justpedal

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Beer, Bikes and Belgium

BrewDog teamed up with Le Domestique tours to offer beer and cycling lovers a unique experience. Beer, Bikes and Belgium. A weekend of drinking some of the finest beers Belgium has to offer along with some of the most famous cobbled roads and ascents in cycling history. 

Day 1 began with a tasting of classic Belgian beer styles in the Tour of Flanders museum in Oudenaarde. We then rode to our accommodation with a beautiful sunset over the Belgian farms in a brisk 3 degrees. The evening, in the former boarding school now turned haunted house for travelling groups, started with a tasting of BrewDog classics, DPC and Punk, with a traditional Belgian Beef Stew being accompanied by Duchesse de Bourgogne, the perfect match. 

Day 2 again was focused on the beer. We had an early start from Ellezelles with our local guide Jeroen, to Café in de Vrede in West Flanders, the home of Westvleteren. The grass was frosted and the roads a little icy in the sub-zero temperatures, but the ride was flat for a solid 90km. On arrival at the cafe, everyone started with the Blonde, a delicate and refreshing brew that was perfect after a few hours in the saddle. Both the 8 and 12 went down a treat with their sweet caramel and dried fruit flavours. A few kilometres around the road we stopped at De Struise in the old school classrooms to sample their massive selection, from crisp pilsners, to sours and a variety of barrel aged Pannepot’s, it is definitely a must for all visitors in the area.

Day 3 was focused on the cycling. We again began at the Tour of Flanders museum in Oudenaarde and went straight to the brutal cobbled climb of the Koppenberg. In the damp conditions, only two members of the group made it to the top. The day was a shorter ride, only 65 km, but as much time in the saddle and far more elevation. Other classic cobbled climbs included the Paterberg, Eikenberg and the Oude Kwaremont! 

Planning for the next Beer and Bikes ride has begun!

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France Cycling

Having only cycled in city France before (Lyon, 2012) I was extremely unsure about what to expect from country France. Dieppe was the first town we rode through as it was the first stop of out bike trip in France. While there were no designated bike lanes, motorists seemed to be much more accepting of cyclists, no aggressive overtaking or beeping like back in Australia. 

The beginning of our first big ride in France started down the Avenue Verte, a bike way that leads from just outside of Dieppe almost all the way to Paris. This was an amazing experience, smooth surface the entire way, well signed crossings, wide enough for a few cyclists each way and unbelievable scenery through the landscape of northern France. For anyone looking to take on a cycle adventure but is worried about cycling on the roads with cars and trucks, this is the best possible route. Extremely relaxing, you can go as fast or slow as you please and your final destination is the city of Paris! After 40km we needed to head east towards Amiens, so it was back onto the roads. While there were again no bike lanes, the response from passing vehicles was much better than expected. Riding into Amiens, again no entirely designated bikeways but some side streets for parking and turning away from the Main Street, allows for cyclists to ride with slower moving traffic. 

Riding into Roubaix, we managed to get lost and a local was more than happy to guide us in the right direction, the language barrier was difficult to work with but it was great to see someone people of the bike community working together to help us out. After arriving in Lille, coloured bikeways gave cyclists a safe zone, however it was directly beside moving traffic and next to parked cars increased the fear of being doored, very similar to the infrastructure back home. 

Once starting the short trip from Lille to Roubaix, the infrastructure was a delight. Segregated bikeways with natural barriers between moving traffic and trams for the 11km trip. This type of thing is perfect for neighbouring cities as it makes cycling one of the easiest options. Was also great to see the Roubaix Velodrome and the Espace Charles Crupelandt, some of the most famous sights in competition cycling history!

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Cargo dreamin

Since visiting Copenhagen in 2012 and seeing a Christiania bike for the first time I was in awe. What a marvellous piece of machinery. 100% man powered with the ability to transport anything from whole families to pieces of furniture. I found myself spending countless hours on the bridge leading into Nørrebro, watching cargo bikes pass and waiting to see what the next person was using theirs for. Since then I’ve had somewhat of an obsession with any form of cargo bike, not being able to take my eyes off if one passes. 

Now living in London after relocating from Brisbane, while not the most practical city to ride around on a cargo bike with the lack of segregated bike lanes and insane traffic (compared to the likes of Copenhagen and Amsterdam) I started to make excuses in order to purchase one for myself. A short lived idea to embark on a small business venture was the excuse used to buy a cargo bike!

