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Category Archives: Bikes
Filed under Bikes, Touring
Westhoek Kajakclub, where we joined the canal side route out of Veurne
During the night, the slight disadvantage of a hotel on the road around Veurne became apparent. In Belgium, it seems, people discuss parking their BMW X5s in tiny spaces in VERY loud voices at midnight. Garbage collection is also done by VERY noisy trucks during the wee small hours of the morning. Closing the window largely resolved the noise problem though.
Our plan for today was to strike out towards Brugge, using the route along the Canals (Kanal Veurne Nieuwpoort, Kanal Passendale-Nieuwpoort, Kanal Gent-Brugge-Oostende). Navigation from this point was straightforward, using the excellent system of “knoppunkten”. Rather signpost numbered routes, a la the NCN in Britain, the Fietsroute system in Belgium employs a series of numbered points. Using your map, you decide which points to follow to your destination, and then just follow the signs between them. The signs are intelligently placed and easily interpreted. It’s a system that works superbly, and both Mrs. Monkey and I became big fans of it during our tour.
Traffic on the Fietsroute
As you’ll see from the pictures, the day began a little overcast, and we did get a shower around midday that was heavy enough to require 5 minutes or so sheltering under a tree. Along the way out of Veurne, we encountered these sheep, and this unusual path side tableau;
Flat Eric has a Deadline to Meet
We also saw a pedal pub, although this was, unfortunately, on the other side of the canal to us, we couldn’t take up the occupants’ enthusiastic offers of drinks! Another sight we saw for the first time along this part of the route was the large, guided rides that seem to be an everyday occurrence. I’d estimate that about 20-30 people, mostly seeming to be in their 60s, led by three or four people in Hi-Viz tabards were headed towards Veurne along the fietsroute. We were to see these groups pretty much every day, along with training racing cyclists, and commuters (the latter more common the closer we were to towns).
Me, where the route turns towards Brugge
After turning towards Snaskerke and Oudenburg, the day began to brighten, and we stopped just over one of the bridges on the canal at the “Bistro Nieuwweg” (”New Way Bistro”). I don’t think we’d have spotted this place had we not been cycling (it’s seriously out of the way).
Our Bikes at the Bistro…
And Our Bikes in context.
As you can see from the pictures, most of the other patrons had arrived by bike too – generally (and the folks at Amsterdamize/Copenhagenize would be proud) on city bikes, helmetless, in “normal” clothes. Here, the bikes outnumbered the parked cars by around three to one. Had another guided group stopped (one passed as we were enjoying a Kriek and a Hoegaarden) that would have risen to ten to one. You can also see our first taste of Belgian pavé here. We were to become more familiar with this on day three…
We did make a stop in Oudenburg, but found that a lot of places had already closed. We stopped at a quite swanky restaurant, and felt so out of place among the suited clientele that we left having only had a drink. Eventually, we happened across a small bakery, and I used my (frankly limited and dreadful) Dutch to order us a couple of sandwiches (which were delicious, although I couldn’t figure out what was in them) and pastries to sustain us for the rest of the journey.
Arrival at Brugge
If I look somewhat uncomfortable in the picture above, it may be because I’m trying not to stand in the trash surrounding the foot of this sign. Once in Brugge, we used my Nokia N82’s GPS navigation system to find where we were staying, the B&B Marie Rose Debruyne, on Langeraamstraat. This is a really well situated B&B, handy for the centre of Bruges, and run by lovely, friendly people. (As we left, they were ‘phoning the train station at Zeebrugge to find out for another guest whether left luggage lockers were available). The house was designed by the proprietor, and is unusual architecturally, but comfortable and friendly (super breakfast too). One word of warning is that the numbering on this road is slightly confusing – you may need to use your (frankly limited, and dreadful) Dutch to get directions.
Brugge Grote Markt.
Brugge itself is wonderful, and bikes are EVERYWHERE. The “Uitgezonderd” exceptions for bicycles and mopeds to the one way system are ubiquitous, and the world has not stopped turning, nor does there seem to be the daily carnage that opponents to such systems seem to predict. As you can probably see from the pictures, the evening we were there was lovely, sunny and warm.
The ubiquitous Horse Drawn Carriages…
…and even more ubiquitous bikes.
Dinner on this night was in a “Tante Marie” restaurant just off the Grote Markt. More pasta for Mrs Monkey, although I tried a Vlamse Karbonade (Flemish Stew) which was very tasty indeed.
Filed under Bikes, Touring
Outward Journey Tickets
Back in June this year, Mrs. Monkey had an idea. She thought that, as her Mum was willing to look after the monklets for a week or so, we could do a little holiday on our own. Knowing my enthusiasm for cycling, and having started to ride a bit herself, her suggestion was a small tour of France, or Belgium. Ferry tickets for us plus the bikes were cheap, and the train to Dover and our accomodation/meals would probably be the greatest outlay.
