Paterberg--again

Yesterday I took the day off to go shopping with my mom. Ironically enough it turned out to be the nicest and hottest day so far. The sun was out all afternoon and so were legions of bike riders. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it as we had gone to Bruges and would not be back before dark.

Today started out quite cold with frost on the grass, but sunny. After an hour or so it turned grey and we did not see the sun all day. I set out anyways and rode to Anzegem and from there to Ingooigem, Vichte, Tiegem and other villages I had never been to. In Tiegem I found a bike store and stopped by to pick up some goodies. It turned out Carinne, who lent me the bike lives in Tiegem and she was well known there. Her ex is a pro rider and so is her son. I spent some time talking to the bike store owner and received a free energy bar. Life is good.

I rode to Ronse and onto Hotond, then picked up the Tour of Flanders route again to the Paterberg. This time I was much better oriented and had no trouble finding out where I was or where I was going. I climbed the Paterberg and followed the route to the Koppenberg almost without having to look for signs. I did not climb the Koppenberg, but rode back to Oudenaarde and then to Wannegem, this time exploring little side-streets.

It turned out part of my disorientation had to do with my internal map. I thought the village of Kwaremont was south of Kluisbergen and that turned out to be wrong. After checking with Google last night, I created a better map. With that "map" things were easier.

I was pretty cold today but fairly dry so it wasn´t too bad out there.