June 24, 2026, Day 15 – Lens to Ypres – 37 hot miles
Today, we crossed the border into Belgium! Our first stop in Belgium was the village of Fromelles which was the site of the famous battle where the First Australian Imperial Force saw action on the Western Front. It is still considered the “worst 24 hours in Australia’s entire history” with thousands of British and Australian casualties.
The Battle of Fromelles took place on 19 and 20 July 1916, between British and Australian divisions and a Bavarian division. It was a fierce confrontation, with nearly 8,500 victims in less than 24 hours. The bodies of many of those killed on the battlefield were never found.
In France, the drivers were very courteous. They routinely stopped to allow us bicyclists to cross the road, even in roundabouts which were plentiful. Not so in Belgium. The drivers are not rude, but they also are not accommodating to bicyclists. As usual, we must be constantly vigilant at intersections.
Another big difference is the language. In France, I could typically read road signs and even speak a little French if I had to. I don’t know how people learn to speak or spell in Flemish. For example, we are staying in Ypres. How would you pronounce that? I will tell you later in this blog.
Another difference is cobblestone streets. The people of Belgium are very into cycling. Yet they have cobblestone streets within their cities—at least in Ypres. Those streets are very unfriendly to cyclists.
Like France, though, we are often on very quiet roads used mostly by farmers. Their huge tractors take up all but inches of the road. When I see them coming, I just get off the road because their wheels are taller than me and I don’t want to take any chances. The roads here are a bit flatter than France’s roads.
Ypres is hosting some type of Grand Prix car rally this week. There are sleek cars everywhere and apparently all the hotel rooms are filled up. No one anticipated this being such a hot week and our hotel for two nights does not have air conditioning. It is so hot that I left a chocolate bar on the table in my room and it melted into a blob. (I put it in my refrigerator to let it regain its shape and it still tasted good).
Rather than show you more pictures of cemeteries (which are plentiful around here), I will share a human-interest story with you. Tonight we went to a Bike Bar before dinner for our briefing which occurs every day, explaining the highlights of the next day’s ride. The bar is owned by Kurt Titeca, apparently a well-known Belgian racer. In it, he sells bicycling jerseys with poppies on them and an inscription “1914-18 Remembered, Make Peace not War.”
The jerseys are nice, but they look somewhat feminine and I don’t need any more jerseys. But some of my fellow riders bought them and wearing them makes them quite visible.
Ypres is pronounced “e per.”
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