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:

First ride 2015 - finally

As late as never I started the new year's cycling season - last day of January. At least not a month without a ride since 2010.

And it was nothing special. 45 kilometres past Vilvoorde and back via "the Zemstes" (Zemst-Laar and Zemst-Bos) and Haren into Brussels. Riding deliberately slow to keep the heartbeat steady around 120-125 bpm resulted in a shameful average speed of just 23 kph. But it felt good to be outside again and see that in recent years the number of winter cyclists increased. Similar to the overall number of cyclists in and around Brussels. Hope this has an impact on the ridiculous obligation to use these "cycle paths".

No GPS track or photos this time except for this one where I had to stop anyway:

Wait! There was a road here last year?!

Afterwork ride to Leuven

It might not be the Alps but there are at least some little hills in the area between Brussels and Leuven. In this ride I tried to go for as many of those up and down streets as possible in an afterwork ride. Taking the route out via the Deutsche Schule in Kraainem I quickly arrived at the old Hippodrome of Sterreebeek. Now transformed into a golf course it used to be a top place for horse races in Belgium, together with the one in Boitsfort and Groenendael. But three horse racing courses all withing 10 km or so? No wonder they all went bankrupt towards the end of the 20th century. Probably a very Belgian solution to have three courses so close to each other: one for each region? I wouldn't be surprised.

Oudergemseweg (source: https://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/26023097)

Anyway, as of the old Hippodrome, the countryside starts. The "Oudergemseweg" (picture) is one of the best ways to get out towards the east. Although it has now - for whatever reason - been opened to cars (Belgium!) it is still quiet enough to enjoy. And from there it's relatively easy to go down (and up, and down, etc.) to Leefdaal.

Up in the hills above Leefdaal another car free road, the "Langestraat" leads all the way to the western part of Leuven. cycling past the Arenberg Campus and the Hospital, yet another car free road (or rather a path, see the picture below) leads towards the Highspeedline cyclepath. But only after a great, winding downhill road into Winksele.

Albertcanal

I did this tour some weekends ago but so far didn't find time to post it. So here it is: to the Albertcanal and back:

at Zennegat (http://bit.ly/1yMXsqe)

It sounded like a good idea: cycle along some waterways to Lier and further on to the Albertcanal and back along some former railway tracks that have now been turned into a cycling path, towards Aarschot - and then some more cycling along the river of the Demer. So far so good. The way to Lier is flat but far from boring (same as in this tour). The scenic car-free path along Zenne and Nete to Lier is still one of my favourites.

From Lier I followed the "Kleine Nete" River to the Albertcanal.
 

This was an excellent 20k or so of cycling, all along this winding small river. Really great, but a bit far from Brussels for an everyday ride.

Similar to cylcing along Zenne or Nete to Lier but with far less cyclists/pedestrians. And also no villages to cross, so it was more or less 20k straight on, full speed. Great stuff.

There are some beautiful old locks along the Kleine Nete - and a bigger one when reaching the Albertcanal. Apparently the river continues flowing underneath the canal (don't ask me how that works). Belgians surely have some expertise when it comes to inland waterways.

The Albercanal is quite a change to the canals around Brussels. It's massive. Really. And lots of traffic.  Cycling is so and so. Due to the heavy vessel traffic there's lots of industrial sites along the canal. Not scenic, no good tarmac and so on. But it's just for 10k or so. Quite bearable.

the Albertcanal

cycling path following the alignment of an old railway line

After the Albertcanal I was already looking forward to speeding along the old railway line down to Aarschot. But the cycling path allowed all but speeding. Not because of too much traffic but because of slowing down every 500m or so when crossing a road because of barriers on both sides of the crossing. In addition the trees to either side of the path were great for some shade on this hot day but their roots had already ruined the tarmac and made the path quite bumpy.

The way back from Aarschot was much better then. Along the Demer. A perfect, brand new cycling path, all the way to Werchter village.

