Belgium

the ferry

Might not be the obvious place for a family holidy......but.....i heard it's like a cycling mecca.
Thinking of carting my lot over and doing a few town centre crits, very cheap apparantly.
Anyone done this?

LangerDan

No, but a friend has. The crits / kermesses are very, very fast (27-28mph for 75 miles) and the sprints are chaotic as the prize money goes way, way down so you might find a bunch sprint for 50th place and a tenner. All the stories about handling and echelons are true too.

Having said that, the payoff is that you get good racing with good crowds and nobody whinging that the racing is stopping them from getting home to see Corrie.

(I have a sneaking suspicion that if you head across with a non-Belgian licence, you'll be dropped in with the first cats, even if you're only a third cat at home. But I might just have dreamed that bit)

andyp

I lived there for 6 months and can only confirm a lot of what LangerDan has said. The crits are beyond fast and my abiding memory is hearing Scotty's voice in my head saying "the engines cannae take it captain!". They were way, way faster than anything I'd ever done in the UK (which included a Premier Calendar stage race on one insane occasion).

Not wanting to put a downer on things, but to this day in shocks me that cycling is so popular in Belgium. The weather's crap, the terrain is mainly flat and the road surfaces are shocking. (It was commonplace to have a section of cobbles in a lot of crits - certainly the ones I rode in northern Flanders). Why would you ride a bike when you have all this to contend with?

Anyway, I still love going there and away from the bike there is a massive amount to do and see, especially in great towns like Gent and Antwerp. The people are fantastic and the food and drink is superb.

Odelay!

I am currently living in Belgium (Brussels, to be precise) - I don't have any advice to add but additional question... how can I find out about which entertaining small races/kermesses to watch? I have been to some of the Spring classics (Rvv, L-B-L, het volk) but would like to visit an authenic local race, and practise my flemish with the locals? (okay, not really that last point). Is there a good website or anything like that?
Cheers

the ferry

I heard you buy a local paper and work out where the races are.
It all seemed good fun, sign on the line, get changed in a local cafe or someones back kitchen!
The racing will be too fast but that's all part of the craic

Don't know if i could convince family it's better than a sunny beach/pool though

Mar ge

Odelay! wrote:

I am currently living in Belgium (Brussels, to be precise) - I don't have any advice to add but additional question... how can I find out about which entertaining small races/kermesses to watch? I have been to some of the Spring classics (Rvv, L-B-L, het volk) but would like to visit an authenic local race, and practise my flemish with the locals? (okay, not really that last point). Is there a good website or anything like that?
Cheers

Odelay: maybe try http://www.wielerbondvlaanderen.be/. It's obviously in Vlaams but straightforward enough.

Indeed cycling is huge huge huge here & I love that
I can go out in the evening and randomly find someone who is going at a good training pace to ride with. At weekends I can take part in a well organised tour or sportive for 3 euros (drinks & snacks included!).

Re: the kermesses. Damn fast on crappy narrow roads but it's a cool idea.

Odelay!

Cheers for the link,

I'll have to brush up on my Flemish