May 31, 2017: The Walloon region offered some minor hills and fantastic weather


170km, 6h27, 932hm

I made a loop with my GPS today of 170 km which took me through four provinces and two areas: Flanders and Wallonie, the provinces of Limburg, Vlaams Brabant, Liege and Namur.


I left home around 8.30, with a programmed return at 17.00


Yet another cloudless day, will sure be hot


Early morning a bit chilly with wind jacket on



These lands are very flat, not to be compared with Central Europe


Rarely the weather is so good


People selling strawberries down the road


I passed the city of Tienen, which was full of cobbles


First 30+ in the pocket


Cycling infrastructure in Belgium is a lot better than in Czech republic, with designated lights


My GPS offered a series of lanes which I had never seen before, only for cyclists


All of the sudden, I found myself in French speaking territory




A section of long cycling trails made the mileage increase 


There was a constant incline of 1-2% and soon I was above 100 meters


Some goofy pics during my time on the bike trail



The cycling roads of Wallonia are indicated better than Flanders


It was just a very zen ride without too much stress


Little tunnel


It is a beautiful day!





At some point the cycling paths finished and the route continued along normal roads, again with minor ascent.


Pays des Vallées


I dropped my jacket


Cycling is such a relaxing therapy


Awesome bike


In the direction of Namur


Europe is full of churches; the the smallest little town



When I landed back on the cycling trails, I knew I was heading back home.


Where I had the ascent before, it was now going downhill. 


Highest point of the day was 196 meters, I never made it to 200


Navigating along a multitude of fields



I had a modest lunch break during which I relaxed; charged up devices; ate fruits and thought a lot. I sat down exactly 25 minutes and hit the road again at 12.50 with 70km left.


Just like the sign indicates: 70km left


For a moment it seemed I would get wet, but I made it out dry


Surprisingly my route took me to the province of Liege



Such a calm afternoon, perfect way for calming down



Hannuit; Liege. This section had a lot of very crappy roads




Back in the Flemish region




Back into Limburg


On my way home I passed the city of Sint Truiden


Euhm... could you park any more annoying?


I passed through the city center of Sint Truiden



Haha


A long straight section led to Herk-De-Stad, a town I would like to enter


since many youth memories lay here


My old high school, Ursula Instituut at the time


I took a moment to let all of this sink in. Twelve years ago, in June 2005, I graduated from here


A very confronting moment indeed. Time has seriously passed since then.


The house of my best high school buddy


170 km eventually brought me back home


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