BRM 200 Lier

The day starts slowly and we are ready to live  this long distance, 7:00 sharp we begin our way starting in Lier. The speed is fine and a group with some known people follow Louis , the one who knows the way perfectly , just because he has proyected it. As usual each one with his thoughts.

 

 

There is agroup leaving at 7:00 , the next grout will start at 8:00 they will go fast and we will arrive alltogether to the first control in Holand.

 

 

 

 We follow Louis  in the beginning , the way goes towards a series of roads with number for bicycles very quiet very well preserved and flat , we talk and talk , just pleasure to cycling in the cold morning , a little bit grey but no rain in all day , nice moments .The sun is coming for a while  to say hello and good bay as soon as possible.

 
Slowly but surely we head north, the path is very nice and avoids all traffic , 52 km in peace and all pleasure , time to think , time to rest and time to talk with friend , Bernard says " cool this morning " and he was right the speed is human 25k/h but we head fast to the Dutch border where we arrive at 9:10 just at the same time as the fast group.

What a beautifull way , all quiet all peace , no cars just enjoy the moment , all for us and our bicycles , this BRM is just a peace of mind , in fact it is called " pearl ofthe contryside " and indeeed it is.

 

The afternoon is coming and also a drops of rain visit us, the road get wet but nothing serious for us, the sky gets darker and Antonio Bernard and myself follow the way in a friendly atmosphere ,they talk and talk I follow behind with my thoughts , I start thinking how can be the nest challenge next august the famous PBP , I get anxious and leave quick my dream , I want to enjoy this day , very nice afternoon.

We find a British cyclist in trouble, he has no spare inner tube , I give mine to him, some weeks later in the 300 of Lier he gave one back to me , all even.
I prefer seeing those happy guys behind me just enjoying the way altogether. I feel a relive.

 

 

 The afternoon is still with us and the last kilometres are a bit hard because of the wind but the countryside and the light are wonderful  , we follow the canal almost until the end in Lier.

 

This is the first time I finish a 200km in less than 10 hours , three stops in the controls and the ride all in , exactly 9:40 , not bad , the most important is that we have enjoyed so much this BRM , it is difficult to plan this beautiful track  avoiding busy traffic roads and offering us a beauty countryside.Very nice day, I come home , a happy man gets in , new BRM´s are waiting , new roads will offer the best and the worst in live ,each of us will wear the load of his own will , some will be happy with the  offered destiny , others will not and will have to fight to deserve it.

Late at night I listen a nice song. Where are those times of youth when all was happiness, I wonder .

 

 "Everyday"  Phil Collins

 
'Love can make you do things you never dreamed possible...'

I got lost, couldn't find my way
and I guess there's nothing more to say
love can make you blind, make you act so strange
but I'm here and here I will stay

So everyday I cry
yes everyday I fall
do you ever wonder why, why I love everything about you

But everyday I say I'll try to make my heart be still
'til then every way there is to cry, ourselves to sleep we will

It picked me up, knocked me off my feet
I've got no way to explain
still I love you, love you, love you but this fire inside
will never see the light of day

So everyday goes by
and everyday I fall
it makes me wonder why,
my life's worth nothing without you

But everyday I say I'll try
to make my heart be still
'cos every way there is to cry,
ourselves to sleep, we will

You'll never know, no, no, no ,no ,no
you'll never know just how close we were
you'll never know, no, no, no ,no ,no
you'll never know
no you'll never see

The book closes and we try to forget
but I know that things won't change
how we feel, how life goes on
and that seems so strange

And so the light fades away
try, try, try as I may
I can't stop thinking about you
it seems my life's worth nothing without you

But everyday I say I'll try
to make my heart be still
'til then every way there is to cry,
ourselves to sleep, we will

Everyday, everyday you know I try so hard
everyday, everyday it gets a little harder


Thanks to all people that follows the page , soon the long long journeys  will come.
See you

 

 

