Day 12 - Saint Quentin to Vilvoorde (via Zaventem)

Planned Mileage: 94.28 miles
Actual Mileage: 118.2 miles
Temperature: 18.5C
Top Speed: 33.3mph
Start Time: 07:55am
End Time: 19:05pm (with a 90 minute stop at Zaventem)
Total Saddle Time: 9hr 40mins

The ride into Belgium was going to be a long one, and we had a deadline to meet, so we decided to set off a little earlier today. This time, the latecomer was Spike for a change.

We headed out of Saint Quentin and had a target of trying to reach 35 mile before the breakfast stop. However, a puncture followed by a tyre blow out for Anthony and a road diversion due to yet more French road works meant that by the time of the breakfast stop at 10am the team had only cycled 23 miles. After 15 miles, Shelley had to take a break in the van, as the combination of hills and speed was a little too much after only one days cycling.

After the breakfast stop, no sooner had the riders got going again, then Rik broke a spoke, which meant a change in wheel and he decided to raid Russell's bike - if the man himself could not complete the journey, then at least parts of his bike would!

We then finally left France behind and crossed the border into Belgium, which is a far better country in our view, although some of the roads are a bit poor. Shortly before lunch, as a result of the bumpy roads, Gavin's wattle bottle fell out of the bracket and nearly caused a pile up behind him.

As we set off after lunch, it turns out Phil did not get dressed properly and rode off with his short straps hanging around his bum. Spike then had a puncture, which was probably down to the deteriorating condition of the roads. After 10 miles, Shelley decided that she would leave the boys to it and opted for a seat in the warm van.

As we approached Zaventem, the roads we had to navigate were not exactly cycle friendly, so the team had to opt for the cycle network within the National Park, whilst the support vehicles navigated the local motorways to meet them on the other side, where Simon managed to lose balance and toppled off his bike!

The group gathered back together and continued on their route, only to discover there was yet another road closure, but luckily the cyclists could still use it but the car had to find an alternative route. Thankfully, the lads slowed down so I could catch them up for us to cycle into the Zaventem office as a group.

What happened next stunned the lads. The welcome we received from the Belgium office was tremendous. The staff lined the entrance and clapped the riders in. We then had a photoshoot and were given fresh fruit smoothies, waffles, followed by ice cream and ice cold drinks. This was topped off by the option of a professional massage for the riders.

The surprises were not finished there - the team were then presented with a cheque for £1000 for the charities. The riders were absolutely thrilled with the reception and what was laid on for them, and they really appreciated the effort you made & support everyone gave them - it was a superb end to a long day's cycling.

The Belgium office is a credit to Computacenter - thank you to you all and especially Filip, Elke and Tom for all their efforts in making this happen.

We then headed off into the sunset and completed the 6 miles left to the hotel. Dylan managed to give a driver some abuse for blocking his way - turns out it was a policeman in his own vehicle and he was simply trying to get them to use the excellent cycle paths instead of the busy carriageways.

Some of the team then went into Vilvoorde for a meal - the only restaurant open was an Egyptian one but any initial concerns were soon banished once we had tasted the food. It was by far the best meal we had to date on this tour. For some of us, we finished the night off in a local bar sampling the many varieties of beers and compared to France we were getting 5 drinks for the price of 1!

 In total the team did 5100ft of climbing and despite Shelley spending some time in the van, she managed to complete 80 miles on the road, which is one of the longest rides she has ever completed - a great personal achievement for her.

This day and the welcome we received will live long in the memory of all the riders. As for the UK, the bar has been set and you have a lot to live up to.