Today was all about the boat escalators and elevators. We unexpectedly saw the escalator version from quite a distance as our entire route followed a wide, mostly straight, water way, and it looked like a freeway running into the sky.
A closer view revealed a system of two large bays set side-by-side on two enormous ramps. The bays are large enough to accommodate the large barges we’d been seeing since we left the city, which we reasoned were cheaper than air or land travel for heavy commodities. A barge enters the bay, and the entire bay is lifted by a system of pulleys 67.73 metres (222.2 ft).
Once at height, the barge crosses a 7 km stretch via what’s basically a water bridge, which the cycle route also did. It then descends again, this time via an elevator, where the same large bays are raised and lowered directly 73.15 metres (240.0 ft).
Reece and Anne followed a similar route, staying just past Mons after Brussels, but would have been on main roads so they would have missed this. I imagine there would have been a record marveling on the engineering feat had they seen it – Reece worked as a civil engineer for Pittsburg-Des Moines Steel.
Lowlights of today were some lost time trying to buy La Vache Qui Rit (so spreadable!) at Lidl (so many people!) and a sketchy detour through a refinery and industrial roads we took to correct it.
Highlights included kicking off the day with two perfect coffees and a pastry from OR Espresso in Brussles, and finding a strawberry and jam stand just before lunch. Roadside lunch of bread, jam, the last of the Gouda, cherries, and a peach – can’t beat it. Rolled in to Mons a bit past four, just beating the rain.
Total distance/elevation to date: 1809km / 10’973m
Day 23 Route and Stats
The 1948 Tour 
Leave a comment