BRM 200 Luingne

The others told me not to fly that far , I paid no attention , the signal was there, north , and I headed north alone . No food for a long time  , bad time , and the worst no land at sight.  All blue , deep blue , up and down I fly in between throug the line of the desire. I feel cold in my eyes , the right wing hurst since three days ago but here is no way back and the whish is stronger than the present , I don´t regret the fact, to find or die. I feel weak now , too many days flying alone and in peace. Downd there is white everywhere , at last after so many months flying alone in the cold air I embrace the unknown , I meet he desire, that feeling stronger than any other, it was waiting for me , we go togeather now flying to eternity. I realice now my future is over, there is no way back, no regrets , the line is crossed I got it, a wonderful white thunderstorm whispers words of love , it takes my wing, I dissapear , my wish is fullfilled , I will be flying for ever.

What a nice day today, cycling 9 hours with friends to the norht first,south then , 200km of pleasure.
Willy from Cyclo Club Mouscron has organised this BRM " Vers La Hollande " , it is very nice and has a high light; the visit of Brugge that we crossjust through the center , it is a very nice town plenty of red brick houses and lots of canals and bridges which give name tothe town.

The morning is a bit cold, 4°C but dry. People start at his own wish, we start at 07:45 and the big goup that leads Willy satrt at 8:00 sharp.We are more or lessthe same people , Antonio , Daniel ,Marc , Alain,Patrice,Robert ,Jan ,Mic , Guy a, Ronny, Stefan and many people from different cyclo clubs in France.

We start in Luingne, near the french border and the track we have to follow pass near a lot of villages in Flanders, Dadizele, Brugge,We are going to cross Belgium fron south to north to arrive in Cadzand in Holland.

 

It is a nice track , specially the bike roads near the canals with lots of trees at both sides.

We go fast in the  morning , we have strong tail wind and we reach 30km/h with almost no effort but we think also what will happen to us on the way back, but for the moment we enjoy this dry morning and the lanscape so green and so peaceful . No hills at all.
The roads here in Holland are a dream for the randonneurs.It is easy to travel no matter where in Holland with the bike , thisis another world.

We reach the seashore , and we have a few minutes rest in front of the sea, very nice moment .I would like to have wings and fly over the ocean , that only happens in a dream.

Just at midday we arrive to Cadzan , we have a drink and we eat what we have carried from home. Control one , 101km 4 hours, I´m impressed. Thaks wind.

Now is time to return to the start point , Luingne . Things are different now , we have to fight the south wind, the tenmperature has risen until 12°C but I don´t feel the warmth , our speed now is barely 23 km/h , antonio Bernard and me start to deal the situation in shift , three minutes each in the front, we play the right game and soon we reach the second control in Landegem km 152 in Belgium.
Here we meet Marc and we go on the way to Luingne togeather , the wind flows fast but Marc´s speed is high , I can follow.
Allwe need to donow is to follow teh kanaal van Schipdonk until Deinze,Kortrijkand finaly Luingne where we arrive at 17:45.

It has been a happy day I will say, all in peace , no troubles whatsoever, very nice company , the countryside was friendly , the weather fine a good BRM in fact. I think all of us have enjoyed the ccircuit , it is always different when we visit another countries , it gives me a sensation like if I was a traveller and explorer.

Time to recover , to talk , to drink a pint . It has been a happy day , a good day , surely life has sometimes very nice simply moments to offer.

Time to cook.

Time to drink.

Time to listen a nice song .  Supertramp.


"Downstream"Took a boat Sunday, down by the sea
It just felt so nice, you and me
We didn't have a problem or a care
And all around was silence, everywhere

You are the reason I was born
Be with you through all seasons
I'll always hear you when you call
We'll keep the love light shining
Through each night and day
A lonely life behind me
Oh what a change you've made

So down here on the ocean we will stay
Went through a lot of changes
Turned a lot of pages
When I took a boat Sunday

To know you as I know you now
That is all I need
And we will get along somehow
If we both believe

So down here on the ocean we will stay
Went through a lot of changes
Turned a lot of pages
When I took a boat Sunday


Hasta la proxima amigos.

