Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Cycling in Belgium

Belgium cycling map courtesy of fietsroute.org
This week I've been planning a trip to Belgium towards the end of the month. I haven't been there before, nor do I know anyone who has been or anyone from there so I figured it would be the perfect place to go explore. We'll be taking the Eurostar from central London through the Chunnel, through northern France and into Belgium, stopping in Brussels. A 2 and a half hour journey by train is a lot nicer and more relaxed than 2 and a half hours of dealing with security and customs at an airport for a 40 minute flight.

While researching how to get around northern Belgium I found that they have an extensive cycling network with more then 2500 miles of cycling paths criss-crossing throughout just the northern half of the country. Most of these are long distance routes cutting through most of the major towns and cities, and even crossing borders into Amsterdam and the Netherlands. This is a great contrast to what is seen in the US where you're lucky to have a narrow bicycle lane in a city. Admittedly some cities have nice networks for cyclists such a Denver/Boulder and Portland Oregon, but they pale in comparison to a country wide paved network of paths set apart from the larger vehicles like cars and trucks.

I'll be sure to post a few pictures if I see anything of interest. I'm not entirely sure what to expect from this country other than cycling, chocolate, and beer. Actually those 3 things should make for an exciting trip.

10 comments:

  1. Beer, Chocolate and Cycling? What more could you want?? Besides a little sexy time!

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  2. cycling, chocolate, and beer ... great now i want to go also!

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  3. nice you also like cycling I cannot wait more for tour de france

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  4. wow, so cool. I am into biking too. This Sunday I am doing a 50 km bike ride in Toronto for heart and stroke

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  5. cycling, chocolate, and beer. sounds pretty awesome to me

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  6. dude, travel as much of those trails as you can, then once your trip is over post the same map again on your blog with all the trails marked that you traveled!

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  7. Sounds great, have a really good time. Can't wait to see the photos!

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  8. love the blog mmmm

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  9. those are some long ass routes

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