A Day of Remembrance




Today was a very tiring but amazing day! We left at 8:45 and cycled for 1 km, where there was a bus and a trailer waiting for us.  The guys got the trailer loaded up with all 25 bikes.  It was interesting to see their system to load and secure two tiers of bikes.  

We rode about 40 km to Ypres, where we unloaded the bikes, ready for the day.  Our goal was to cycle a 38 km loop around Ypres.  This area, Flanders Fields, contains many important sites, battlefields and cemeteries from WW1.

Our first stop was an area where we walked in to see a crater pond that had been created where a trench was dug beneath a bunker and the bunker was then blown up.  Then we cycled past Hill 60 with lines of trenches still evident in the hillside.

Our next stop was at Hill 62 which held a memorial to Canadian soldiers.

Then we stopped at the Front Line Hooghe Open Air Museum  to see more trenches and areas littered with artillery and armaments. From there we rode another 20 minutes to the Paschendale museum.  

We had 1.5 hours to view the museum and have a picnic lunch.  The museum was very informative and moving. Another 15 minutes of riding took us to the Tyne Cot Cemetery that contained the graves of thousands of soldiers who died in the war at Ypres, including many Canadians.

We also stopped to see the statue of the Brooding soldier. This statue was erected to honor the many Canadian soldiers who died in a surprise gas attack by the Germans.

We also stopped at a German cemetery where many very young German men were buried.  Our final stop was at the monument dedicated to John McCrae, the man who wrote, “In Flanders fields”.

We were all happy to roll into Ypres at 5:00 pm.  The sun was shining and we looked forward to sitting in an outside cafe and enjoying it!  We split up into small groups to go for dinner and do some shopping or looking around.  It was quite busy with tourists and lots of school groups.  At 7:30 we regrouped, rode our bikes through the Mennen Gate and parked the bikes to find a place to watch the ceremony.  Since the end of WW1 until now (except for during WW2), every night at 8:00 pm, the Last Post is played at this gate.  Tonight there were LOTS of observers.  The ceremony also included several bands that played various songs in honor of soldiers who fought for us. It was quite moving.


At 8:20 we got back on our bikes for a quick 1 km ride to the bus and trailer that transported us back to the boat.  We were all very happy to roll up to the Quo Vadis at 9:30 pm.  It was a fabulous but VERY emotional and tiring day!! We rode 42 km in total, through beautiful farmlands. The sun shone all day long!

I will post pictures tomorrow, too tired







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