Leaving Belgium and the Ardennes for Metz and Lorraine in France

The good weather finally broke this evening with an almighty thunderstorm here in the City of Metz, Lorraine, in north-east France.  Luckily, Bob and Mark had arrived half an hour earlier and thereby escaped the deluge - if not the sunburn of the day's cycling.

With almost 80 miles covered today, after the noise of Florenville's early morning disco, the boys escaped to the silence of Villers-devant-Orval and its two abbeys.  

 

Abbaye d'Orval

Soon after midday they left Belgium for the final time and headed south-east into France and Lorraine - one of the country's 'lost' regions following the Franco-Prussian War in the 1880's (not a lot of people know that).

This is a sparsely populated agricultural area and the villages and small towns often have no shop or bar.  Banks and hairdressers of course, but in Mercy-le-Bas there was no mercy on offer in the form of cold drinks.  Somewhere after Landres Bob sustained a slow puncture in his rear tyre, fixed outside the Boulangerie-Cafe in St Privat-la-Montagne.  The baker took pity on the dynamic duo and as he closed up shop at 7pm, gave them each a fully filled baguette.  Great 3 mile downhill section into Metz and once inside their two star hotel, Bob and Mark tucked into their freebie meal.  Well, very little helps!

Bob mends a puncture

Day 7: Rocroi in France via the Ardennes to Florenville and a final night in Belgium

Our breakfast was the typical bread and jam affair at the hotel: you don't expect much more for 6 Euros.  Thereafter, the real slog through the Ardennes began although following the Sousse river valley provided some level of respite.

Back in Belgium and the province of Namur, Bob and Mark took a short stop in the beautiful riverside village of Bohan-sur-Semois before continuing on through the Ardennnes.  Another return into France and then the Luxembourg province of Belgium with a fabulous 'do before you die' 5 mile downhill run into the town of Bouillon.  A sort of Blackpool on the river with temperatures back in the 30's, the boys only stopped for a quick late lunch.

And finally, to Florenville, a border town where the celebrations for Independence Day were in full swing.  As a consequence, our final night in Belgium was heralded with a firework display at 11pm, followed by an outdoor disco that went on until 2am!  Not what you desire when the hotel room backs onto the auditorium and you have to have the windows wide open because temperatures are roasting.

Bouillon (AKA Blackpool on the River) 

Day 6: Anonynous autoroute hotel near Mons, via Chimay to Rocroi in France

Bob and Mark cycled back into France this evening and are staying at a one star hotel in the Ardennes' Departement village of Rocroi - a 16th Century fortified place with a star shaped design.  Fairly basic hotel, but not bad for 56 Euros.

Escape from the cheap and not so cheerful motorway hotel couldn't come sooner, but there were no cafes serving breakfast in the market town of Binches - just all manner of birds for sale in cages and the locals sipping beer at 10am.  A coffee each was secured in nearby Thuin where the landlord supplied a map of local cycle routes.  For almost 20 miles the boys were then able to avoid the traffic by cycling along the largely gradient free former railway line.

Highlight of the day was the town of Chimay, renowned for its Abbey, Trappist Ales and this weekend's motorcycle racing which meant Bob and Mark were forced to endure a 10 mile diversion.  Nevertheless, the Queen Mary British themed pub was a real find, complete with Chimay beer on draft and Croque Monsieur (that's cheese and ham on toast for the unitiated) as a very late brunch at 4pm!

Bob outside the preserved Tram Railway in Thuin 

Day 5: Ypres to an anonymous hotel near Mons via the Silly brewery

Bob and Mark ate at the Istanbul kebab house in Ypres last night - it being somewhat appropriate.  Not the best of night's sleep thanks to the early morning scaffolding erectors, but breakfast at the Old Tom was sufficiently continental.

After a photocall at the Menin Gate, the boys crossed backwards and forwards over the Belgium/France border, before skirting the city of Lille and heading for Mons.  In the heat of late afternoon (temperatures in the low 30's again today) a slight diversion to the town of Silly and its brewery caused Mark to fall off his bike (before imbibing!) thanks to a photo opportunity at the Silly sign.  No puns please!

Unfortunately, there were no hotels in journeys end, the town of Soignies or in Le Roeulx,  forcing Bob and Mark to cycle still further to a motorway combined service area and its budget hotel.  Not sure that the sound of motorway traffic through the wide open bedroom window is how we envisaged Belgium during the planning stage.

