Brad and Matt were still a little 'time confused' and were up quite early. I found them outside at about 8am unpacking and building their bikes as if it were Christmas. Besides our unsightly ankles from 20+ hours of flying we were all pretty excited to get out on the road but we had a few more errands to run before we could set off. Glenn had stripped most of his Jonesman (the Belgian version of a SHOWGUN NINJA) from last time and had forgotten to bring a pair of pedals with him. The weather was all over the shop and we experienced 4 seasons in about 15 minutes of bike mechanics. Tim Dejonge (adopted by Perth last summer) lives only a 10min drive away so we tried to salvage what we could from his garage but unfortunately we'd need to visit the bike shop to have Glenn on the road today which was impossible as they were all closed. We attempted a food shop and collected most of the essentials but we forgot a lot also and would need to return later. After a quick bite to eat Brad, Matt and I kitted up and were off on the road heading towards the town of Turnhout.
The instructions were pretty simple (follow one road for 25km, do not turn until you reach the coffee shop) but we still managed to get lost after road works took us off course. Somehow Matty Irvine the youngest in the team emerged the best navigator and got us back on the right track. The boys got to experience their first cobble section as we road into Turnhout but I warned them that the cobbles we planned to ride on Wednesday were 10x as harsh and not to get too complacent! Glenn met us about five minutes after we sat down and we all enjoyed a 'koffie' or 'cola'' as the temperature began to rise. We were all stunned when a nearby sign on a shop displayed 11am and 30 degrees Celsius! It was also uncharacteristically windy for Belgium so we just cruised a similar way home detouring along one of the many canals. Many locals were celebrating their sunny Sunday by riding their bikes and finishing along the canal. Eventually we grew hungry so we turned around and made our way back to Martyn's house where Glenn had prepared 4 giant salad rolls for us to enjoy. He told us not to get used to the hospitality but we were all too busy devouring what was probably the best bread rolls in Europe.
The weather took a turn for the worse after lunch so our plans to go swimming at the popular Zilvermeer Lake were axed. We instead opted to go back into Turnhout were Brad & Glenn went to watch a 4.30pm movie while Matt & I searched the streets and cafe's for some WiFi hotspots to catch up on all the news from the Junior World Championships in Moscow and to check the status of my beloved West Coast Eagles. My laptop struggled to connect to the WiFi but Matt's iPhone was in good form and we sat at the Stadscafe in the centre of town for a good hour of so. By this time the weather eased although we were occasionally annoyed by a 5min period of 'belgian rain' (very light rain). Matt & I made our way back to the 'Utopia' cinemas and waited for Brad & Glenn who emerged a few minutes later after watching Captain America.
Matt was the designated chef for day 2 in Belgium cooking up a simple but tasty dinner of sweet & sour chicken with rice. Time once again had gotten away from us and the late sunset in Europe still had us confused when it was still light past 9.30pm. Up until now our sleeping arrangements have been cosy to say the least there is definitely no doubt about the love shared between team mates! Tomorrow we plan to get out on the road and have a bit of a hit out in preparation for our first race in Booischot penciled in for Tuesday.
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