Going to Belgium mid June

Triathlon Forum
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I will be going to Belgium in mid-June. My girlfriend has a conference so she has to work… but I am planning on riding around and drinking beer (even got the Great Beers of Belgium guide to plan my tour). Anyone know where to rent a bike for a week in Brugge? Trying to avoid riding a hybrid with a basket. I was thinking of taking my touring bike, but I will be flying to other countries within Europe too and I think it will get too expensive with a lot of hassle.

Also, if you have any cool places or things to check out feel free to post those too.

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I have no idea. but make sure to visit Trappist Rochefort and Chimay. Then don’t tell me about it because I will be too jealous and will likely berate you in some long drawn out scathing forum message. HAVE FUN!

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I went 10 years ago to the the RVV and it was totally awesome. After the race had passed through I rode a little circuit up the Koppenberg three times. The next day my arms were more sore than my legs from pulling on the bars!!!

They are crazy about cycling there so I wouldn’t be too worried about riding about the country side.

I would highly recommend you bring your own bike, rent a car and head to any of the cobbled bergs that are part of the race.

Have fun and enjoy the frites!!

In my next life, I hope to be Belgian!!!

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As for cycling. Many things you can do. A safe and easy solution is to check whether you can participate one of these:
http://www.sport.be/cyclingtour/2014/nl/

(use translate)

The advantage is that there is some food along the course (less than in US though) and organizers make sure that some unsafe places are free of traffic. Additionally you won’t have to think about which direction to go to.

I am not sure how mobile you are, but if you could just drive towards “Oudenaarde” than you could start riding from there. In the weekend you’ll always see plenty of cyclists cruising and suffering through the Flemish Ardennes. There are different tours starting in Oudenaarde with increasing length and difficulty.

One classic stop for the Beer lover is West-Vleteren; you could combine this with a visit to the Flanders Fields museum (impressive stuff).

If you want to visit a city, I would prefer Gent over Brugge (easy to do by train). Brugge is lovely but crowded with tourists. In Gent you have the feeling that there are also non-tourists walking around.

All in all, I suggest you google a bit and mail around (cycling clubs or triathlon teams). The command of English in Flanders is reasonable.

Good luck.

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Hi,

In Bruges, there are plenty of places you can rent normal bikes (non-basket types), even one close to the railway station). Weather wise, expect it to be anywhere between 10 and 20°C, reasonable to strong winds from the west and it can be dry, humid or downright pouring down… If you don’t like, wait 10min, it probably has changed by then. Welcome to Belgium :wink:

Bruges is approx. 15miles from where I live so I know the area well. Should you be in Bruges on 21st of June, you’ll get to see the 1/4 annual triathlon (http://www.triathlonbrugge.be ). In my 5 participations, it has always rained a bit with a LOT of wind. FYI: Luc Van Lierde lives in Brugges (he does commentary on the race) and Marino Vanhoenacker lives closely (Jabbeke). Axel Vanzeebroek and a few other top-triathletes are regular participants of the race. Freeric Van Lierde has participated (and won) a few times as well. The talent-pool is thick here for such a small country and unfortunately, they got all of talent, so I am left with pure hard work to catch-up (which is impossible since they work even harder …).

Concerning beers, keep it calm and enjoy the taste, you would not be the first one trying to drink all 7 Trappists in 1 day and end up not remembering how they ended up somewhere they did not know where they are :wink: (Me being one of them…)

Shop-wise, there is a Specialized Concept-store reasonably close to the center (approx. 3-4km out) worth visiting (http://www.shiftinggears.be) and an other multisport / triathlon focussed shop Bergh Sport - http://www.berghsports.be - that is closer to the city-center (2km out). They have Zoot and Newton and a few other triathlon focussed brands.

Other cool places worth visiting are the Belgian coast and Damme. You are a 15min train-ride away from Oostende and the train-station ends-up right at the water. Stroll around, it’s definitely worth a visit. I live 5km away at the coast to the North-East (Bredene). Damme is a very nice place that is quiet where a lot of triathletes go to train their open-water swim in the river. Damme is approx. 10km from Bruges. Damme also hosts a few run-competitions, swim-competition and a triathlon in similar distance to a 1/2 IM (but that’s only in September). So a lot of sports to do around here. Close to city-center in Bruges there is a running-track and 2 swimming-pools (25m and 50m - Olympia-bad).

