G.T. Bishop's trip to Europe

Hello A.T.

 

Returned from my trip to Europe. It was a great trip. I would have done more cycling if I had my druthers but it was a perfect balance for travelling with my son who isn't on the bike so often.

Still, it was great to ride in places where bikes are accepted so readily such as Belgium, Holland and, to a lesser extent, Germany. The cycling infrastructure is amazing in most places except the larger cities in Germany where the car still has dominance. It is a good problem to have, I think, when the major problem getting around with your bicycle is finding a place to park it because there are so many cyclists!

If anyone from the club is planning a cycle trip around Belgium or Holland, I recommend putting the app called Fietsknoop on their phones. It allows for easy route planning (it can be configured to use English) based on their network of numbered nodes and then can be used for navigation with a pleasant voice telling you which node you are approaching and the next one to head for once there. The signage is very good and co-ordinates almost exactly with the app. It doesn't provide necessarily the shortest route between A & B, but certainly it was much more pleasant than riding along the side of a busy road even with a bike lane along the shoulder, which we did a couple of times to save time.

I would definitely recommend the cycling along the Moselle Valley for anyone who likes riding on secure paths and drinking wine!

I wore the colours of the club a few of the days as shown in the pictures. Interestingly, I never got queried on the winged wheel on my back by the discreet Europeans.

 

G.T. Bishop