Day Ride
Belgium. And not a bun in sight.
Can you really take a day trip to Belgium and be home before the pubs shut?
We really did take a day trip to Bruges, there and back, same day, and it happened like this. We were visiting our friend Will in Rye, Sussex, but he had to go to work in the middle of our visit and suggested we do a quick trip across the Channel while he was out. So that’s what we did, and as Bruges is only 65 miles from Calais (and Belgium is famous for chocolate and beer) we thought, why not extend the standard booze run to take that in as well?
So the next day at daft o’clock in the morning we were on the road to the tunnel, and £30 later (not bad for a day return for the bike and two adults)
I rode onto the train and parked next to half a dozen like-minded riders. Half an hour later, we were disembarking at Calais.
Now given the time at our disposal, we decided not to seek out more interesting (but slower) roads to Bruges and just headed for the motorways: N216 first, then A216 (signed Paris) and two miles on the A16 (signed Dunkerque and Belgium). In fact, we were over the border very quickly, which saw the road number change to E40, as well as signs for Bruges. The E40 is a wide open main road with little traffic, giving plenty of time to acclimatise while becoming familiar with multi-lingual signs. The scenery, sad to say, was nothing special, give or take the odd windmill.
An hour after leaving Calais, less than three hours from Will’s Sussex home, we were in Bruges city centre, there in time for breakfast. We have ridden in Belgium before but RP (that’s Reluctant Pillion) has wanted to see Bruges for a long time, since seeing some film featuring Colin Farrell in the city. While shopping for beer (amazing how much an empty topbox and panniers can hold) I was told of a bike museum just 10 miles away at Oudenberg, on the road to Ostend. With time in hand, it would be rude not to visit, so we did.
We soon left Bruges behind and started to see signs for Oudenberg almost immediately. Quiet, rural roads got us to the Bikers Loft, half a mile from town. Now if you’ve never heard of Bikers Loft, let me explain. It’s a motorcycle-themed motel, cafe and museum opened 20 years ago in a converted factory by owner Ivan. It sleeps sixty-plus, has a bar, pool table and assorted bike memorabilia, and is well placed for exploring Belgium, with Bruges (you know that of course) Ostend and Brussels all within easy reach.
Chatting with the barmaid revealed that the rooms are reasonably priced and, as for food, you buy a bag of chilled whatever you want from the menu, then take it to the kitchen and microwave, griddle or fry it yourself. Back in the bar, we found ourselves sitting next to the owner of the attached museum, who asked whether we would like a guided tour for just five euros. Johan led us into a cavernous, warehouse-sized room with the Loft’s bedrooms off two sides. More interesting were the bikes actually parked indoors. One of the perks of staying here is a coded keypad that allows you to open a roller door, ride in and park securely.
Through another door was the museum, and
I was ecstatic, for there were bikes of all kinds and associated helmets, clothes, oil cans, photos and tools. This is Johan’s private collection and he was a fount of knowledge on subjects ranging from buying bikes in Britain to the use of machines in Belgium during the First World War. From leaf-sprung handlebars to wooden mudguards there was something different and amazing on each display.
An hour later, still slightly shell-shocked by this amazing display and Johan’s encyclopedic knowledge it was time to consider heading for Calais. We took the A10 back to E40, not exactly an exciting road but reasonably traffic-free, well signposted and got us directly to Calais without returning to Bruges in about 45 minutes. There was another 30 minutes of queuing/boarding time but we passed it by talking with other bikers who had been all over Europe and were heading home, not simply returning from a day out like us. Seventy-five minutes after boarding, we were back at Will’s and about to toast his hard day at work with our Belgian beer.
This hadn’t been a stunning day ride with exciting roads and fantastic scenery but had visited a foreign country which included the wonderful architecture of Bruges and the fantastic bike venue of Bikers Loft. And all for not much more than you would spend on petrol on a long day out. Ideally an overnight stay at the Loft would give more time to explore, but that’s for another time.