It cemented the idea I’d had for building a slightly more versatile bike than my (wonderful, but racy) Giant SCR2.0, and led to my building up a tourer/commuter on a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame.
“The Sarge” Sans Luggage and Bottle Cages/Pump
I also began to ask around on Cycle-Chat for ideas for a short (5 days, 30-40 miles per day) tour in northern France or Belgium. Eventually, we settled on an itinerary of;
Day One: Crewe – Veurne
Day Two: Veurne – Brugge
Day Three: Brugge – Ieper
Day Four: Ieper – Hondschoote
Day Five: Hondschoote – Crewe
Day One
Expanding on the potted version above, this day consisted of a ride from home to Crewe Station (about 2 miles), a train journey to London Euston, a bike journey across London to Victoria station (you can’t take bikes on that part of the tube), a train from Victoria to Dover Priory, and then another short bike ride to Dover Ferry port. From there, we’d travel to Dunkirk by ferry, and then by bike to Veurne.
The journey to Crewe isn’t so different to the one I do every day (as I catch the train part way to work from the station anyway). We’d readied everything the night before, and so at 6am we set off for Crewe. We arrived in plenty of time to fix the cycle reservation tickets to the bikes, and ask the platform staff where they needed us to be when the train came in (the Pendolinos are L O N G trains, and the bike bit is always at the end you aren’t, it seems, if you don’t ask).
Once the train came in, the platform staff unlocked the door to the compartment for the bikes, and we stowed them away, securing them with the seatbelt type straps provided. The bike storage area is also used by the train’s cleaning crew, although with this being one of the early trains, it wasn’t too cluttered on our journey. The journey to London Euston was pleasant and uneventful – we let the train manager know that we had bikes aboard (so she could arrange for the storage compartment to be unlocked at Euston) and enjoyed a few STRONG coffees.
We’d printed a route from Transport for London’s journey planner for the ride to Victoria, although coming out of the station on to Euston road was pretty disorientating, and we lost our bearings and a fair bit of time trying to figure out where we were in relation to the route again. Shouted requests for directions, and some quick riding got us to Victoria with 5 minutes to spare before the Dover train left – fumbling for the tickets at the ticket barrier before we got onto the platform (I made sure to keep them in the front pocket of my handlebar bag for the journey back). Although it was all a bit frantic, cycling through London was a great experience – loads of other bikes around, and drivers for the most part aware of them and considerate (on this journey at least – I’ll mention a bit more regarding cabbies in Day 5’s write up).
We stowed the bikes as best we could on the Dover train – these trains are a slightly odd design, with room to stow one bike straight along one side, and one or two diagonally across one side of the carriage without blocking the aisle. The Northern Rail coaches I use day to day seem to me a better design, but in common with most of Northern Rail’s staff, the staff on the Dover train were friendly and helpful. We’d not been on the train long when we discovered, from an announcement over the train’s PA that the carriages would split at Faversham – unfortunately for us, we had ended up in the part heading for Ramsgate, not Dover. The conductor on the train told us not to worry, and simply to change carriages at Faversham (he had to himself, as he was staffing the Dover journey too).
Once at Dover, we cycled the short distance to the port and checked in. On the ferry, we stowed the bikes on two of about five “Sheffield” type stands towards the end of the boat’s lorry deck. One of the crew helped us secure them with ropes on the stands. With hindsight, I wished we’d locked the bikes too, as I spent most of the journey to Dunkirk worrying about them being stuck in a van and spirited off (Mrs. Monkey is a trusting soul, and thought I was just being silly).
On docking at Dunkirk (and finding the bikes still where we’d left them) we had the unpleasant surprise of finding that our map didn’t include the ferry port, starting at Saint Pol Sur Mer, rather than Loon Plage and the car ferry. We’d not realised this, as the map did have a harbour on it, just not the harbour we’d arrived at! After a quick discussion, we decided to go left at the roundabout at the end of the ferry port’s exit road, and strike out straight on until we could pick up the map again. This stretch of road is probably the worst part of the whole of the tour on the French side of the channel. The drivers are far more considerate than we found them to be in Dover, and much less impatient, but there’s little escaping the fact that you’re effectively riding on a fast dual carriageway with little more than industrial units and scrubland around you.
We were able to get directions in Grande Synthe, from a very nice lady who came over to help when she saw us poring over our map. At this point, we weren’t too far from the start of the map so picked up a route once more heading for the town of Dunkirk, going via Petite Synthe.
