Riding in Belgium - Jeez!

pottssteve

Bonjour!

I ventured south of the border into Belgium this morning - bl00dy Nora! The roads are worse than Malaysia! And the wind's a shocker. At one point I was screaming down a hill trying to avoid numerous pot-holes the size of Lake Victoria while leaning at a 30 degree angle so as not to be blown off by a very stiff breeze. On top of that you need a postgraduate degree in cryptology in order to understand the road signs. Praise the Lord for my basic French language skills and the three elderly Belgians making their way to church who gave me directions otherwise I may still be riding around in circles...

All in all, great fun. I'll be back there next week.

Limburger

The lack of a government and general nonchalance has left Belgium with some truly horrible roads. I would be very careful, driving to Brussels last week there were pot holes that could be more accurately described crevasses. I think they did some damage to my car with hydro-pneumatic suspension and massive tyres . Dread to think how it would be on a bike.

Stick to Holland or go down to Limburg if you want a hill.

pottssteve

Limburger wrote:

The lack of a government and general nonchalance has left Belgium with some truly horrible roads. I would be very careful, driving to Brussels last week there were pot holes that could be more accurately described crevasses. I think they did some damage to my car with hydro-pneumatic suspension and massive tyres . Dread to think how it would be on a bike.

Stick to Holland or go down to Limburg if you want a hill.

Agreed, Limburger.

I live in Maastricht so am very close to the border. Driving down to Liege, as a passenger you can close your eyes and still tell when you hit Belgium by the change in the road surface! A colleague of mine broke down near Brussels last week and has been told, by a mechanic, I think, that the drive shaft has gone through the engine!!!! :shock:

I managed to avoid the worst of the gaping chasms in the tarmac as it was early in the morning so I was able to weave around the road without being run over. Even so it was rough, even on a cyclo-cross bike with 28mm tyres!


Steve

AndyRubio

Don't forget that failure to use a bike path if available can lead to a big on-the-spot fine. Where did you go?

(BTW Did you get your wheelers jersey?)

pottssteve

Hi Andy,

I cycled from Maastricht to Valkenburg via Bemelen, then to Schin Op Geul and Gulpen. From there to Teuven in Belgium, on to Hagelstein and then along a road called Bois de Loe which looked like nobody had filled in the holes left by the last 2 World Wars. It doesn't have cycle lanes. You know you're in trouble when the potholes go all the way across the road and you have to ride on the hard shoulder of the opposite lane to avoid them! No wonder there are bike mechanics in every town....Down into Warsage and then back onto the Developed World roads of the Netherlands at Mariadorp and back to Maastricht. I was out at 07.30 and home at 10.15, not bad considering I had to keep looking at my map. I only saw one copper and I was on the bike path at the time.

Naw, I didn't get the jersey - there's no point me joining while I'm overseas, which will probably be for a long time yet. Eddie obviously doesn't need the business!

Cheers,
Steve

AndyF16

I've never cycled in Liege area (hope to this summer/autumn) but I know some of the motorways are even atrocious

Roads around Charleroi can be a bit crappy but just the price of riding in such a great and otherwise cycle-friendly country