I'm calling entry as Day Zero since it's the day before the first day of riding. Some folks like myself arrived yesterday and other folks are arriving today. Folks that traveled from the US are trying to acclimate to the time zone difference. I spend a couple of hours napping in the early afternoon.
The rental bikes were being driven from Paris to Mechhelen, the town where we're spending three nights. Once the bikes arrived, the riders converged on the hotel's meeting room to started to make any necessary bike adjustments. When renting bikes, we typically bring our own peddles that match our shoes, maybe seats and electronics such as lights and GPS units.
Then its time to take the bikes out for a spin to make any further adjustments for comfortable riding. In my case, I needed to adjust the saddle tilt and height. I also adjusted the brakes and made sure the the shifting was correct.
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| Bikes awaiting final setup and adjustments |
At 6 PM a ride briefing was held to discuss the upcoming 13 days for riding. Jan and Eduard gave us the lowdown. The following pages were distributed and mainly focused on the road conditions and safety items. Oh these Dutch guys are so well organized and prepared.
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| Page 1 |
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| Page 2 |
Tomorrow we'll have a choice of 2 loop rides (starting and ending in the same location). Both ride follow similar route. One ride is 41 mile and the other is slightly longer at 56 miles. Lunch will be supplied on route at about 19 miles. The plan is to be on the road by 9 AM. The first riding day is often a shake down ride with an easier route.
Before I wrap up today's blog, I have to talk about the hotel that we'll be spending 3 nights. The hotel is a former converted church (l'll have to find out more about it's previous life). The hotel is now a gorgeous full service facility. The sanctuary has be turned into a breathtaking dining area hosting both breakfast and dinner. Click on the photo link below. Pictures are more descriptive than words.
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