BRM 200 Anderlecht

 

I’m sited on a comfortable deep blue old leader armchair on top of a very high mountain, probably the highest as I can’t see any other as high in the landscape, it is amazing! , I breathe easily and I have no symptoms of high altitude sickness, I am so happy to see my only two friends , the sun and the moon , I realize I wear summer clothes , nothing in my pocket , a trumpet nearby , I do not know since when  I am here but I am eternally happy and in peace . I take my trumpet and I start to play a song of hope  , a song of love , as I don’t know anybody I don’t know if I play good or not , so no critics, I like my music anyway . I don’t know for how long I’ll be here in the middle of the thin freezing deathly air but it seems to me as if I’ll be playing the trumpet for ever and I’ll be happy for centuries ahead.

Tara tara tararaaaa, wake up man ......

The same ritual as last Saturday starts, first coffee, then the story of this BRM 200 from Anderlecht to Solre le Chateau in France. A very nice track made by André from Aurore Cyclo Club in St Gilles is waiting, 200km. A nice day, a little windy but no rain.

 

 

The meeting today is at 7:30 in a place called, “ La clef du Cimentière “ in Anderlecht , south of Brussels, I like very much this spot , green , all in peace , quiet people, big open space all around with very high nice trees. Convenient, we can leave Brussels easily towards de Midi channel and avoid trafic , great !!.

I get my BRM card and wait for Antonio to get ready to start at 07:35. Here ,the same people as last ride but with Yves Jan and the two Daniels ; 80 people in total .

 

 

 

  We start in a smooth rhythm, I feel cold in the hands and in the face, - 1·C, Daniel joints us and we start moving the legs faster. At the sides of the channel the green is white now.

 

 

We head south direction in a more or less straight line to France, some easy km are welcome to this cold morning, talk and talk. Soon we reach the first control in Strépy-Bracquuegnies km49. Until now easy. The wind stars to say hello , later in the afternoon  it will say a very long speech and very loud.

We pass Binche , the streets keep still the souvenirs of the carnival and we take the bike path , the Ravel for a long ride , it is always nice to ride these      roads , lot of fun in a save environment now , difficult to find nowadays. The sun is with us but it still does not warm .

 

 

Plenty of nice trees on the way, I like so much the trees here in Belgium, it seems to me that nobody watch them and there are so many and so beautiful , I like trees , I remember in march 2007 planting 140 olive trees with my father in Tosos , now they are almost 4 meter high  a delight.We need trees.

 

 

After Binche we head south again to the Sambre river we cross it towards the bridge which links Erquelines in Belgium and Jeumont in France.

The head wind stars his loud melody and it becomes hard to listen and very hard to tackle with , an enemy this time.

 

 

 

The road now follows both  sides of the river , sometimes right sometimes left , funny thing , until Roussies where some hills awaits us.

Now things change , with the road climbing uphill and the strong south wind , the sun now heats , I go slow now , each one takes his own speed and the group split easily , we will meet again in Solre le Chateau . Time to recover and to eat .

 

 

I arrive to Solre le Chatau at 13:05, second control km101 the others are already there, I feel tired, the strong wind now and the slopes did not help but at least it was sunny and warm; the countryside is very nice and the scenery is plenty of light and colors , the sky blue , I feel the sun heat in my back now. Time now for eating and to drink a local beer in a local bar,  Madame Ninie like always is ready to serve to all of us , a hard work.

I need a beer. I drink a Floreffe , local made,  hoping it gives me strength and power  to my legs  to ride the way back to Brussels.

 

 

After 20 minutes rest a group of 15 people start the way back , the afternoon is bright and warm we head north now to Berelles and the very strong tail wind help us and the cycling  speed is very high now, the group splits . Antonio Bernard and me keep together from now until  Anderlecht.

 

People start to go fast , even uphill ! ; tailwind is the answer.

 

Jan overtakes us, he looks like a rocket !!,he goes really fast and disappears in seconds.

