One of my first impressions of Belgium, aside from the gloomy gray skies, were bikes. On the train with a friend I hadn’t seen in a few years, I stopped mid sentence, as I pressed my face to the window and gaped at the bicycle parking lot. “Holy cow,” I muttered.
“Oh yeah, we love our bikes. That’s common. And you can’t see the whole thing from the train window,” my friend replied. Though she had been traveling the world for the last 2 years and was in her own country for only a handful of weeks for the first time in a year, it was normal. No surprise.
We’re all a product of our environment and what’s normal to us. I love cities that are bik-able and bicycle friendly… being from the vast US of A, I always question where we went wrong in designing our cities. I know the answer- politics and economics. The story to sell more cars and reduce trains and design cities for cars.
Here’s a few snapshots in honor of Flashback Photo Friday of bikes in Belgium
Roamingtheworld 
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Same as you – I love cycling cities! We can thank Rockefeller and his aggressive shutdown of train rails and subways to allow cars to take over (so that his oil company could flourish). As you said – it’s always business, isn’t it? It really is too bad that the western region of the U.S. is less of a walking and public transport region. I think cities like L.A. would actually be beautiful if people cycled instead of drove everywhere.
We’re currently living in a cycling city, and really loving it. (Talk to me when the rainy season comes around though).
I really enjoy them too even if I’m not much of a cyclist myself ( or just yet…). I love Portland for all their bike lanes and it’s the only city where I hopped on a bike alongside cars and just felt so comfortable riding for the entire day. It’s a bike friendly city and it makes all the difference!
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Nice photos! I especially like the one with the Bierhus.
I’d love to visit Belgium.
Thanks mom! I’d love to visit in Summer or when there is some blue sky!
When my sister studied abroad in Copenhagen, it was the same thing. Her host family didn’t even own a car. When my sister had to leave for a trip to London organized by her study abroad program, her host mother somehow attached her entire suitcase (and this was not a small carry on suitcase, this was a normal sized suitcase) to the back of a bike. They then biked to the airport from her host family’s house (they lived by the Copenhagen airport) in a few inches of snow (because it was November by this point) with my sister’s suitcase on the bike!! I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen the pictures.
Wow. That’s awesome! Glad she has the photos!
A friend of mine was just in Copenhagen for a month and was so happy his apartment came with a bike. All makes sense since it’s bike culture and that’s how you get around… and renting/buying a bike for a month likely isn’t that cheap but certainly worth it!
As an avid bicycle commuter, I would love to visit Belgium and bike around the city. Even the most bike-friendly cities in the US are not even close to being as bike-friendly as many cities in Europe and throughout the world. Slowly, the US seems to be shifting towards city living, dense development, and efficient alternative transportation, including bikes.
Hi Mike,
That’s awesome you are an avid bike rider and commuter. True, many US cities are making the shift but when comparing to Europe it seems night and day. Today, I was driving and bikes were sharing the road- I was happy they were biking but wish they had their own bike lines… one day soon the USA will be even more bike friendly.
Do you know where you’re placed yet? Beginning the countdown?
It is definitely night and day. I bike to work sharing lanes and it’s scary at times. I’ll be in Almunecar, Granada, and will be living in Almunecar as the the commute to and from Granada will be a little far. Plus, the city is about 30,000 people so it’s not too small.