Cycling in Brussels

I try to avoid the STIB if possible. OK, the Metro works but the network is too small to reach most points of interest within Brussels. Buses and trams are just too unreliable. I never understand the Belgians waiting paitently for the bus that never comes: timetables are rather indicative. Also the realtime displays don't work. In my hometown we have these realtime displays at busstops since the early 1990 and they are accurate. Brussels seems to be another world. Again.

(By the way, I also like the new complaints part of the STIB website: they ask you if you want to have an answer to your complaint! This is so Bruxelloise.)

This is why I use the bike for getting around. Also for going to work. Not surprisingly this is made complicated by the lack of or inadequate bicycle infrastructure. Even new constructions of bike lanes end at curbstones or have signposts planted in the middle of it. I put some example here and explained why the "fietspad" is not suitable for road bikes.

Recently I came accross this hillarious video. It exagerates, definitly, but gets to the point of why infrastructure has an impact on the use of cycles in urban transport. And whoever has been in morning traffic in Brussels (anywhere) knows that this city has a bad problem concerning urban transport.

What I miss in this video is the problem with blocked bike lanes by cars parked without giving a ...

The video is inspired by some New York guy who went one step further: crashing into cars wrongly parked on the bike path. Probably a bad idea in Brussels to crash into the king of the road. I fear that even if a car is behaving wrongly in traffic it is always right compared to other means of transport. See also this story. Unbelievable.

Around the airport

I didn't have much time for a big ride this Saturday so I took this rather uninspired tour around the airport. The taste of sweet kerosene:

I did this on Saturday this weekend just after heavy rainfalls. The bike would suffer. But it is still winter so I was on my "bad weather bike". One of the criteria for the new flat was to have a decent place to clean the bike. Not a cellar or garage. The courtyard and the water hose really are a quick and easy alternative to cleaning indoors. So rain is a bad excuse for laziness.

very close to IKEA, yet countryside.

The way out through Nossegem and Sterrebeek is unspectacular, yet good to ride, safe for some passages on these concrete roads and unuseable "fietspad" through Nossegem. Just don't use it.

In Perk I passed the picturesque Kasteel de Ribaucourt which is unfortunately not open to the public. The area around it, the Hellebos, is nice for Sunday afternoon walks (and a beer or coffee at Chalet Lillebroeck). A good alternative to the Tervuren Park or Bois de la Cambre without the masses.

Back via Houtem (probably the ugliest village in the area - or is it Peutie?) into Brussels where surprisingly only minor bike cleaning was necessary:

Cyclepath and "Code de la Route"

When I first came to Belgium, I was shocked by the ridiculous bike-paths in the land of Eddy Merckx. They are obligatory to use, even if you might seriously endanger others, yourself or destroy your equipment. I collected some pictures of horrible stone paved bike paths (with loose stones of course). I especially fear those alongside front doors of houses, with no room to go in case somebody steps out the door. 

All this is even more horrible given the "Code de la Route" which - surprise surprise - is very much focused on cars. Thanks, Belgium. The bike paths are obligatory without exception. What a contrast to Austria where on a road bike you are even allowed to ride next to each other in a group on the normal road. My favourite part in the "Code de la Route": 

• "Les cyclistes ne reçoivent pas la priorité sur un passage destiné aux cyclistes."

In principle the "Code de la Route" makes the use of bike path obligatory as soon as there are the round blue road signs. However, the very same article specifies that this is only the case if the route is "praticable". Now, there is some room for interpretation of what is and what is not "praticable" but I generally avoid bike paths. The result is usually the klaxon (which btw is also not allowed in such a situation according to the Code de la Route..). 

In a few cases cars nearly ran me over when overtaking (with some few centimetres distance) or did break right in front of me on purpose. I was also forced to stop a few times by some idiots. Just  ignoring is probably the best. No use arguing that the Code de la Route makes bike paths only  obligatory if they are "praticable". 

Now some examples of what is absolutely not "praticable" for road bikes:

The infamous "D7 roadsign". This bike path is still one of the better ones...

Praying nobody steps out the front door.

those bloody curbs ruined my wheels just after 2 years

perfectly safe, perfectly "praticable"

Remember, obligatory...

classic

another classic

and some genuine Belgian solutions:

New wheels

With the Mavic Ksyrium Elite broken after a bit more than 2 years it was time to decide for new wheels. It was really disappointing to see that the 500+ € Mavic wheels are not durable at all. Even on Belgian roads this

should not happen. Bad Mavic quality and what a waste of money for those expensive wheels.

