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!)