Biking in Belgium: Discuss!
by Chris... on Mar 5, 2010 7:16 PM EST
35 comments
So I have me a road mappy and I can find the Muur with my iPhone, but generally how do you figure out where to ride? I think/hope that we will have time for some more leisurely rides, and I certainly plan to stroll up to Brugge from Gent one day, or maybe from Oudenaarde. In which case, hopping on the highway isn't going to work. Does anyone know of online resources or books you can buy over there which will direct you to a road you might actually want to ride on? Besides the famous climbs?
I am also interested in recommended rides, besides the obvy. And other ideas of stuff to do. Thanks!
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Belgium and Holland now, too, have something evil called
Fietsknooppuntennetwerk or Fietsnetwerk. Some, well, a lot of scenic cycling routes have been mapped and signposted with numbered vertices (knooppunt = vertex, netwerk = mesh/grid/network). No placenames anywhere. I hate it I hate it I hate it. Still, http://www.toerismevlaamseardennen.be/vlaamse_ardennen/fietsroutes.aspx Some routes downloadable as pdf or gpx but only after login. Sigh. http://www.toerismevlaamseardennen.be/vlaamse_ardennen/login.aspx choose registreren > bezoeker. A 1:50,000 cycling map of the Vlaamse Ardennen (the same map at different retailers) costs between €6 and €15.
A “knooppunt” sign:
At least the Dutch version has maps at every vertex:
I have all the maps for the fiets routes south of Amsterdam.
But they are all in Dutch and I was led to believe that there are no English versions.
Why would there be English versions? Gotta love that Dutch logic! :)
We rode from Antwerp to Laarne to Gent and Brugges. North of the Schelde the bike paths are mostly paths along the tops of dikes- super flat.
The terrain south of the Schelde is immediately hillier. We took the train from Laarne to Geraardsbergen with our bikes.
I could never find maps for Belgium, but the routes had standing panels maps for the most part with easy to decipher routing.
Have fun!
Also be aware on the Dutch maps- the route number sometimes vary because they’ll be numbered with a local route number that varies from the national route number.
Racing for Victory and Free Beer!
Around Oudenaarde, there are several loops that are start in the museum and then have color coded signs
for the route, all of them varying distances and number of bergs and you can find this on rvv.be. They also got a lot of 1-1.5 hour loops that can be combined.
Word of caution though: you want to invest in a map because you can get lost with the amount of roads there are.
+ million
A must is the Orange Route. Not to short, not too long. Steep cobbles, flat cobbles, the friggin Koppenberg! Only thing missing is the Muur, but you can hit that another time. Here is the diary I wrote after I got back last year.
Very interesting diary, thanks
Those cobbles look nasty
Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill (F. Coppi)
no prob
You can’t stop me from buying maps. And I have a Garmin.
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
I have the official RVV maps for the different routes.
Plus multiple other Michelin maps from my trip. Email me and i can send them out before you leave.
Canals
Just poking around Bikely and it looks like people list canal routes as safe, mellow, and OK for training. Obviously they vary but is this a typical strategy? If I’m going to Brugge from Gent I should find the canal?
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
It's sort of a cycling highway
A lot of them are indeed low on traffic or even exclusively for cyclists. Can become a bit boring: more or less the same view & straight ahead all the way. Will definitely save you from looking at signs or a map on every corner.
Dude, the canals lead the way!
Ride to any canal on the east side of Brugges and you’ll certainly find a placard map pointing the way. And if you ride to Antwerp, you’ll get to ride down the most cryptic of elevators on the north side of the Schelde, ride underneath it, and ride the elevator up on the other side and pop up in the middle of the fashion district in Antwerp.
And when I say fashion district, I mean FASHION district. All the major houses are represented! Buy the wifey something nicey.
Racing for Victory and Free Beer!
not quite the fashion district
you’ve got to get past a few bars, frituurs and the erotic chocolate shop first if it’s still there
I did a lot of this type of riding
on Graham Baxter’s Spring Classic’s week tour some years ago. We somehow rode 350 miles and then also attended the 3 races of the Flanders week. Good old Ooudenarde!
The roads and bike paths are there, no need to worry about getting on the highway. Yes, seek maps.
Lokking back, doing the 140km Randonee of the Ronde is pretty darn huge in my modest palmares. I have the diploma and the Brick Schotte medal, which I can wear anytime I want. It was a great way to relate to the race.
Envious. Envious..next year..the crown or the gutter.
Well it definitely doesn't have a strong self-identity
very diverse place.
March 14, 2010: The great one returns!
And that comes from a German
Shameless!
Gerrie Kneteman: If a football player falls he shouts for his mother, if a cyclist falls he yells for his bike.
diverse = weak identity?
I'm feverished, or the way you want to spell it
by plinytheelder on Mar 6, 2010 11:51 AM EST up reply actions
No, not at all
also I’m not saying Belgians don’t have strong identity’s I’m just not sure it is as Belgian, more so their cultural class, like Flemish or Walloon.
March 14, 2010: The great one returns!
you can follow the river from Oudenaaarde to Gent
Nice route seemed popular with the club runs last year when I was there
Check out CycleSport America
The recent issue with Wiggo on the cover … has a visitor’s guide to classics, Giro, TDF including where to stay and where to ride. It had some good info for Belgium, also said that if you visit the RVV museum they have a guide available with a number of marked routes covering the area races.
I will be interested to hear your post-trip report as I plan to follow your lead next year for a 40th b-day present.
Jens Voigt doesn’t know where you live, but he knows exactly where you will die.
MY bad
It’s actually the issue with “Cav: Best Ever Sprinter?” on the cover.
Jens Voigt doesn’t know where you live, but he knows exactly where you will die.
nope
frame pump. And info about where a good shop is.
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
I suppose
I could bring an air cartridge pump (w/o the cartridge)
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
I have a smallish pump that fits in my
shirt pocket and can get to 100 psi. I prefer it over the co2 ones with the tubies. If I have to change an actual tire on the road, I would rather use the hand pump. I have tufo sealant to use first though.
My tubies have latex tubes which bleed air so they need to be topped off every day or two.
We will need
to find shops with real floor pumps. Probably about as hard as finding beer or chocolate.
"The only pain I got time for is the pain I put on fools who don't know what time it is." Edvald Boasson Hagen
Not sure
I think you can find this sort of stuff on Google Earth plus you can see the elevation change.
got a flat on my rear
tubie yesterday that will need to be repaired. I am now re-thinking about bringing tubies and may just go for the convenience of clinchers. I don’t have high volume clinchers and I’m a high volume guy (110Kg..). Will I hate riding 23mm’s over there?
My tubies that I bought
were 24’s and are about as beefy as 25mm clinchers. Stinks to get a flat, but I suppose flats are random (and I rode 22 tubies all of last year without a single flat).
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