The Demer close to Werchter (http://bit.ly/VmKDUw)

If it hadn't been for the headwind all the way back to Brussels would have been a piece of cake.

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:

Land van Asse

Profiting from this Sunday's spring weather, I decided to do a little variation of the "Land van Asse Route". There are some unpaved parts of this route that are not suitable for road bikes. So I made some adaptations.


Bernd joined me on this one. We left Brussel via Meise. On the Heirbaan the first short "Kasseienstrok" gives some Ronde van Vlaanderen feeling. And a really nasty one. The cobblestones are in bad shape. Even if it is just some 200m this one is quite tough.

For the rest this first part of the tour is good for rolling on relatively flat, well paved and hardly-any-traffic country roads. With the northern Brussels "skyline" (Atomium and Jette apartment blocks) will visible in the distance the feeling is already all countryside. For a good reason, Brussegem, Kobbegem and the following  kilometres are really rural, despite the fact that the ring is just a few kilometres away.

Panoramic view on Heirbaan in Meise

A bit further down the road, the Weyenberg in Merchtem

So with  Brussegem reached, the "Land van Asse Route" signposts will guide us trough back country roads and lots of up-and-down the small "Hellingen" - again a bit like on the Ronde but with less cobblestones. Fortunately. The only thing to pay attentioin to is not to always follow the signposts. E.g. in Kobbegem. The "official" route leads to an unpaved road, not suitable for roadbikes.

Anyway, the only not so great part to follow is a short part along the N9, the Gentsesteenweg into Asse. For the rest, I really enjoy this tour for the small roads, short but steep hills and even the short cobblestone parts. It's Flanders after all, so there has to be some "Kasseien", no?

relatively good "Kasseienstrok", the Strijdlandstraat in Merchtem

Spring cycling on Eeckhoutweg in Merchtem - while real Austrians should be skiing

Back in Brussegem, I decided to take another way back to Brussels and see if the new cycling path along Brusselsesteenweg is any good. Well, it is. Narrow but excelent new asphalt. But just until Wemmel where it's the usual concrete blocks again. Awful. But at least the way back into Brussels from Wemmel is a good new discoery. Looking forward to leave wintercycling behind.

Weekend ride along Zenne, Rupel and Schelde

This great sunny Sunday I decided to go for the first 100k ride this season. A relatively flat one, along the rivers Zenne (yes, the one the runs underneath Brussels. Belgians! Why would you cover up a river that runs through a city? I'll never get that. It's what is missing in Brussels), Rupel and Schelde.

The GPS track and map is available here.




Leaving via Vilvoorde means the little climbs around Grimbergen are at the end of the tour - maybe not the best idea. However, once you are at Eppegem you already cross the river Zenne for the first time but the cycling path along the river is either non existing or non-paved. Only at Hombeek, after about 25k you reach the nicely paved "Jagpaad" that runs along the river Zenne. From here it is 40k pure cycling pleasure along the rivers.

along the Zenne at Zennegat. There's a nice little inn just left of the Bridge

for once there's good road surface in Belgium

A few kilometers down the road I passed through Klein-Willebroek which is a nice, quiet little village at the Rupel. Also nice for walking (Hazewinkel, Arkenbos) and having a drink on Sundays but hard to get to by car.

As from there it becomes a bit less scenic and less good roads. Through the industrial area of Willebroek, along the Rupel and the canal there are, however, some nice areas:

why would you make such a bikepath?

However, from there it gets better along the Schelde. A good 20k ride on nice surface until scenic Sint-Amands. You can use the free ferrys all along the way and change from one side of the Schelde to the other. Around Sint Amands it gets quite busy on Summer weekends. Understandable if you see the nice cafes and restaurants along the river. Like Klein-Willebroek I can also recommend Sint-Amands for a weekend trip out of Brussels.

Sint Amands (Foto copyright Van Grasdorff)

The way back to Brussels, some 30k or so, follows quiet back country roads and has some hills at the and towards Grimbergen. The way into the city is relatively easy.