Riding Day 21- And I would bike 1000 miles

Hello all.  Day 21... I can't really believe we have already been biking for three weeks, on top of that today we hit 1000 miles. 1000 miles... Just incredible.  I had my doubts about wether or not I would really make it to that number, but I did and the end is in sight. Tomorrow on Day 22 we are leaving France, which means we are done with border crossings (aside from flying to Iceland and back home at the end of the trip).  Anyway I am getting ahead of myself so back to today, Day 21.  

Today we biked from Lille to St. Omer, an easy 41 miles... If only it were so easy.  Well actually it would have been so easy if not for the weather.  The riding was mostly flat, a few hills here and there, and the navigation easy (we made all of about three turns). But the weather made it worse, so much worse.  We spent the whole day biking into a very strong headwind, a wind that made Day 20 feel like a cake walk.  There were gusts that hit me that made it feel like if you stopped pedaling you would move backwards.  On top of this wind we had quite a bit of on and off rain, which luckily wasn't too bad (because everything else was worse).  All this being said, though, we made it to St. Omer dry and safe, so what more can you ask.  The riding overall was not the most eventful, a few towns and a lot of farm fields.  There were a few cool buildings along the way which was nice (see the one below).

 I do not want it to sound like the day was awful, there certainly were some highlights.  For example, breakfast was filling, large, and scrumptious.  We went to a little brunch place in Lille that did eggs, bacon, pancakes, bread, and yogurt all for one big brunch meal.  It was great and full of energy, the kind of meal we need for all the biking we are doing.  The owner of the little restaurant was interested in our trip and enjoyed how much we ate.  He even took pictures and posted them on the restaurant's Facebook page, which was neat (you can check it out on their page, the restaurant was called "Be Yourself", not really sure why they named a brunch place that... But that is beside the point).

Our host in St. Omer was awesome too.  We had a great time chatting about tour cycling, beer making, beer drinking, traveling, Iceland, and everything else that came to mind.  He made a delicious meal for us too of tortellini and veal.  He also introduced us to a handful of good French beers, and one particularly amazing beer.  It is made by a small brewery in North France and it tasted and smelled just like hickory smoked bacon cooking on an open fire in an old well loved cast iron pan early in the morning while you emerge from a tent in a dense pine wood forest with a slight chill and misty in the air.  This was one of those beers you couldn't drink too much of, but boy was it just delicious.

I think that is all I have for now.  It was all in all a hard, long day but it was good and ended on a big high note.  Tomorrow as I already mentioned we leave France, so I will leave you all. Best wishes and until next time.