My 600km road trip part one

I wanted to spend my last holiday on my motorbike. I had a small week of holiday at the beginning of July and a one-week holiday at the end of August. Trying to plan a ride with the weather conditions going in every direction is not the easiest. The first plan was to go to the Ardennes but seeing the weather at the F1 race in Francorchamps made it an option to forget. There was something inside me that wanted to go to the Belgian ocean to seeing things from World Wars One and Two.

The plan was to spend one night in the middle of Belgian (Ternat). I booked with a new platform called Camp space. It is a website where people present their garden as a small camping place. Started my ride directly to Ronse (known for the Tour of Flanders for cyclist) made it already a trip of 170km.

On my way, I promised myself not to take any highway routes and wanted to keep riding on small roads. I love to take the small roads and discover new things. The first picture taken around Vissenaken shows a memorial of a Jewish statute from the Second World War. It would be the start of a journey full of things to discover.

My road would lead me to Brussels. My route kept me out of the busy city. First, my Guzzi brought me to the F16 airforce base of Beauvechain first. I have a story that I still need to write, concerning my F16 adventure last week. It was nice to see the base in the beautiful landscape and I continued my road towards the forest of Sonian Forest, a very beautiful forest with a lot of authentic, historical castles next to the roads. A castle which I wanted to capture in the photo was the castle from Beersel. I felt like I was really back in time when I saw it. It was very nicely restored and dates back from 1420. Here is more info about the history: link here.

After nearly 3 hours on the bike, I received a mail that there was no space available in Ternat. At that moment I rode 173km and arrived in the village of Papignies, a very small village with lovely scenery. It is clear to see in the third image. I booked again on the Campspace platform with high hopes. It was a 125km journey from the point where I was. It would lead me from Belgian into France and back into Belgiums city Poperinge. I was looking forward to spending my night there. The fourth picture shows the beautiful natural landscape from the province of Hainaut. It just made me happy riding on the small roads in between these fields.

I spent 300 kilometers on my bike I arrived in the village of Poperinge. I was surprised when I saw the campsite, there was no person at all, and no person to get in contact with. Going back to my intuition and trying to feel which direction to take it was simple. I could not spend the night as there was nothing or anyone. Out of the blue, I did think about going to Bruges. I love Bruges and I called one camping if I was still able to spend the night. I was lucky! My ride would lead me 65km further to the city of Bruges.

Passing a lot of war cemeteries gave me a sad feeling. Many people from all nations did give their lives to protect families and others in hard conditions. Passing cemetery after cemetery do you realize that there are so many people lost in fights.

I was pleasantly surprised by the incredibly beautiful historical town square of Diksmuide. The city itself was full of history. Everything was very nicely restored and was stunning. Diskmuide is well known by the legendary Yser Tower. The tower has been built as a symbol to bring peace to the world. For more info, check this.

After nearly 370km I arrived at my sleeping point, in the beautiful city of Brugges at camping Memling. I was more than pleased by the warm welcome and the very clean and peaceful atmosphere. It was time to build my sleeping place and getting ready to score some food. Having a good night and being reading for the next day.

I share my GPX tracks for people who want to ride the same road. GPX roads to download here.

Thank you