So no more Mavic wheels for me. And with the absence of mountains in Belgium, lightweight is also not the most important issue. I decided to look for aerodynamic high profile carbon wheels. I did not want to spend 1000€ or more on wheels for the terrible Belgian roads. Luckily I found Planet X wheels from the UK: 500€ including shipment. Great deal I guess. And in addition they weigh even less than what the producer claims: 1750g. So more or less the same than the Mavic Cosmic Carbone wheels but for half the price. In you face Mavic!

It's mainly because of the looks and sound of the high profile carbon wheels that I bought them. A normal pair of wheels from DT Swiss or Easton would have been cheaper and lighter. But cycling is a lot about style!

So far I only did 150k (Ename Classic) on them. It felt and sounded great. However, I doubt they make me much faster. But they look great:

Getting out of Brussels

It took me some time to find good ways to get out of town on the bike without being stuck in car traffic on the main axis. Especially when riding after work in rush hour. I collected some routes I personally prefer. They are on less busy, yet good to ride streets and you can leave the city in almost all directions. I have so far not found a good route out of town (north)west (Molenbeek, Koekelberg). Unless you want to go on Chausée de Gand or Ninove between tramway tracks and macho drivers you better avoid that area.

Of course one possibility is to take the bike on the metro and go to Erasmus, Heysel or Stockel. Definitely worth if you want to avoid traffic but you are not faster than biking.

My favourite routes are either alongside the canal (south towards Halle or north towards Vilvoorde) or along the highspeed rail line towards Leuven. I linked some of my GPS tracks below, starting from rather easy to find places in the city.

So the canal towards Halle is easily reachable more or less via Parc Duden. Bd. Van Haelen and Paepsem normally are not busy. Once at the canal you can either stay there (although the pavement gets really rough some kilometers past Halle) and go to Ronqiueres (or even further) or the Pajottenland is easily accessable on the right side (or hilly Beersel/Alsemberg) on the left.

To go to the Pajottenland directly just follow Bd. Van Haelen and Paepsem to the canal, cross it and head towards parc des Etangs/ Parc de Pede and a nice quite little road that leads you to nice little village Sint Anna Pede (the church apparently appears on some Bruegel painting).

Another way to the Pajottenland is via the Canal and Ikea. Cross the Canal at the lock to the right side and immediatly after the motorwaybridge turn right. Looks like it leads to nowhere but eventually you will head towards St. Pieters Leeuw, a nice little village at the beginning of the Pajot.

Altough I don't like the south of Brussels too much due to the dense population, traffic and bad roads (and the almost impossible to cross Forêt des Soignes - unless you take that awful "cyclepath" that runs right next to the Luxembourg motorway E411 or the even worth one at Chaussée de la Hulpe). However, there are some ways to easily get to Alsemberg, or even cross the Foret des Soignes on paved roads towards La Hulpe, or Hoeilaart. From either of these three routes you have access to the quite hilly parts of Brabant wallon. And there is even a way to avoid cycling along the E411 to get to Jezus-Eik and then further on to Overijse or Wavre.

Apart from the awful Avenue de Tervuren there are some easy ways to go to the east (Leuven, Mechelen area). Either past the airport and along the highspeed railway line (which I can really recommend) or via Wezembeek and Moorsel. Both are along Av. de Broqueville from Montgomery but there is normally a reasonable amount of traffic.

So finally towards the flat north of Brussels. Again you have the choice of riding nicely along the canal towards Vilvoorde (and further on to the Schelde river) or other ways like the quiet Haren route or more towards Grimbergen, either via Meise or Wemmel. Altough it can be annyoing along Bd. Schmidt it still is ok to get out towards the flat north.

Where to go

Road biking? Definitely not within Brussels. Car drivers in the city still think they own the streets. A mixture of all the world's driving styles together with poor city planning has turned Brussels into a biking nightmare. Things only gradually change. Besides there are only a few roads suitable for road biking within the city.

So you'll have to leave Brussels. But where are the best areas? I suggest: go west. The Pajottenland in the west of Brussels is probably the best spot for road biking. Great roads, gentle hills and best of all: little traffic due to the low population density. The best area to go is around Gooik.

Also worth going is the north, ranging from Asse to Mechelen. Disadvantage: no hills, so it could become rather boring. However, the great advantage is to have lots of waterways and rivers to ride along on nicely paved cyclpath (Schelde, Brussels canal, Leuven-Mechelen canal and the Zenne to some extend).

The east towards Leuven is mixed. Main disadvantage is the poor roads (concrete slabs! why on earth would you make such roads, Belgians!) and to some extend the higher traffic volumes. However, there are some nice spots.

The south is probably the worst spot to cycle due to the heavily populated suburbs, the bad roads and the Forêt de Soignes/Zoniënwoud which is hard to cross on proper roads.

More details in the "routes" section in the menu above and "how to get out of town".