My daughter, whom is always my inspiration, completed her first multi-day tour today. Departing Antwerp, she rode into Holland and then followed the Rhine river from the German border north of Cologne to Strasbourg, France. The weather was dry, but she rode from dawn to noon to escape the 100f weather this week. She finished in good spirits and eager to commute to work next week.

Was this a father and daughter tour? Either way, congratulations on raising the girl right.

Here in my corner of Rhode Island I'm seeing an increasing number of bikes ridden by both young and old and bike racks in front of businesses. The town beach and sport complex areas (soccer fields, baseball and soft ball fields), the town's summer daily camp activities for elementary school kids are seeing plenty of bike use for transportation. Bikes are everywhere. The best part is that bike use is being supported by town fathers and state highway departments.

I would have loved to have been there, but our vacation schedules didn't allow it. I was fortunate to have spent a long weekend with her in the Ardenne forest of southeast Belgium during May. I live in Wisconsin and she has been living in Belgium for the last three years.

She has started to plan the next tour, and I'm invited. It may be in the lakes of northern Italy. I rode in southern Italy in May and I know that Italy can provide an extra challenge for touring cyclist due to the steepness of the terrain. She lived in Milan for several years while attending University. I'll have to extensively train for a year before completing a long tour, but it would be a good endeavor to engage in.

She sent this photo of Strasbourg a few minutes ago;

I have shared my Fathers Day ride with my two sons (and elder grandson in the bike trailer) before. Now that he is four, my elder grandson has graduated to a bicycle, albeit training wheels, so we're getting there. Bicycling and music are two of many things I shared with the boys while they were growing up, and it is fun to watch my elder son passing things on to his boys.

Thank you for the pictures of Belgium -- my wife and I spent a weekend in Brussels years ago and greatly enjoyed beautiful buildings, good food, and delightful people who acted like they really wanted us there as visitors.

I have visited Lake Como in northern Italy north of Milan. It has to be some of the prettiest scenery on this earth. I think there should be a flair amount of hills in that area.

Belgium is a great destination. Bruges, Gent and other mid-evil towns are very scenic and interesting. The people speak English very well and don’t hesitate to be helpful. Some additional pictures from the Ardennes;

La Roche-en-Ardenne






Durbuy







Antwerp

It might make sense to do a trip that depends on the car but includes some of the best rides in northern Italy, including;

https://vimeo.com/278996876

That's cool that she picked up bicycling and is keeping at it in her adult years.

Q: Is she doing true camping, or using hostels/hotels along the way? From my limited exposure to continental Europe there really are not a lot of wide open spaces like we have here in the USA (especially the western USA), so you're never far from the next town when traveling around Europe. I've done a few bicycle camping trips, but I rather prefer using hostels and hotels to 'lighten the load' which allows me to cover more miles in a day OR cover the day's miles faster and allow stops at interesting places along the way. Cheers

They used Warmshowers: https://www.warmshowers.org

Warmshowers is an easy to use online network for hosts and touring cyclists. The global network of 85,000 members runs on goodwill and a ‘pay it forward’ philosophy, allowing riders to couch-surf while touring. The website is somewhat like Airbnb, except staying with a host is free. She traveled with an experienced touring cyclist and had a good experience with the Warmshowers network.

That is some spectacular scenery and Euros know how to enjoy it. I have a friend of Italian ancestry who has been going on holiday to Italy for a number of years. He likes it there so much he went and got Italian citizenship, I suppos with the idea of living there eventually. Then we have a German lady, (married to an American soldier), in our bike club. She told me her favorite part of Europe is Italy for the usual reasons; the food and the people. I have a theory that Roman success was only partly due to the legions. Just as effective in conquering all was Italian charm.

Italy really has it all: incredible natural scenery, historic architecture, fabulous food and generally good weather. Both my daughters spent several years in Italy, my cycling-tourist daughter is a graduate of the University of Milan. My wife and I go to Italy regularly and I keep a bike at the home where she lived as a child.