Stunning views over the Brabant Wallon valleys at the start of my Sunday ride.
Tag Archives: Brabant Wallon
Is this Spring? A cyclists’ plea – please let it be so
Sunday in February 2014
The same weekend at the same place last year.
At this stage of last year’s winter we still had two months to go before the snow stopped. As newcomers to Belgium it was quite a shock to the system. And as a cyclist it meant lots of frustration.
But this weekend we were out in the sunshine, almost without hats and gloves. I had the great pleasure of showing a friend round the area and we ended up soaking up some sum and a small beer at one of my favourite cafes at Chateau Solvay.
Along, so it seems, with many others who got the message that the outdoor season has started. The wildlife certainly thinks so, the birdsong seems to have lifted several decibels in the mornings.
Oh gosh I hope this lasts, my system craves warm riding, not worrying about hitting ice, light mornings, no gloves………………….
Goodbye two wheeled companion – Sunday bike failure
Just pottered out for a couple of hours on the old winter road bike this Sunday morning. As I think I may have mentioned it’s a bike I keep thinking has done its day, but despite that the convenience of a winter bike that I can totally neglect and not worry about on muddy or wet roads means it has somehow kept its place.
But no more.
Having stopped twice to check the wheel and the spokes because of an odd feeling in the rear wheel I hit my first patch of cobbles and the bike just seemed to go soggy underneath me.
Now the cause was clear.
No fixing that one by the roadside, or anywhere else for that matter. However I have to reflect that the frame really had earned its keep. I bought it as something lying around the Peugeot UK warehouse for just £75 back in about 1999/2000 as a sort of winter and audax bike for mudguards. I think the chainset and seat pin were probably already almost welded in place then because I never did manage to move them, ever. In the last five or six years it really has been a victim of total neglect, especially useful whenever it was rainy or salty and I didn’t want to corrode other bikes.
However it has also completed some great rides including two 400km randonnees in that time because it was always quite comfortable and not too heavy. I have to reflect that its last great ride was the Tour of Flanders Ride I did on New Year’s Day, maybe the hammer of those special cobbles was the final straw. However I am sure I can say “it was a fitting end”.
As I started my walk back to the arranged pick-up point with my emergency backup (thank you darling) I have to say it was a lovely day. The Belgian wildlife at least is completely sure spring is here, the birds were singing their hearts out and the countryside glowed in the sunlight. Au revoir my two wheeled friend.
New winter steed needed for next year, I hope we have a mild dry year until then!
Breakfast view – beautiful Belgian sunrise
There for just a fleeting few minutes between darkness and grey morning.
Even gives a mug of tea and a bowl of meusli a warmer feeling.
Just nipping down the shop on my bike dear……may be some time
Gallery
Tonight we rode
My son and I came back to the house and there was only one thing to do.
Glorious late evening light. No breeze worth mentioning. Eager dog ready for the off. We rode.
I was lifted up. Oh I needed this. So good to have all this on the doorstep.
And we were not alone.
Thanks Ben, thanks Murphy.
Now that is what I call a weekend – cycling, Le Tour, British Lions and Murray
- Stunning weather.
- Great bike ride.
- The British and Irish Lions beat the Aussies comprehensively at rugby.
- Despite all my best intentions I am totally addicted to the Tour de France all over again. Incredible stage today, impossible not to watch.
- There is a Brit in yellow at the Tour.
- And some bloke called Murray won Wimbledon ending 77 years of famine.
How good is that?
To be honest I am almost as pleased by the bike ride as anything else. I had a 60 mile day with the Belgian club I have started riding with and I the brilliant weather it was outstanding. I avoided the calamities of my last ride and we saw our all the best of our local countryside. And once again it was almost car free! (Club Cyclotouriste d’Ottignies Louvain-la-Neuve)
The first few kilometres took us out of the dips and valleys of Walloon Brabant and then we rolled through the flatlands to the south with just a few ripples in the landscape. The villages were looking great, not least the beautiful chateau at Sombreffe which could have been almost anywhere in more celebrated landscapes in France.
On the way back we followed a similar pattern, to the point where one of the riders muttered that everything was a bit easy today. It looked awfully like we were going to get back about 30 minutes early, until the ride leader threw in about 40 minutes of climbing on a lot of the short, sharp climbs of in the area around Ottignies – we seemed to go up and down a lot of times and by the end my legs were hanging. But it was the sort of satisfied pain that comes with a good day out.
30 days of biking: days 8-13 @30daysofbiking (with added @1dayalmostbiking)
Failed the challenge, but a really pretty dreadful start to the cycling week did get better and better.
Day 10 consisted of an hour of pretty unsuccessful bike fixing in the morning and much more disastrous hour sitting in an immobile car in the evening. Time when I should have been riding. So @30daysofbiking is going to be @29daysofbiking even if I have many days when there has been more than ride. Do you think the hour spent working on the bikes counts? I did sit on one and wiggle the handlebars?
For the state of dignity I will continue to the month end – here is the rest of this week’s diary which did have an excellent end. Day 7 was already covered – not the best start here
Day 8 – the “ouch that could have hurt” ride.
Snapped crank as I left the station. One of those incidents which could have pitched me onto the ground, but it was only a wobble.
Forced to catch a ride home. 10 minutes.
Day 9 “Who ploughed up the path” ride 
Out for an hour on the mountain bike with the dog, only to discover that one of our local farmers has ploughed up the path I chose creating a surface almost unrideably lumpy and I fell off once. Murphy liked it, with his 4 wheel drive he was looking back and laughing.
60 minutes.
