Beer biking in Belgium

162 miles, 25 beers, 5 days, 2 bikes and 1 happy couple....we took our long-awaited beer cycling trip last weekend and had a blast.  For this beer geek and cycling enthusiast duo, it felt like we were returning to the Mother Ship.

We took a train into Bruxelles Wednesday morning, and after renting our sweet bikes headed straight for the medieval town of Gent.  Good thing we didn't realize it would be a solid 60 miles into the wind or we might not have attempted it.  But it built character, and we got to ride through some beautiful countryside.  We were almost too exhausted to eat dinner by the time we arrived, but thankfully Belgium is full of places offering large servings of meat and potatoes...and beer!  Gent is a really cool little town, with a population made up mostly of college students and a cathedral for every block.

off we go!

the view from our hotel in Gent

Gent

Thursday, we biked to Brugge, on a fully paved riverside bike path, that even had a manually operated ferry to shuttle bikers across the river when the path crossed.  Why not just build a bridge, you ask?  Job security, of course.  It was Ascension day, which is apparently the biggest holiday in this quaint little tourist town.  When we arrived, they were in the middle of a parade which told the entire story of Christ, with hundreds of actors, musical groups and impressive floats.  It culminated with a man on a horse, holding up a holy relic which apparently contains the actual blood of Christ, stolen from Jerusalem by some Belgian crusaders.

a herd of sheep on the bike path

Brugge

Belgium is pretty amazing in terms of biking accessibility.  Every single main road we traveled on had a bike lane, and for most of the time the next 2 days we followed these bike maps which take you on all the backroads and direct you with numbers so you don't have to stop and check the map a hundred times an hour.  It was like connect-the-numbers by bike!  For example, our itinerary for Friday looked like something like this: "78-12-13-14-16-24-25-54-55-56-finish"!  It was so easy, and some of the routes took us literally through corn fields.  Despite the fact that it seemed like the wind was still in our faces no matter which direction we headed, it was a beautiful ride to Roeselare and then Oudenaarde.

Tom, all geared out and standing next to a "bike-by-number" sign

at a lunch stop

Throughout the trip, we were a bit at a loss for words, as we don't speak a lick of Flemish.  I did try to order dinner in Flemish one night from a hamburger stand, which provided a lot of entertainment for the locals.  My "Bicky Burger" was delicious, none the less.

As for the beer...it was all so delicious and different!  One of our favorite new beers was the Gueuze style- a sour ale which is the mix of two or more Lambics.  Rodenbach Grand Cru was another favorite, and one that I would drink regularly if I lived here.  Often in America, we think of Belgium beers as having that typical taste of a Tripel or Dubbel, but there is SO much more to the world of Belgium beer!  It was fun to read Michael Jackson's poetic accolades to each beer as we tried it.  We never actually made it to a brewery or Abbey; they were all pretty much closed up for the holiday weekend (one woman said to me when I called about opening hours, "There is nothing to brew from Thursdays to Sundays, so why would we be open?" Good point, I guess, if you care nothing about tourists and fans).   But that was okay, because you could buy a bottle of good beer easier than you could buy water. 

our trusty guide & cup, and a favorite beer

another lunch stop by the river

Back in Bruxelles, we stayed with friends, Sydni and Andy, who were the most wonderful hosts, and wandered around the city parks and markets for our final day...a much needed break after 4 full days of biking!  I had a strawberry pistachio tart as Tom sang to me and we celebrated life. :)  I would've never guessed that I'd be spending my 27th birthday in Belgium!