I’ll be in Luxembourg for the IM70.3 on the 20th/21st, but it you are here in a weekend before that and you’d like to meet-up, let me know. I’ll happily invite you for an open-water (ocean, lake or river) or salt-water pool swim together. If you are similarly sized (179cm), I can take you out on a training-ride (I can borrow you one of my bikes to ride together) and show a bit of the neighborhood to you. PM me if you’re interested.

Given the above, you might want to ask the girlfriend if she can’t overbook her stay by a week or so to see / do everything you’d want…

Have fun,

GReetz,

S.

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Hi,

Renting a bike in Brugge is no problem at all. Renting a racebike, though, can be tough. Maybe you can contact one of the local triclubs like http://triteambrugge.be/ ?

I Work in a Belgian Brewery (where we make some of the best Belgian special beers = Tripel Karmeliet (rewarded best beer of the world in 2008), Pauwel Kwak and Deus). Live and work +/- 100km from Brugge (which is far for Belgian standards :-)). If you need someone to take you for a ride (i’m training for Triathlon Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) in July or to arrange a beertasting, feel free… Or if you are a tall guy like me (1,92m for 100kg) you can use one of my bikes.

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Watch this before you go:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/

I will be going to Belgium in mid-June. My girlfriend has a conference so she has to work… but I am planning on riding around and drinking beer (even got the Great Beers of Belgium guide to plan my tour). Anyone know where to rent a bike for a week in Brugge? Trying to avoid riding a hybrid with a basket. I was thinking of taking my touring bike, but I will be flying to other countries within Europe too and I think it will get too expensive with a lot of hassle.

Also, if you have any cool places or things to check out feel free to post those too.

3 Likes
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I work for a Belgian company and travel there all the time. My company is in Leuven which is about 15 mins east of Brussells.

I have never found a source there to rent a real road bike even going so far as to network with my colleagues to get a hold of a few bike reps who knew the stores well. I was able to rent your basic 3 speed utility bike which on many occasions I have put to good use.

I am surprised that in a country where cycling is the number 2 most followed sport that you cannot rent a road bike easily.

On a brighter note try to enjoy the incredible beer, and pick up a few jars of speculoos spread. The beer diversity is one of those few things that can only be understood if you have been there and gone to a good beer bar with 250 or 300 kinds of beer.

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I know you can rent mountain bikes at Jowan in Kluisbergen it’s right in the epicenter of where all the Tour of Flanders type hills are. From there you can do many routes and explore the cobbles and hills.

I’d recommend you explore the Flemish Ardennes (where the hills are) as that will be a more interesting place to ride a bike than Bruges area. From Bruges you can easily access the coastline but the roads are mostly flat, boring and very windy. THere’s a reason why races only start there and then finish elsewhere :wink: THere are many mapped routes there, with signs along the roads telling you which way to go. I grew up in the south east of the West Flanders province, went to high school in Waregem (where Dwars door Vlaanderen finishes) and living 3 miles from the Koppenberg, 4 from the Oude Kwaremont, 8 from the Patersberg, 2 from the Tiegemberg, 20 from the Mur de GRammont, etc etc.

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Wow all super good info thanks everyone. I’m getting even more stoked to go! I emailed some shops asking around if they rented or knew of other places to rent but if worse comes to worse I’ll just have to ride the cobbles on a bike with a basket and some beer in it. The country seems so tiny so I don’t think it will be too bad riding to different parts of Belgium. I will definitely check out the Ardennes as I love good hills. I am planning to do more of a bike tour and drink along the way so I hope I won’t be too trashed to actually enjoy it all. At least until I arrive to wherever I’m going.

I’ll also be in Vienna afterwards, anyone know of cool bike related stuff there? I hear riding to the ice cream salons is what’s up.

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HI, looks like you know a lot about European travel. I’m moving there in August to live/work with a family. I’m retired college swimmer and pro triathlete. What are the gyms and fitness centers like over there? Any suggestions on what to bring/not bring? Would appreciate any of your advice. I’ll be in Lux city near a pool. I hear the pools are pretty nice over there….do they have any masters programs? Thanks in advance.

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Hi Eilatan05,
I can confirm that most of our pools here in Luxembourg are really nice.
As for a masters program this could be useful:

http://www.swimming.lu/fr/39/activits1/masters/

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You’re awesome! Thanks for the site. Looking forward to my move.