 

 

 

It is easy now and I have time to watch , breath and enjoy the roads and the villages , we are still in Franc e , soon after crossing again the Sambre river we reach Belgium again. Some more km on the Ravel, Erquelinnes, Peissant, Bray. Some trees fight the winter and surely they´ll win and receive the spring with the best dress , the flowers.The sun is back !

 

 

 

 

We cross over the canal  du centre  bridge and soon we arrive to the third control in Thieusies , km 147. A few minutes break, a drink and we continue our trip , it is getting colder and my body feels it , the good thing is that the wind is in our side, less effort to reach  high speed.

 

 

We follow small nice rural roads, Naast, Steenkerke, Rebecq , then Tubize and finally we are again in the Midi  Chanel , 15 km more and we reach Anderlecht at 18:45.

 

 

It has  been a nice day ,no rain ,  hard in the morning , easy in the afternoon, the track has been modified by his author Andre , and to me it has been a great change for the better, very nice track with traffic free stretches  and a good hint of difficulty, crossing rivers, uphill, downhill,  sun, clouds, wind all happiness.

 

I am so happy too because I have repaired the rear mudgard , as it is the second time I wroke , I had two halves so with a nut in the center I´ve joined both old ends and it works !!. Anyway SKS is going to send me a new part.

 

 

I come home, tired ,with red face skin but happy again, the wind is out still singing  loud ,through my window  I see the branches of the linden dancing very fast songs  with it.

Time to cook and to recover.

 

 It is easy to say but we need to search into the other side , just from time to time ,yes ; the other side, it is always there and we ignore it , the moment we deal with both we are saved.

Tonight I need to hear one of my favourite songs from ;
The Bee Gees

"Love You Inside Out"

Baby, I can't figure it out
Your kisses taste like honey
Sweet lies don't gimme no rise
Oh, oh what you're trying to do?

Livin' on your cheatin'
And the pain grows inside me
It's enough to leave me crying in the rain
Love you forever but you're
Driving me insane
And I'm hanging on
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Oh, I'll win, I'll never give in
Our love has got the power
Too many lovers in one lifetime
Ain't good for you
You treat me like a vision in the night
Someone there to stand behind you
When your world ain't working right

I ain't no vision, I am the man
Who loves you inside and out
Backwards and forwards with
My heart hanging out
I love no other way
What am I gonna do if we lose that fire?

Wrap myself up and take me home again
Too many heartaches in one
Lifetime ain't good for me
I figure it's the love that keeps you warm
Let this moment be forever
We won't ever feel the storm

I ain't no vision, I am the man
Who loves you inside and out
Backwards and forwards with
My heart hanging out
I love no other way
What am I gonna do if we lose that fire?

Don't try to tell me it's all over
Can't hear a word I can't hear a line
No man could love you more
And that's what I'm cryin' for
You can't change the way I feel inside

You're the reason for my laughter and my sorrow
Blow out the candle I will burn again tomorrow
No man on earth can stand
Between my love and I
And no matter how you hurt me
I will love you till I die

I ain't no vision, I am the man
Who loves you inside out
Backwards and forwards with
My heart hanging out
I love no other way
What am I gonna do if we lose that fire?

And now to end this up ; the other side.

 

 

Thanks to everybody  and all he best !.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BRM 200 Morkhoven

I find myself in a blue boat, alone, I need to row , useless but I try to keep the direction, but which one? , the big stream wraps me and confuses me, right and left hundreds of tributaries as wide as the river, I am alone in the world , the noise keep me alert, my throat is  dry , no need to drink, my belly is empty, no need to eat, how many days ahead ? no idea , I can only follow the river’s will , the name of this one is the river of no return , I wish I find the right way and reach the end soon, the past is lost , I fight the stream , right , left , ahead , deep in my soul I  feel I loose , the unknown  future waits me down there somewhere , I fight the will , I cry ,I wake up , six in the morning, dark , coffee , I head to Morkhoven.