Mark outside the Silly Brewery - after falling off his bike!

Day 4: Steve crashes out; Bob crashes; and Last Post at the Menin Gate 

This Thursday morning Bob and Mark said goodbye to Steve 'Bungo' Broatch at Dover Priory train station, leaving just the less than dynamic duo to cross the channel by ferry.  Foggy all the way and having docked at Dunkirk, the mist followed us inland for the first two hours.  At least the cycling was easy on this flat terrain and come 3.30pm the boys had crossed the border from France into Belgium.  The original plan had been to stop at Bruges this evening, but after the past three days' genuinely gruelling cycling, Bob and Mark have decided to take a more direct route to Istanbul.  And then disaster struck!

Heading into the town of Poperinge in West Flanders, Bobs Dawes Galaxy road bike caught some loose tarmac on the cycleway and he skidded against a wall.  A trickle of blood down his right leg looked bad, more so the immediate swelling on his shin.  It had the hallmark of a fracture, but thankfully that wasn't the case.  And two small beers in the town's Good Beer Guide recommended Café de la Paix did the trick of recovery.

Before 7pm and the boys were checked in at the Old Tom two star hotel on the Grote Markt in the very centre of Ypres.  This meant they were able to witness at the Menin Gate (with hundreds of others tourists) a service of remembrance.  Buglers sounded the Last Post amidst the marble walls on which are inscribed the names of the 54,896 allied soldiers whose bodies were never found in the immediate area during and after the First World War.  This was especially poignant in the 99th year after that terrible conflict began.

Bob and Mark cross the border from France into Belgium.

Day 3 and Bob, Steve and Mark have arrived in Dover on the English coast after covering more than 230 miles since they left the West Midlands Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull on Wednesday morning.  And due to the current heatwave, it's been a gruelling bike ride to date, with temperatures hitting 34 degrees centigrade on both Monday and Tuesday!  This meant that despite early starts on Days 2 (in Abingdon, Oxfordshire) and 3 (Redhill in Surrey) the boys have not checked into their B&B's until after 9pm in the evening.

At the Marie Curie Hospice the send-off was headed by Shirley Lions President Gillian Conlon, Lions Martin Conlon and Ken Barker and from the fundraising team, Tracey Finnegan and Rachel Nash.  And as a result of Andy Gregory's kind mention on Facebook, retired cop Paul Mann was also present and joined us for the first hour's cycling as far as Lapworth.

Day 1 then took the team via Stratford-upon-Avon to Shipston-on-Stour, the outskirts of Oxford and eventually Abingdon where the team check-in just as it was getting dark.  And as previously arranged, Paul (Robbo) Robinson left the team and returned home on the morning of Day 2.  After Abingdon the boys crossed the River Thames several times before hitting Henley-on-Thames (great tea-shop at Maison Blanc), Ascot, lunch at The Four Horseshoes near Chobham (34 degrees centigrade), Leatherhead and via Box Hill and the Olympic Road Race Route to Reigate and finally Redhill where they spent the night. 

 Robbo leaves the posse at Abingdon, as arranged

Day 3 began in Redhill and headed east into Kent and Royal Tunbridge Wells.  East Sussex was visited with a pint at the 15th Century Elephant's Head, before a hard climb up to Goudhurst in Kent.  Despite a sea breeze providing some comfort after Lamberhurst, it was a hard slog to Hythe, Folkestone and finally Dover after more than 80 miles in a single day.

A new adventure .... Istanbul or Bust

This is just a short post to start us off ......

At 1100hrs, on Monday 15th July 2012, we're setting off for Istanbul on our trusty bikes ....... and cycling the 2,100 miles to raise money for the Marie Curie (West Midlands)  Hospice, Solihull.

Gillian Conlon, Chair of the Shirley Lions Club and Marie Curie staff members will be waving us off on our trip.

Over the next few weeks we will be making our way across Europe, and following the River Danube for a considerable stretch of the 2,100 miles journey.  We are aiming to raise at least £10,000 on this trip.

Participating this year will be Mark Stokes, Bob Tench, Paul Robinson and Steve Broatch ....

Keep checking in on this blog for regular updates and progress along the way - Many thanks!

President of Shirley Lions Club, Gillian Conlon, wishes Steve, Mark and Bob good luck as they set off from the West Midlands Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull.