Belgium and the Netherlands share a border, a language and a history. Yet in cycling they could not be further apart. Cycling in Brussels from a Dutch perspective seems to be a dangerous activity almost only taken up by young male adults. Most streets in the center seem not very well designed for bicycles. Although there are some stretches of cycle lanes that are wide enough, there is a system of rental bikes that you can get and leave at a lot of places, and cyclists may enter streets that cars may not, the city as a whole comes across as a hostile environment for people on a bike.
20 Comments
@DavidHembrow
Brussels is alot bigger than any Dutch city.
Probably has to do with Brussels expanding too rapidly. In any case Brussels looks like a decent place to cycle in comparison to where I live, Glasgow, Scotland. If you want to see poor infrastructure then look no further, our subway goes in a circle and we have a full motorway (no ring road) going through the centre of the city.
I assume that other large Flemish cities (other than Brussels) have good cycle infrastructure? Like Ghent or Antwerp?
I'm going there soon and I want to take my bike with me. I've been riding and commuting for years in Boston and western Massachusetts, can any one make a comparison?
hahah love at 4:20 how you juxtapose the too-low and the too-high saddles. Saddle height is probably #1 newbie mistake of all biking times.
Check out Flanders, their cycling policy is practically the same as the Dutch one
I've been In Brussels since last 3 years I think Brussel is most dangerous for cyclist than any other Belgian cities.
In Brussels car drivers hardly respect trafic laws…particularly drivers from poorer countries.Belgian traffic law allowed speed limits in Build up areas 20 and 30 but most of the car driver cross almost 50 to 100 kms.But no one control them.
Every week end I take my bike to the neighbouring flemish district.There is much more safe and comfortable.
@Wiskylson Flemish areas are good for cyclist but Brussels…..NO.
Traffic police can never control these over speeding cars in Brussels.
Whenever I go out in Brussel cities I'm always more attentive to the car drivers.
I could hardly believe some of the things I saw going on on the roads of Brussels! I took a day trip there yesterday, but left the Villo bike share quite alone after only an hour or so of observation
America claims "Land of the Free" but here in the U.S. you would be arrested and your bike confiscated if you rode without a helmet.
@heavyrunner9
lol that is the most ubsurd thing I have ever heard I haven't worn a bike helmet my entire life and have never been stopped
You didn't show the cars which use the bicycle paths as parkings in Brussel…
And you forgot also to show buses en motorcycles on de "bicycle paths" as far as they are bicycle paths…
Yikes! As much as I thought Brussels was a beautiful city, I really did not notice that its biking infrastructure is similar to what we have here in Canada!
Things seem to have improved somewhat since I lived in Brussel (1997- 2002).
Back then, riding on anything other than a bona fide cycle path or a quiet suburban backstreet was tantamount to suicide.
Paul FretheimĀ Helmets for adult bicyclists are not mandatory in all of the U.S. Only in some states and cities. Ā If we ever want to make utility cycling popular, with all its benefits, in the U.S. we have to improve the infrastructure and get rid of mandatory helmet laws.
CHECK THIS OUT https://youtu.be/4Xj2IpbWdSs
CYCLING TOUR OF BELGIUM 2017 WATHAM SCOUTS!
Cicyclists in Canada and especially Nova Scotia have to wear helmuts . If they don't they could receive a beer bottle in the side of the head . The automobile drivers are angry and are pissed off at cicylists so only a few brave people in Canada have the inner strength required when putting their lives on the line . I beleive that I am alive today because I sometimes bicycle on the sidewalks instead of the streets .
It's slowly improving. Not as quickly as I would like, they should really remove car lanes in some places and block certain roads. I hope the slow increase of cyclist will warrant that one day.
A car oriented city :(((
You should make a comparison video with now!