Day 10 – bummer. “Sit on saddle in shed” not ride
10 seconds?
Day 11. “Forgot my saddle cover” wet bum ride,
This isn’t a good week. Just from the station 25 minutes.
Day 12. “Paris – oh Paris”
Thank goodness, I needed a lift. See the full post here
Day 13. “The eccentrics of Ceroux” ride
Today I had two rides. I spent an hour with my wife and the dog gently taking in our local lanes. We went over to the village of Ceroux which I have photographed several times before.
However this time because we were going slower we noticed a street of houses that seem to be eccentrics corner. A giant stainless steel windmill that seemed to be made out of car wing mirrors, a dragon chimney pot and close proximity social housing for birds.
After we got back I gave myself a special treat and got out my new road bike for a thrash on dry, clean roads. I have hardly ridden it since I was given it as a leaving present by my colleagues at CTC, now I really was able to enjoy it. No photos, sorry – too busy enjoying myself.
It is a Genesis Equilibrium compact road by the way, steel all the way.
150 minutes and a great way to end the week.
Should have been a horrible day for cycling – but got to make the most of it.
Oh my. Can I say again – I am so over snow.
Woke up this morning to almost the worst possible scenario for a road ride – snow and sleet beginning to lie on the fields. The road outside looks clear of ice, but it is soaking wet.
I am not free again on Sunday again for several weeks and after all the psyching up of yesterday there is no way I was going to back down from my first Belgian club ride unless it was truly unrideable so I put on my thickest winter layers including the neoprene overshoes and set off.
Unfortunately the prospect of a soggy cold day had a much bigger deterrent effect of the rest of the club because there were a grand total of two other riders out. I was assured that I was “unlucky” because there are usually up to twenty riders per group.
However no-nonsense Philippe was waiting for nobody and set off bang on 9.30. I was told this was planned to be a ride of around 55kmph at a speed of around 25kmph. Amazingly despite the conditions and the newcomer he delivered me back to the start point at exactly that time, just by riding at a well paced and constant effort throughout the whole ride, regardless of which of the other two of us was riding beside him.
What should I say? By all normal standards it should have been horrible. The sleet never stopped, stinging our faces on the downhills. The roads were awash and the minor roads were covered in mud and grit. From following Philippe’s wheel a few times I am afraid I will be getting the grit out of my teeth and eyes for the rest of the week. The bike looked like a mountain bike when I got back.
But inevitably I loved it. The roads were almost car free, a combination of the foul weather and the fact that there is almost no Sunday shopping in Belgium (yippee!). It made a great cycling route with the knowledge of a local guide and every road was new. We stayed away from the steep sided valleys nearer where I live so it was all rolling farmland which made the pace about right for me, no need to worry about saving something for climbing. In fact with the open fields, strong cold easterly wind and lack of hedgerows it could almost have been my native East Anglia except that the architecture of the farms and small towns and villages was unmistakably Wallon Brabant. The villages themselves just about managed to look attractive and well kept under the grey skies although I cannot say that for the road surfaces which were potholed and badly broken.
For the record: From Ottignies to Saint-Géry, Chastre, Walhain, Tourinnes St. Lambert, Nil St Martin and Corry Le Grand, my first Belgian club run.
I haven’t done that for nearly nine months. Boy I missed it.
Thank you Club Cyclotouriste D’Ottignies. I’ll be back.
Happy New Year – not despairing in sunny Belgium
A year ago I wrote my first blog post, a New Year’s resolution to give blogging a chance.
A grand total of three people viewed it, all of whom were undoubtedly family members.
A year later I can hardly believe how much pleasure I have got from the process and how much I have learned about writing and taking photographs for other people to read. I had intended to write about cycling but it has been a lot of fun to add some diversions into food and travel.
Thanks to everyone for reading, for commenting and for just generally being polite enough to take an interest in my posts. And above all else thanks to the cyclists I have met across the world who have been such an inspiration. I genuinely do not despair every time we meet.
And because your favourites seem to be the bike rides and photos I can use my twelve month anniversary to share a few images from my annual reaffirmation of my cycling credentials, the New Year’s Day Ride. A few more readers this time!
This year’s was a solo. My wife and I walked our dog for a couple of hours in the wind and rain this morning, predicting that this was going to be the best we would get for the day.
However just after lunch the clouds cleared and a dazzling winter sun broke through which encouraged me to keep up my tradition that the year hasn’t started until the first ride. And just as in the last few rides it was a temptation to wander and take in the lanes around my new home in Belgium.
Today I didn’t set out for a specific destination so the significant memory today is just light. Fierce, glaring, reflecting off the roads and lighting up the buildings. At times I could have done with sunglasses and I was almost worried about the effect it could have on drivers. I have heard rather too many excuses about being dazzled at the scene of serious accidents to entirely relax when even I cannot see properly. However the drivers today were few and far between which made it very relaxing.
So I was able to enjoy the sunlit village green at Ceroux, the extraordinary sunlight off the roads and the beautiful avenue of trees above at Ruart. The avenue reminded me of the art of David Hockney which I enjoyed so much in April, I am sure he would have made much of it.
And the riding itself was great, a stiff wind but I deliberately took my trusty winter road bike so I could enjoy spinning lighter wheels and narrow tyres up and around the rolling landscape. It’s a survivor this one, every time I have a new year plan to throw it out somehow it survives another twelve months. £75 for the frame about twelve years ago, the seatpin and chainset stuck solid, the frame rusting in places. But it is always comfortable and familiar and I can ride it across winter roads without a care. Just what I needed.
Happy New Year to all.
I Do Not Despair 