being thourghly spoilt by Jenny, the warden, who insisted on making me a pot of tea and giving me her jam, cheese etc.

After a quick tour of the The Talbot House Museum I headed to Ypres (Ieper), on the way I visited a few British Cemeteries including the Essex Farm Cemetery where John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields". Ypres is a lovely small city which was flattened in the War but has now been completely restored to how it was before. It is where tens of thousands headed to the Western Front, passing through the Menin Gate which now bears the names of 55000 Commonwealth Soldiers who were lost in the trenches and have no graves. From there I headed here and I plan to end up in Gent depending on the weather.

1.30am
I made it to Gent, another 70k of cycling through the rain and into a wind.

In some ways cycling in Belgium is similar to Holland. There are loads of cycle paths, and you must use them when they are there. As I found out if you don´t the car drivers are quick to blow their horn at you, however, in towns {where there are no cycle paths the cars never cut you up}. Loads of people cycle mostly very bably on rickity bikes and no one wears a helmet apart from the roadies.

And in some ways Belgium reminds me of France - in that every shop seems to be shut and the odd cafe or bar that is open will not serve food. I found this today and survived the day on a packet of fig rolls, a coke, a fanta, a waffle, 2 bars of choclate and a coffee - hardly the best diet in the world!

It was 8.30pm when I arrived in Gent and by the time I found a hotel and washed everything {including those underpants} it was 10pm before I wandered into town for a pizza and a couple of beers in Cafe den Turk which is the oldest pub in Gent, and a good one as well. I have just walked back to my hotel in the early hours of the morn and noticed a few pretty young ladies relaxing on sofas in shop windows waving at me. Blimey - I thought they could get in all kinds of trouble dressed like that!!!

I hope to view the real sights of Gent tomorrow before I head to Leuven - the beer capital of Belgium, now there´s a claim.

Today´s stats
Distance 112.75k
Climb 256m i.e. pan flat
Riding time 5:22:37
Average speed 20.90kph
Total time 10:15