Mapping route for Flanders

shing83

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone can help me. A mate and I are looking to do a loop starting from Ghent and taking some of the cobbled climbs around Flander, namely the Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, Koppenberg, Taaienberg, and the Muur van Geraardsbergen. However, plotting a route is proving tricky, particularly as it's hard to know what the roads look and feel like in terms of other road traffic, as ideally we'd pick the quietest routes possible.

So, for those that have done a similar ride, can you point me in the direction of routes or suggestions, that would be great.

Shing

giropaul

Look at fietsroute.org and check out the Belgian pages. Belgium has loads of marked routes, named and/or numbered. No need for gps at all :-) . For instance, near Ypres is a route that takes in Kemmelberg etc. The tourist offices sell all the bike route maps.
Don't worry about the main roads either, almost all have bike paths ( which you have to use by law). Cars generally give way to cyclists crossing junctions on the bike paths.

Monty Dog

The RvV Centrum in Oudenaarde has maps - ride out from Ghent on the Schelde to Oudenaarde and start your loop from there taking in the first 4 climbs. The Muur, Geraardsbergen is a bit further away but you can easily loop out from Kluisbergen and take in some of the old RvV route around Brakel too. There are many cycling paths away from the main roads too.

shing83

Thanks for the pointers, really helpful. On the Schelde, which side is best to ride on towards Oudenaarde? Hard to tell from Google Maps which is best.

giropaul

On the side where the chain gangs are :-) . Actually there is a road along one side that's pretty obvious as the right one. Used by the pros in the area for a chain gang.

thepainandsuffering

This http://www.crvv.be/en/317-routes

Routes are all sign posted and easy to follow, I did most of the blue last summer

itboffin

71 miles including all the climbs you listed and a lot of locally known gems

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12480415

Starts and finishes at the museum in Oudenaarde

itboffin

Shorter route 43 taking in all the big climbs again starting and finishing at the museum

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/8119022

shing83

itboffin wrote:

71 miles including all the climbs you listed and a lot of locally known gems

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12480415

Starts and finishes at the museum in Oudenaarde

This looks great, just need to tack on the 15 miles from Gent to Oudenaarde for 100 miles

Shing

shing83

I figure I'll take a break after the Muur, any recommendations on somewhere to grab a mid ride lunch an a beer?

Cycloslalomeur2

It is testament to the awesomeness of the Flemish cycling network that a satnav is fairly pointless. The sheer amount of choice is mindboggling. Firstly you have the numbered node network (fietsknooppunten) that Giropaul already mentioned. This is the densest of all the networks. The numbers refer to nodes, not routes. One of the knooppunten planning tools is fietsnet.be. Essential Dutch: (on)verhaard is (un)paved and kasseistrook is stretch of road or lane paved with setts. The signs are green on white. The colour-coded Ronde loops partly overlap with the knooppunten network. You can pick up knooppunten maps in bookshops like Standarten Boekhandel or sports shops like AS Adventure but these too are not essential. The most frequented nodes have maps anyway in case you wish to reroute.

What makes satnavs pointless is that you simply click away on the website, jot down or print a list of node numbers and off you go. When approaching a node you will see a sign informing you that you are approaching a node (U nadert knooppunt). This is your cue to look down to your toptube for the next node number.

Then there is the long-distance/national network (lange afstand/landelijke fietsroutes). These are also signposted green on white but the numbers refer to routes, not nodes. LF 30 (Schelde-Deltaroute) runs up the river. LF-Routes do tend to have more unpaved sections than knooppunten do. Some bits of LF-Routes overlap with the knooppunten grid but the signage is always separate.

Thirdly, there´s a bewildering array of thematic cycleroutes celebrating local produce or livestock, cyclists, monarchs, geographical features, regions, architecture etc. The signage is octagonal.

MTB routes are signposted with little white panels nailed on to wooden posts. The signs have a triangle on top of two bicycle wheels.

Then there is a separate node network for ramblers (wandelknooppunten, http://www.wandelknooppunt.be/) as well as thematic rambling networks. These and the MTB routes are even more secluded than the cycling routes are if you want to discover your inner Jobst Brandt.

Even the motoring routes, with slightly larger octagonal signs, make for good cycling as well as driving. An example is the 100-kilometre Denderroute starting from Geraardsbergen.

Last but not least you have the fietsostraden/fietsnelwegen: http://www.fietsroute.org/fietssnelwegen.

I´ve found that the surest way to have an epic ride in Flanders is to not plan at all and just cycle along in your general heading while keeping an eye out for the signs.

I´ve yet to have lunch in Geraardsbergen but you must try the local pastry at Olav´s Mattentaartenhuis, Brugstraat 1.

shing83

Thanks, this is really helpful. I guess I'm not used to a country that caters for cyclist. One week to my ride l, excited to e how many hills I walk up. Haha

ddraver

It's all changed for 2017 anyway, The Muur is back baby!

shing83

ddraver wrote:

It's all changed for 2017 anyway, The Muur is back baby!

I know, I'm chuffed to bits it's back and I'll be trying to get up there one way or another next Friday

Cycloslalomeur2

shing83 wrote:

ddraver wrote:

It's all changed for 2017 anyway, The Muur is back baby!

I know, I'm chuffed to bits it's back and I'll be trying to get up there one way or another next Friday

And Antwerp, with its oil and diamonds etc, coughed up 400,000 reasons a year to be given the honour of hosting the start. This was all over the telly down here yesterday, with the mayor of Bruges having a bit of a crisis.