 

This first BRM 2015 is a beauty, designed and planned perfectly by Jan ,204 km all in

peace, no cars whatsoever,  all flat but long for the first big  ride since last year, the
scenery is superb , a wonderful track to enjoy and  discover the Flemish region in Belgium, almost all  the way passes  near the small and big canals plenty of birds and water , water everywhere,  it has been raining since three days and the small roads are a bit slippery. What a relief to feel le fresh air in my face to talk to the mates to travel along the big line which leads to the satisfaction. All pleasure but the pain in my knees this time at the en of the day , hard , but happy after all.

As usual we are ready to start the same people  again , Antonio, Marc ,Guy, Alain, Patrice, Stephan, we will be together most of the way.There are some Duchts, German and French people too.

 Eight sharp, we start the first long distance this year. Everything wet, cloudy, a bit cold, 3º C, friendly west humid wind , we face it towards the Albert canal until Anvers , the small cycling paths are worderful.

 

 

For almost until Anvers we are a solid group which leads Guy in a very nice speed that I can follow , we talk and we enjoy this strech with nice weather and no wind.

After this long time without cycling I feel a bit weak but happy to start again.

 

 

 

We cross Anvers and the river Schelde  by the tunnel Sainte Anne, 572 meter long and a diameter of 4,3 .

 

 

Once on the other side we follow the way until the first control in Beveren , 55km , and all we do is drink and eat a bit. Once again on the road for the next 55 km, after lunch I feel cold, it stars raining, the roads are completely wet and mud in good amount in some stretches , my rear fender breaks and my back got wet. I will need to by another one , compulsory in Belgium.

 

Now Marc takes the responsibility of the leader and goes strong for some more kilometers , the sun is with us, we see the blue sky for the first time today , very nice moment .

 

 

There are some pretty little cycling roads to enjoy , good job Jan, thanks for this track.

 

Now we are heading to schellebelle where Geert waits us in a place called" Plan B " to put the second stamp in the control km 110.

 

 

But first we need to cross the Schelde again , now a bit narrower, in a yellow small boat but to me it seems a lot bigger than in my dream last night.We have a rest of two minutes , better than nothing I guess !

 

 

It is 14:00h , and we are in the middle of the ride, we stop for 15 minutes to drink something in Schellebelle, it is raining , not much but it soaks.We need  two more hours through the very straight  cycling lines and passing Aalst  to get to the third control in  Tisselt.Until here I have managed to keep in with the others , Alain , Marc, Antonio and Stephan but after the rest in this last control km 155 I feel my legs like wet wood, and the fact that soon will be dark gives me a moment to come to reality , i tell the other that if they dont see me behind to continue and not to wait for me.

 

 

Waiting for the bridge to come down to its place to cross again the river.

 

 

 

 

 

Marc and Alain dissapear in the distance  , they go fast now.

Both , Antonio and me follow the very nice way towards the east at the side of the Ruppel , very nice way , all quiet , it rains a little bit ,we follow now at slow speed but enjoy each kilometre, it is getting dark , soon the bike´s lights will give the answer and the solution to reach the end of this majestic BRM in Morkhoven where we arrive at 19:40 in the middle of the darkness and the rain.

 

Thaks to Antonio, Marc , Alain and Stephan for the good company for almost all the way.And to Jan for this wonderful BRM.

 

I took the decision of coming to ride this first BRM in 2015  late last friday, indeed it took me some time to decide and one hour later I started to prepare the bike , it means that I went to bed late but now I think I did it right. I was afraid of my legs ,now they hurt a bit but it will be ok then, not bad for this beginning.

Now the worst is to come , to clean the bike  !!  it deserves it anyway.

 

As I´m alone at home now I did not prepare a meal, I just had one good Belgium beer, this is what I ate on sunday after 2 hours cooking.

 

 

 Last night before I dreamed I heard this song. Melody Gardot.

 "The Rain"

The rain the rain
Rain came down in sheets that night
And you and I stared out to the left and to the right
Rain came down in gusts seemed to laugh at us till daylight
The clouds the clouds
Clouds raced out across the autumn sky
And you and I fumbled for a way to say goodbye
Strangers weren't we scared to look into each other's eyes