Rough first day

Mielle Nichols put me up for two night and cooked the most delicious meals I have had in a long time. As though she was my personal gourmet chef.  The bike took 2.5 hours to assembly and tune; the bike is without question a woman.  After a sumptuous breakfast Mielle dropped me off at the Ravel rails-to-trails bike path. Several miles down the road I segwayed onto the canal path.  After three hours of riding, I was in desperate need of a WC, saw a horse stable, parked my bike in the paddock, called around to no avail and finally found a house next door whee the owner kindly let me use his facilities.  I came back to the stable and found my bike missing!On the verge of freaking out, an a white haired man came to the stable door and pretended he knew nothing.  I came through the gate and questioned further, looking as I talked I found my bike in one the stalls. The man became verbally abusing claiming (in French) that I had trespassed.  Explaining my desperate need for a bathroom had no effect. He threaten to call the police, blowing the whole thing out of proportion. I bid him auvoir as politely as I could, realizing he was a class A -------.  In the future, regardless of the plight of my lower extremities, I will lock my bike and put on the motion alarm.
     After gaining my composure with several miles of riding, I was asking directions and realized to my dismay that I had followed the wrong branch of the canal.  Bernard, a local bicyclist amazingly rode back with me ten miles and put me back on track. A twenty mile mistake isn't the first time for me. With the new course came a strong headwind and a light sprinkle of rain. A cool and cloudy mushroomed into a nasty day.  Twenty knot winds slowed me down to a crawl.  Slogging along, buffeted side to side and rain in the face was compounded by several detours to get around various construction projects.  What I hoped would be a day around forty miles ended up being fifty-eight.  The scenery was nice along with these massive machines housed in huge buildings, designed to raise and lower canal barges, avoiding the need for multiple locks.  These elevators were in stark contrast to the scenic pastoral canals. Kind of errie.
    After hours of bucking the headwinds and spitting rain, I rolled into Mons, Belgium, found an auberge (hostel )and settled in.....my aching body!  Fortunately, my room designed for three was all mine. A hot shower, a good snooze and a delicious dinner in a restaurant off the main square brought me back to life. My rear is soar but it will toughen up with the days to come. Tomorrow, Fifty-five miles to Dunkirk might be a stretch but let's see I how I feel at sunrise.  Dunkirk is the official starting point for my ride along the coast of France.