Along waterways...again

I know I posted some rides along various waterways - rivers or canals - before. But the flat terrain without any hills is just too good for basic training to get into shape for the season. So again a route along Zenne and the Mechelen-Leuven Canal I did some days ago.

Starting out towardsVilvoorde,the first waterway is the Brussels-Rupel-Schelde canal. Nothing special and quite industrial surroundings. It's Vilvoorde after all.

In order to go to the Zenne, follow the signs "Canal Route" after the first lock on the canal. When you reach the railway tunnel. Now turn left, through the tunnel, and immediately right again and follow "Kleinestraat" until Hombeek. Here the nice Jagpaad (see also here) starts. All the way up to Zennegat, where Zenne, Dijle and the Leuven-Mechelen-Canal join forces to become the river Rupel which only some 10 km afterwards flows into the Schelde. A typical "Belgian solution" if you ask me.

Now back towards Mechelen:

The Canal near Mechelen

Cycling back along the Leuven-Mechelen Canal might seem boring to some. And it can in fact be boring. But it's a good way to exercise without stop and go - without cars along some beautiful landscape:

Leuven-Dijle Canal

I decided to do some short cut and not ride all the way to Leuven. Possibly had enough of all that waterways. Cycling back along the usual HSL-route track and into Woluwe. Looking forward to that tour in summer. Although it can get quite crowded on the cycling path.

Amateur cycling races in Belgium

Spring Classics

Sure, the cycling year starts with the "Tour down Under". But is anybody (apart from Cadel Evans) really interested? Ask a Belgian and they'd tell you the year starts with "the classics": Milan-San Remo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Four of the five "monuments of cycling". And apart from that there are still numerous other (semi) classics like Amstel Gold Race, Gent–Wevelgem (which Bernhard Eisel won in 2010 ;-), La Flèche Wallonne, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke, Scheldeprijs, Brabantse Pijl, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, you name it...

The good thing is, you can ride most of those the day before on the very same route that the Pros ride the following day. The main ones are part of the now called "Skoda Classic Challenge". It is super well organised and given the great success in recent years participation is now limited (to some 25,000 or so). This is ok. When I did the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 2011 (and 2008 and 2013) it was really too much on the cobble stone hills. 90% of the cyclists wouldn't make it uphill (22% gradient max) and block those who would have liked to cycle (like myself) on most hills.

The "Muur van Geraardsbergen" in the 2011 Ronde van Vlaanderen cyclo

As mentioned above I did the Ronde in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013. The 150 odd kilometer version apart from 2008 when temperatures barely came above 0 degrees and it was raining - typical for the Belgian classics, but hey, I'm not paid for it, so I only did the 75k version in 2008.

At the "Muur" in the Ronde 2011

The Ronde is really great. Well organised, great atmosphere, quite some spectators and spectacle around it. And lots of beer - after the finish line.

Bank van de Post Cycling Tour

However, apart from the main classics there is the "Bank van de Post Cycling Tour" which has lots of organised events as well. They are no real "races" as no time is taken apart from some uphill sections. This gives the whole event a certain relaxed atmosphere. About half of them follows the Flemish classics, the other one is in the Ardennes. Needless to say that the Ardenne ones are the more scenic ones. I did the Tour de Namur in 2012 and 2013 and can only recommend it. It is easy to reach by train from Brussels and the route is quite good. Nice climbs that are for once longer than a half a kilometer (not the Alps, though) and good organisation. And the final climb - after 160km - is up to the Citadel of Namur. Of course on cobble stones.

On the final climb to the Citadel of Namur in 2013

I also did the "La chouffe classic" in 2011 and this was even better. The landscape was just ideal for cylcing. Decent climbs, nice countrysides, good organisation - and a free "la chouffe" at the brewery just before finishing. Altough this was really tough with more than 3,000 m of climbing in total.

Just as tough as the Peter van Petegem Classic in Aalst which I did in 2013. 165km with all the "Ronde" climbs (Koppenberg, Paterberg, Muur, Bosberg). This was really the toughest so far. But also good since it starts in Aalst, not so far away from Brussels.

After work cycling Brussels

A 45k round that can easily be done afterwork - with the right equipment when it is dark. I have a quite strong headlight with which I can ride even if there is no street light. The 5€ decathlon one will not do. And even if there is street light in the countryside I'd recommend a really strong light. I got a B+M Ixon Pure with 30 Lux that lasts for about 5-6 hours.

The track and map is available here.




I like this way out of town after work because there is a reasonable bike path as from Woluwe Shopping and traffic on Broqueville is not too bad, even at rush hour. From the airport I took the bike path that runs along the highspeed train to Leuven, just until Veltem Beisem. From there a road with hardly any traffic goes to Nederokkerzeel.

from Veltem-Beisem to Nederokkerzeel

This quiet little town has several well paved small country roads that go back towards Brussels. I chose the most direct one, although without any street light. It runs directly towards the airport.

towards the airport

From there I took the same way back. It's just very convenient, especially in the dark.

When I started riding at night as well I felt a bit uneasy in the beginning. But so far I had no problems at all being seen (provided some proper lighting and my neon winter jersey). In fact it's even more secure than during daytime hours I feel.

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.

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".