Chad captured this shot of me riding across a bridge with these Belgians, who are clearly impressed by my mad cycling skills (or, rather, tolerated that they had to wait 50 metres to pass me).
Chad is my own personal Magellan - checking the map to make sure we're going in the right direction.
Bruges is filled with canals and we waited several times for bridges to lift and lower and for locks to fill.
Contemplating the road ahead, as it begins to sprinkle with rain.
But, lucky us, it just sprinkled a bit before the sun came out again. You can see below that the buds are on the trees, but it's still essentially early spring in Belgium. This bike path ran along the canal towards a town called Damme. It is mostly paved, almost entirely free of traffic, and on the way out with the sun shining and the wind at our backs we were on top of the world. We made it to Damme no problem and decided to journey on to another town called Oostkirke.
Sadly, the sun did not last that long before an intense rain shower came along and soaked us almost entirely. At this point we learned that Belgian buildings don't really have overhangs, and were reminded that trees without leaves make terrible shelter. A few minutes into the storm we found a tiny overhang on a deserted building where some Belgian bikers were also holed up. They promised us that the rain would pass in half an hour or so (!) and pointed out some swallows that apparently bring good luck. Here we are weathering the storm. Don't be confused by the fact I still have my sunglasses on - this was merely to keep the rain out of my eyes!
As promised, though, the rain eventually passed. Even with the sun out again, below you can see the dark clouds that had just passed.
In Oostkirke we ate lunch beside this church. It is a lovely, tiny town that is supposed to be quite touristy in the summer, but on this brisk day of inclement weather we had the place to ourselves.
Lunch in the sun and wind gave us time to dry out, but on the way back to Damme we encountered another rain storm - this one even more intense than the last! By the time we got to Damme and stopped for hot chocolate I was as wet as if I had gone swimming in the canal. The rain was so hard and the wind so brisk at times it was actually painful as the drops pelted my head. Luckily, the cafe where we stopped had a fire (and a hand dryer in the bathroom) that I could use to start drying out before the wind took care of the rest on the way home.
All of these Belgian school children are better cyclists than me. They were also dry, so they are also obviously better at seeking shelter in rainstorms.
One of several windmills along our journey.
Looking back at the town of Damme.
Our reward for a journey well cycled! All of these were recommended by Inga at the beer store we found the day before. The Viven Imperial IPA on the right was by far my favourite - it is made by a Flemish brewing company but is amazing close to a Pacific Northwest Imperial IPA!
After a bit of a break we headed out for more beer - this time we ended up at a pub we had seen earlier that is supposed to be the oldest pub in Bruges. It was super cozy and a nice place to relax after a busy day.
Beautiful Bruges skyline after a day of storms.
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