I have to admit to not knowing quite how far we followed the N1 for – Mrs Monkey spotted a sign for Veurne, and took the turning, not realising that it was a sign for Veurne via the autoroute, which, obviously, we could not follow by bike. (Looking at the map, I think it was either the “Route Du Pont”, or the D302(?) heading towards Melhoeck and Ghyvelde).
Mrs. Monkey Strikes out for Melhoeck’s Centre Ville
We picked up the Rue De La Frontierre, and decided on a more direct route through Cabour than following Mearestraat. This followed a road called “Cabourweg”, which, unfortunately, turned out to be covered in a fine, silt like sand. Riding through this tended to either have the wheels of the bike slip alarmingly, or bog down as they sank spoke deep into the soft surface – we walked the bikes much of the way until we could rejoin a paved road. After our turn off the N1, however, we’d begun to see more of what we’d come on this tour for – woods and countryside, and small, picturesque towns.
Me at the outskirts of Veurne
After around three hours of riding, we reached our destination, the town of Veurne. The town has a circular road running around it enclosing the centre and the Grote Markt. Riding in on this, we stopped to look at the town map placed on one side of the road in order to find our way to the B&B we were due to stay in. Having done that, and looked up from the town plan, I saw the sign for the hotel (Chez Gaston) just 50 metres or so ahead of us, a welcome sight indeed after our long journey!
Chez Gaston is, I would say, well situated – I like places that are easy to find after a day that started at 6am! Joking apart, it’s close to the Grote Markt, and the beginning of the Veurne – Brugge canal, which is a great way to cycle to Brugge. Bike storage is outside, in the owner’s locked and enclosed garden. The room we had was large, with a shared bathroom (although no one was staying in the other room sharing it when we were there) and we found the owner friendly and helpful without being imposing. That night we ate a hearty meal at the Taverne Flandria (pasta all round) on the Grote Markt, and looked forward to the following day’s trip to Brugge.
Filed under Bikes, Commuting
One of the most common issues which angers many motorists is that cyclists do not pay road tax. Cyclists shold pay the tax, they argue, before they should be allowed to ride on the road. Cyclists are tax-dodgers. Criminals. Hippies. The reaction of many cyclists when confronted with the statement you don’t pay road tax is the almost-instinctive neither do you, but I think that misses an important point. Perception.
That paper disc is important. For some drivers it is more important than not running low on fuel when the garage is closed. It is more important than checking tyre pressures or tread depth. It is important because it lets motorists drive their car. Motorists have to pay to use the road, so why are cyclists exempt?
Most motorists don’t care that Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is not road tax. It actually doesn’t matter that the money which is spent on the little paper disc which sits in the window does not go towards the road. It isn’t important. The argument that many (if not most) cyclists do pay VED is a moot point too. I own a car, currently two in fact, and pay my VED as appropriate. I pay VED for each vehicle – it doesn’t matter that I already pay it once for my other car. The tax needs to be paid for each vehicle. Motorists pay to use the road, cyclists don’t.
So what gives?
Let us spin back to the beginning, the idea that cyclists don’t pay for the road. They do, through their council tax. By and large, cyclists are not tax dodgers and pay their council tax, which in turn goes on to fund the building and maintenence of local roads. Cyclists also contribute to the general pot which funds motorways as well – they don’t get a rebate just because they can’t cycle on them. This is not to mention that regular cyclists are likely to be healthier and less likely to be a burden on the NHS. Cycling saves the tax payer money.
What was that about maintenance? Roads need to be paid for sure, but over time they get damaged and need to be repaired too. More costs mean more tax, and drivers often perceive that they pay more of it than cyclists.
So what damages the roads? Rain, ice, and vehicles are the major culprits. The heavier the vehicle, the more damage to the road. Even the heaviest bike doesn’t weigh as much as the average car… so it doesn’t do as much damage. Perfectly logical. What isn’t clear is just how many powers more damage a car does to the road than a bicycle.
Assuming fourth power axle weight ratio if a bicycle had a weight of half that of a car, the car would be causing approximately 16 times the damage to the road surface than the bike. A bike does not weigh half that of a car, but substantially less. Cars and heavier vehicles cause hundreds (or even thousands) of times more damage than a bicycle. Cycling, once again, saves the tax payer money.
This is not even including additional damage caused by air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, space used for parking, congestion, fatal and non-fatal “accidents” all of which is exacerbated by high vehicle usage. VED paid by the poor persecuted motorist barely makes a dent in the costs.
And – get this – VED is, in many cases, an entirely voluntary tax anyway. You don’t have to pay it if you don’t want to. This is no secret although it is rarely talked about. No one will strongarm you into signing the cheque, or drag you off to court. Saving that extra cash from the Government’s pocket is easy, and all it requires is to do something people have been doing since the dawn of man: live without the car.
