May 13, 2025
Liege, Belgium
Tuesday
After the rest day, I started toward Belgium and Leige. EV 19 climbed out of Maastricht, passing a reclaimed quarry for public use.
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You could tell when you were in Belgium; the roads weren't as nice and the maintenance wasn't as fussy as the Netherlands. But the locks and bridges were up to snuff. The Maas became the Meuse.
Before leaving the States, I joined Warmshowers.org, a peer-to-peer community where bicycle tourers put up other bicycle tourers. I put out a few requests for accommodations and Olivier offered up a room in his home in Liege. I accepted his generosity and met him at his townhouse. Olivier and I talked for a while, then he left me the keys to his home and introduced me to his roommate. Olivier had some business to take care of and left me to my own devices. I stashed my panniers and went exploring. Liege had a Santiago Calatrava-designed train station I wanted to see. I was now in Wallonia and the language was French. Liege had a busy industrial feel and ascertaining where the bike lanes were was a bit difficult. At one point, in an attempt to hop a curb, my front wheel slid and I did an end-over. I snapped my front deraileur lever and got a bit scratched up. I was pretty lucky it wasn't worse.
After getting sorted out, I searched for a bike shop to see if anyone had a friction shifter. I found a bike shop down in the Calatrava train station and they sent me to another place on the other side of the river. The second shop had a mountain bike thumb shifter that would work. They couldn't fit me in until the next afternoon. I worked my way back to Olivier's. I removed the front derailleur and decided to travel with 7 gears. One of the teeth on the large front sprocket had to be straightened from the fall. Up until this point, my front derailleur use had been minimal so I didn't miss it much.
I got some dinner in Olivier's neighborhood and hung out in the room he set up for me. I was a little shaken by the fall. I never saw Olivier again.
Today's ride: 20 miles (32 km)
Total: 310 miles (499 km)
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