A weeks awesome riding in the Ardennes,
condensed into bullet points:
- Virtual Partner is a rubbish training buddy
- Virtual Partner waits for no one, he never gets a flat, he never eats, and more importantly runs red lights
- it is very satisfying beating Virtual Partner
- the roads are great; the roads are terrible - great, hilly, empty roads, shame about all the potholes
- I have eaten a lot of gaufres and Peperkoek - Pain d'épices
- there is something very satisfying about your jersey pockets getting lighter as the day goes on
- frequent coke stops are a guilty pleasure
- half coke, half water is the perfect bidon filler
- it is more likely to rain in Belgium than in Holland
- the Ardennes has a lot of trees/forests
- I need to invest in a Rapha rain jacket
- cycling in the rain up narrow tree lined cotes, out of the saddle, feels epic (looks miserable)
- a 150-200km spin is great to clear the legs and mind, five in a row doesn't leave much left to be cleared
- I won't be hurrying to do a week long solo cycle trip again anytime soon
- I want to do a 400-600km Audux
- in extreme circumstances an iPod may be acceptable whilst cycling (never acceptable if in a group)
- cycle for 8 hours in the cold and rain and you will develop a cough
- drum and bass is the ultimate cycling music
- don't cycle on wet/melting tar
- tar destroys even Conti 4 Seasons
- the Belgians and Dutch are very friendly to cyclists even when they are dripping all over their patisserie
- designated cycling lanes up the sides of climbs, Holland you are awesome
- there is not much happening in the Ardennes
- famous climbs have a mythology built up around them and are always less daunting in real life
- always fully charge your Garmin
- Jupiler, never heard of it before; drank a lot of it
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| Cycling fuel! |
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