It was the morning after the night before ... The Toon beat Union St Gilloise and I had celebrated in town, but being a good lad was in by 1am.
By 10am I had breakfast, packed and panniers loaded and was on the road.
The route out of Brussels to the South East wad so much easier than cycling in from the north.
After 4 miles I stopped to photograph a fox mural and when I turned round there was a second.
Next I had a great few miles through a forest before emerging at a wooden covered bridge across the ring road.
The next 5 miles took me through the landscaped gardens and Royal Palace of Teruven which were starting to show their autumn colours.
Another few miles and I arrived in the Grote Markt in Leuven vang on Noon to see a golden figure strimjnv a golden bell on the roof of the cathedral to sign midday.
The town hall in Leuven is really fantastic, full of carved stone figures on the massive facade.
The day deteriorated a bit after that with mile after mile of small country lanes and villages.
After a steady but easy climb for 20 miles, the last 2 miles plummetted 500 feet i to Liege and the Meuse valley. I did not benefig from this however as the gradient went steeply down a cobbled street were it was impossible to ride at speed.
Instead I bounced quite violently down to the ring road at which point the cycle track dipped under the motorway on a crazy switchback track which took me into the centre and an eady last mile to my hotel.
I was in time to wander round town before sunset and take some pics including a Pro Palestjne protest in the main square.