Tr avel report BELGIUM

as ‘exciting’ as it used to be.

After a quick photograph with the cycling hero - I hopped on the Belgian brand Ridley’s 2017 Fenix SL Disc Ultegra model and headed to the start.

What was to come was genuinely a sportive like no other I have ever experienced. There were the usual young to middle-aged lycra clad club riders - but then, what made it unique, was the wide variety of riders from all disciplines of the sport.

There were Deliveroo riders, fixed gear riders, and also a guy with a crate of beer, on the full spectrum of bikes weaving in and out of the city’s beautiful roads. It soon became apparent I was riding in the true home of cycling. Riding bikes is in this country’s blood and has an almost 200-year-old history.

The roads were beautifully quiet country lanes - for the whole route may I add. Picturesque, meandering, smooth country lanes. The Eddie Merckx ride took in the Heizel area of Brussels, then trailed across to Pajottenland towards the Flemish Ardennes and looped back around Then there were the cobbles. They were jittery, bone rattling but fun. Well, for a few metres.

The houses and architecture screamed affluence and individuality.

Drivers and traffic are commonly the reason why people don’t take up the sport. But in Belgium it’s not even an issue.

Most drivers are also cyclists, I’m told, which means you’re given plenty of room when riding. The only time you might get a cheeky horn blast by a driver is if you’re on the road when there is a specific bike path (as there are on a lot of the country’s roads).

Back to the route itself, there were arrows marking out each course 85km, 115km and 155km. The famous Muur was only an option for the 155km route but sadly (or luckily?!) time constraints meant I opted for the middle route.

Hearing about the 155km route afterwards and its cobbled, uneven 23% averages - it sounded brutal. Well worth another visit, and I will be back to actually tackle that cobbled section of cycling history.

At the finish line, rather than the usual isotonic sports drinks - in true Belgian style, we were all handed a beer. I actually couldn’t find a bottle of water anywhere and was told this was the ‘Belgian way.’

Bottles chinking, people laughing and cheering, sweat covered caps, and bikes by their sides. THIS was the way to do a sportive.

And this was just one of literally hundreds of rides for locals on their home turf (or cobbles), or for those coming from other countries to experience the Belgian way of riding.

There are also other rides in the spirit of other cycling legends, such as Fabia Cancellara, Philippe Gilbert, Greg Van Avermaet, and Sven Nys.

One of the highlights of our fastpaced cycling tour of the country was the course we got to tackle at Sven Nys’ very own cycling centre.

Usually a road-bike lover, I turned my hand - or legs - to cyclocross and mountain biking.

Entirely new to me - a selfconfessed wimp - I got so much out of this session. Perched on heavy mountain bikes with some extreme gearing - 26-42 and totally different from the previous day’s 36-28 (if this means nothing to you, the mountain bike can spin up some STEEP hills).

It was such a different experience to being on a road bike. Loose rocks, ridiculously tight bends, pools of mud, all incredibly exhausting, yet rewarding.

While I was negotiating a downhill (it really wasn’t that steep) I saw children literally whizzing past without a second thought.

That’s the great thing about Belgium - there is riding for absolutely everybody and it’s second nature to most people here. Whether it’s commuting, cyclocross, mountain biking, road… it’s all catered for, and then some.

There are thousands of sportives