Beauraing to Oakamoor (444 miles)

Headed off later than expected as the caretaker manager overslept. Clearly no one else was staying. Was reminded of “The Shinning” as I walked down the empty corridors with bedroom doors ajar into the deserted dining room. When he arrives, he’s still getting dressed, talks about last night’s football & then disappears to get bread. So the 8 o’clock start becomes 9 o’clock. That said, I had time. Its 180 miles to Calais but I wanted to take in some of the country roads in South Belgium (rather than ubiquitous motorway). I follow the French/Belgium border to Lille. The countryside is as on my way outward journey through France. Rolling farmland. Perhaps a little less on the industrial scale with a few more hedgerows. Long straight roads cut across landscapes linking together small hamlets that look like they have changed little over the years. From Lille I hopped on the motorway to Dunkerque/Calais. Felt like everyone else was also (from every corner of Europe). Add in roadworks on the final stretch (that le Shuttle had texted me about) and you probably wouldn’t want to be chasing a booked time. I arrived an hour early so caught an earlier train. This time there were three bikes. One was a quietly spoken bloke from Dorset on a thunderous Ducati piled high with camping gear (“ I have been to the Czech Republic to visit the biker cave & onto Romania..”) & the other a young cockney on a day trip from Kent (“my bike broke down 30 miles from Calais..”). Onto the M20 back to a very grey & damp UK. Traffic got steadily worse, driving standards deteriorated & the random stop/start procession reminded me I was back. Final tally 2933 miles – that’s silly mileage. Great trip though...

Bourg en Bresse to Beauraing (300+ miles)

How do you know when you’ve done too much overtaking in Europe? Your left indicator stops working. Heading up the motorway past Dijon to Reims, I was settled into a high mileage day. One thing’s clear to me – the motorway toll system works. I settle into a reasonable pace and make progress. In the UK this would of course be a start, slow, stop, re-start routine as the traffic’s limited by the pace of the slowest vehicle. Yes, the UK is small & has too many people but other small countries have it sorted – through tolls. If you want to travel fast(er) & probably create more emissions you should pay. Off the motorway, I head for Belgium. I could have made it to Calais & home but it would have been a push. Younger, I would have done this. Now I think there’s too much to miss. I travelled through the flatlands of the Ardennes to the border to seek out the wooded hills & lakes of southern Belgium. It s a contrast to the vast, skyscraper landscapes of the Alps but nonetheless attractive (in a sort of mid-Wales way). Arriving in Beauraing – a place I simply pulled off the map – I'd riden some great forest roads. Real off the beaten track. Hotel was run by a Portuguese plumber who lives in Hayes (yes – that’s Heathrow). Think I’m the only guest. I headed off to the castle and then onward for a number of Leffes. Much more relaxed than chasing channel trains that afterall leave every 20 mins... Fact of the week - CFF is critical flickering frequency. It is the rate at which we can see things. For humans this is about 60 per sec. TVs are set at this speed. Dogs have a CFF of c. 80/sec so are uninterested in TV as it looks like a series of snapshots. Flies have a CFF of 250/sec so their lives to them do not seem short (& they are impossible to swat!)