I didn’t have the best of sleep last night. I must have been too excited for my ride to Vogenee! We were greeted by the distant sounds of roaring engines as we emerged from the van this morning.There was a motorbike event at the campsite! There were about 50 bikes parked up at the entrance and they were all tucking into croissants and coffee. We got ready and left just before the fleet of bikes set off.

We made our way out of the town up a “masterblaster” of a hill. This is Dad’s term for tricky or difficult haha! Just after Dad turned round, I encountered my first tricky road surface. The track was rocky, bumpy and up quite a “masterblaster” of a hill (see VIDEO 1). As you can hear from the video…I’m struggling a little! I put my GoPro on my helmet today…I prefer the view and you can hear me better!

I trusted my Google maps as usual and the route it had mapped out took me in a loop to my destination. I quickly discovered the reason was because it was a National Cycle route. The routes I went on today were superb. Smooth tarmac, excellent signposting and fabulous Belgian countryside were the main features. Check out VIDEO 2! You can see me cruising along these lovely lanes.

I stayed on the National cycle route for most of the ride. However, as I approached the next campsite, I made my way onto some quiet roads. Check out VIDEO 3 to see me speeding my way into (Theo) Walcourt, which is the next village over from Vogenee. There was a nasty hill in Walcourt …I caught this on camera (VIDEO 4) as well…please ignore my swear word…it was a toughie of a hill!

Once I climbed the tricky hill in Walcourt, I pedalled the last few miles to Vogenee. Check out VIDEO 5 for my arrival at the campsite! I cycled 35km in 1hr 45mins so I was feeling pretty happy. It was one of the most enjoyable rides I’ve done on the trip. I’ve also clocked up 500 miles!!! A quarter of the way to Rome! My legs and hip are still plodding along nicely. I get stiff and achy in the evening but I’m normally feeling refreshed by the morning. My sister arrives tomorrow! Looking forward to seeing her!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOTjcSZdljw