Bicycle Belgium
 

If I traveled to a very popular cycling country like Belgium how could I drop in and spend a few days or week enjoying their bike culture? How could I maximize the trip with a very heavy emphasis on cycling?

or is another country or city a much better option?

What kind of bicycle culture are you looking for? Cycling for transportation is decent in Belgium, but not everywhere. It's mainly Flanders, Ghent is probably their best cycling city, and imo is their best city to visit anyway.

Really special is their culture towards road cycling, cyclecross and track. Thousands of them will go out into gloomy and rainy januari cold to get a glimpse of the Belgian boys beaten in the mud by the same Dutchman over and over again and applaud him over and over again. Of course they care and would prefer a Belgian to win for a change, or any change in who wins, but first and foremost they keep admiring the performance. The same for road cycling, Sagan is incredibly popular there for the cyclist he is, his nationality is secondary. That's not because they're not chauvinistic, it's because of their deep and genuine love for the sport.

Does it have to be Belgium? Dont get me wrong, I'd go in a heartbeat but if you want to ride on streets with more bikes than cars and have right of ways and streetlights specific for Cyclists then Copenhagen might be a better "Cycling Culture" trip :)

”more bikes than cars”

exactly what I’m looking for :thumb:

maybe ride 50 ish miles a day and hang out at some bicycles shops and restaurants

Copenhagen. :thumb:

Mallorca.
Period.
If you care about weather
and road cycling.

thanks :thumb:

riding looks great

We stayed in an AirBnB on Wollenstraat a block away from the Bruge Markt. On Monday we watched all the cycling traffic scoot by, basically a traffic jam of all bikes. 3mph, dressed for work and school, front tire to back tire. Rarely a helmet or light, all polite.

It was “cycling culture” no doubt. Exactly like watching a traffic jam on the I5 in Seattle is “car culture”.

Depends on what type of cycling you want to experience. I’ve only been to Brussels and Bruge. Beautiful country and lovely people.

:thumb:

Besides that Cppenhagen isn't entirely the cycling city that it pretends to be, that cycling culture ends at city limits. If you want the most cycling culture, everywhere, it's the Netherlands where you have to go. Denmark and Flanders come in second and third, but at respectable distance. There are good reasons to go Flanders or even Denmark instead (the other part of Belgium isn't that great for cycling) but not cycling and cycling culture itself.

Go when they have bike races where you're going.

Why not ride a sportive attached to a classic race, and watch the race the next day.

I rode the Paris Roubaix sportive last year then watched the race at Carrefour de l' Arbre on the Sunday. Being heckled by drunken Belgians on the ride on Saturday then joining them to watch the race on Sunday is a very good cycling experience.