The automotive industry has been hugely successful in promoting the lifestyle idea that cars are necessary. They are not. Desirable, maybe. Useful, certainly. However as a culture we have become dependant upon motorised transport by choice.
A case in point: each Saturday my wife and I walk into town to do our weekly shop whilst our neighbours drive. We arrive at the shops roughly the same time, once the neighbours have found somewhere to park, paid, and walked from the car park to the High Street. Now, it is certainly more convenient to use the car to transport the shopping back home, but is it really necessary? No, of course it isn’t, but they choose to drive because it suits them. It isn’t laziness (far from it) but it is a choice.
A cyclist does not pay “road tax” because they do not inherently pollute, and because they cause substantially less damage to roads than heavier motorised vehicles. They reduce the tax burden on other government and public departments, and help to reduce congestion.
See also:
Why do cyclists ride on the road?
Why do cyclists ride in the middle of the road?
Filed under Bikes, Reviews
 Waitrose BikeHod One of Waitrose’s less publicised recent customer services has been the provision of BikeHod trailers for customers to use, for up to three days free of charge, to ship their shopping home in. Since my local Waitrose is easily within cycling distance I have always feel somewhat guilty making a car journey just to do the weekly shopping… so this had to be worth a try.
If I am brutally honest, first impressions were not good. The staff seemed to have no real idea about how to loan one out, and spent a few minutes scrambling under the desks looking for the appropriate forms. I was told I wouldn’t need to do this part again, which I hope is true as it was somewhat time consuming, even if they did have the forms to hand.
Next, a special hitch had to be attached to saddle stem. This apparently had to be done by a member of staff, and involved the use of a spanner… which they had lost.
Thankfully at this point I could leave them to it, and went off to do my shopping (whilst hoping that the spanner turned up by the time I had finished, otherwise I would be towing the trailer home by hand). I paid for my shopping, and returned to find the woman who was helping out before… who immediately passed over to someone else who had done it all before, had a spanner in her hand, and came out to set up the bike.
This is where things started to go right. The brass hitch took about five minutes to put on the bike – again, my heart sank, because there was no way most people (myself included) would want to spend time jimmying that into place everytime they went shopping, especially if it was raining. Fortunately the new woman asked if I was likely to be using the trailers again, I said I was, and she told me the hitch may as well stay on the bike as they had plenty of spares.
The hod itself fitted on quite quickly, and I was off! Despite being filled with some quite weighty items I barely noticed the trailer at all. I was expecting some odd looks, but got none. In fact, I noticed cars giving substantially more space when passing than they had on my journey down to the supermarket sans traileur.
I felt a little like a Waitrose employee making a delivery, what with the branded Hod, and ubiquitous florescent jacket. I did ask about buying one – BikeHod do have them for sale unablazoned for about £250, however Waitrose are apparently looking into the prospect of selling them to customers branded. Maybe that would be slightly cheaper (well, I would hope so for the free advertising, but then again…).
Although Waitrose recommended not cycling at night using the trailers, there are plenty of hooks and tabs for attaching lights to (though arguably there could be more). The trailer itself felt sturdy and was easy to maneouver. My only real complaint would be staff training. Either I was very unlucky, or time simply has not been spent making sure people are up to speed. Should this endeavour take off, however, I guess that this will come.
Posted by Catrike UK on January 15, 2009 – 5:04 pm
Things were very hectic on the run up to Christmas so the new year has turned into catch up time with a few trikes still needing completing. Hence no posts for a while.
The weather as we know has been hitting us with very low temperatures and even some snow, many mornings I have been greeted by icey roads on my cycle to work which has been interesting to say the least. It is times like this that I realise I will never go back to two wheels, I have seen a few fellow commuters fall quite spectacularly in recent weeks. While you will not fall off a trike in the ice due to wheel slip, you still have to take care, if you slide and clip the kerb you can easily flip over, but with the right attitude, ice can turn from hazard to entertainment.
One of my first experiences of trikes that sticks in my mind from some years ago was sliding sideways round a fairly fast bent and coming across the local cycle club strewn across the road, up until this point said club members would not give me the time of day as I was on a recumbent trike. I stopped and helped various people up etc… and gave some mechanical assistance and to this day they all say hello. Although non have bought trikes they do now get their tyres and some servicing from me.
Now after some years of practice I get great enjoyment of inducing slides in the ice where safe to do so, wether it be in a car park or feigning panic as kids cross in front of me then scatter as they see this three wheeled death machine fishtailing towards them, it gives me a great sense of fun and control and encourages me to ride through the winter when I would normally take the car instead of risking two wheels. The trike really is an all year round commuter. I still want it to be warmer though
Disclaimer: These views are not necessarily the views of Cyclechat.
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