Fine, sunny and warm 18-28deg, 72km, av. 16.1km/h, tot. 1540km.
Guido was kind enough to escort us out of town for the first 8km or so to ensure we had mastered the marvelous Belgium cycle route system . (Actually he wanted to make sure we left town as he had run out of beer and wine..joking). Their bike path system is similar to Holland's where they have 100s of "standpoints" (mostly intersections but not always) which have a number. There are sufficient signs between each number to show the way to makes sure you are able to easily ride between the numbers without getting lost. On occasions you have to be really alert to ensure you don't miss a number and end up off track. So today we just had to check the on-line map (there are paper ones too) and take note of the series of numbers which would take us from Asse to Antwerp. So simple even we could navigate without too many problems. The system will not take you onto an road or path not suitable for cycling. There are so many wonderful paths or ultra-quiet roads that it's a real pleasure getting around.
Today was an easy ride, left at 8:20am and arrived at the motel at 2:45pm. We really took our time and stopped off at various places.
First stop was a nice place called Temse located right on the main river we'd been following . While the population is only 28,000, it has a very grand town hall and church in the town square. This is where we had morning tea, something quite yummy from a nearby bakery, well we are on holidays.
When we were about 16km from Antwerp at a town called Boom, we must have missed a number as they suddenly dried up. So we just used Google Maps on Wendy's phone to find a bike path, two actually, both off-road down each side of the N177. So we were there in no time at all. This country is cyclists' heaven!!
After our chores and a short nap (Guido and Magda kept us busy over the last few days) we went out exploring Antwerp. What a beaut old city; wide tree lined avenues, long malls, grand old buildings and 100s of restaurants. A city we could have stayed longer. Got to save something for next time.
Asian food for dinner, fried rice, bean sprouts, veggies and chicken. It was nice.