Hello! By far, my favorite bicycle experience is my bike/beer cycle through Belgium with my husband and my best friends! We were both celebrating our 20 wedding anniversaries and thought a bike trip would be the perfect way to celebrate. Indeed, the experience was perfect, from the friendly people we rented our bikes from in Brussels to the food and drink, incredible scenery, history and most memorable are the people we met along the way in small eateries, breweries and family run hotels/homes/bed and breakfasts. The Belgium bike "Node" system was amazing. We simply would grab a map and while we enjoyed breakfast simply mapped our daily route using the node system--brilliant! One of our favorite experiences was simply unplanned happenstance, as often occurs when you let life happen! As usual, the day started with a scrumptious breakfast at our lovely B & B Horenbecca Hotel in Horebeke at which we lingered, never seeming to get an early start on the bike trail, we often ended up off the usual Belgium day and missed the lunch period. We were on our way to Ghent, roughly 38 miles and attempted lunch at several little spots that were already closed--we had again missed the lunch period. Getting hot with plummeting blood sugars, we pulled over in Gavere at a charming cafe, De Post. We sat down and ordered, after only a few minutes, we were invited to join 3 gentleman at the next table over. Little did we know we had joined the Mayor of the town! We had a fun lunch, learning about local food, the culture, and Mr. Leroy would wave at all the passing cars and people. My girlfriend and I took a walk around the square and when we returned to the table, the Mayor had ordered another round of beers. We had a look of shock on our faces as we had spent a couple of hours there very much enjoying ourselves, but knowing that we needed to get back on the road to Ghent. Well the Mayor and his friends had a good laugh at our expressions and said: "what do you say in America: 1 for the road!" We couldn't argue with that! We made it to Ghent! We hope to enjoy a meal at La bicylette next week as we will be in Carmel 11/19-26. Jennifer Hayes