In June of 2014, i went on a short adventure to the Netherlands to pick up a cargo bike found online and bring back to London. After finishing work late at night, i headed straight to Gatwick Airport and got the first flight to Amsterdam. I then boarded the train to Rotterdam to stay the night before getting the bus into rural Holland, all the way out to a small town called Middelharnis. I spent the night going for a stroll around Rotterdam, i do live that city, with its classic Dutch Bikeways, stunning architecture from Rem Koolhaas, it is such an anomaly compared to everything else that surrounds it, due to it being pretty much knocked down during WWII, it reminds me of Melbourne in Australia, with the new and out there architecture, being quite culturally diverse and the restaurant and bar scene. 

The next morning I got on the bus out to Middelharnis to meet with a man selling cargo bikes on a dutch market website. It was odd to be in a part of the Netherlands where there was little to no english spoken, however the guy i purchased the bike from was able to speak some english (i feel very ignorant not being able to speak another language but am working on that with learning Swedish). The man i bought it off was extremely interesting, being an avid collector of tractors, apparently he didn’t trust the banks so invested his money into his hobbies. He purchases the bike from a retired man in Belgium that builds them in his shed. He offered a ride to the ferry for 20 euros, which would save me about 5 hours of cycling to Hoek van Holland, where i caught the ferry back to Harwich, and also allow me to get back to London on the same day rather than getting the overnight ferry. 

The trip consisted of 1 flight, 2 trains, 2 bus trips, 1 ferry trip, and 2 car trips, all in the name of cargo bikes.

A year on and the cargo bike had had its fair share of use, being the lead bike in an East London Beer Bike Crawl, used to move house, and transport kegs and casks until its final journey before Christmas of 2014 saw it collapse under the weight of a cask. Definitely a trip to remember, however next time i will be going all out and getting a proper, sturdy Chrsitania Bike! 

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Little things like this that making cycling a touch more difficult in London seem to be everywhere. This one is in on my daily commute in Millfields Park in Clapton. Some of the Copenhagen style bins for passing cyclists next to the pathway would be ideal!

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The Ale Ride, July 2nd, 2017

The follow up ride to The Art Ride hosted by the Ride Journal in Autumn of 2014, The Ale Ride switched the focus from art to beer. Craft beer and cycling go hand in hand, and the guys at Look Mum No Hands in London, Oskar Blues in the States and Bridge Road Brewers in Australia are perfect examples of that.

After bumping into Andrew of the The Ride Journal at my place of work in central London, we started chatting about the possibility of another guided ride to Brighton, this time with a focus on beer.

The group met early at BrewDog Soho for a pre departure catch up and coffee. Custom made stickers especially produced for participants were dished out, and the 17 strong group departed south from central London, passing sights such as Big Ben before crossing the Thames and making our way towards Clapham. The forecast for the day did not look great but reality proved otherwise with the sun shining for the majority of the trip down. After passing through Clapham and onwards past the M25 the ride started to become a little more scenic. The route was created by a couple of the guys along on the ride that had attended The Art Ride, and I must say it was beautiful. So much cycling along classic British countryside roads. There was the occasional brush with motor traffic, with 17 cyclists in a pack it does get to some motorists that are in a rush and driving down a road barely wide enough for 2 cars. There was a bit of banter as per usual but completely harmless.

Passing Horsham and everyone was feeling the burn, with another hour or so before we reached our first destination, Darkstar Brewing. Just prior to rolling into Partridge Green, on overpassing storm had caught up with us and absolutely pummelled us with rain heavy like hail. Fortunately it only lasted a few minutes and we soon rolled into the estate of Darkstar Brewing. 

Met by Stephanie of Darkstar at the entrance, the team there was amazing, having beers prepared for our arrival and the Managing Director to give us a tasting of their range and walk through their production. Darkstar also embrace the craft beer and cycle culture with an array of cycling merch and a bulleitt cargo bike custom built to carry 2 casks, so it was a no brainier that they were the highlight of the ride.

Myself needing to depart early, I left the rest of the group in the hands and beer of the guys at Darkstar while I continued to Brighton. Taking a detour to the regular route, I ended up on the South Downs trail, a path I had taken a couple of years ago on my first ever cycling tour. It was a much smoother trip with the trail being upgraded to have proper gravel paths rather than dirt and mud trails. It was also far easier doing it on the new Brother, Kepler, which was on its maiden voyage, compared to the Fixed gear I had previously done it on. The final hill before Brighton took me by surprise. Knowing i was skipping the Ditchling Beacon I thought I was safe of a big hill climb until I hit the Devils Dyke. As challenging as it was, the views from he top all the way down to Brighton and the English Channel were worth it. I managed to stop by BrewDog Brighton, where the rest of the group would eventually meet for a post ride beer, to have a cheeky pint before the train trip back home to London.

I would like to thank the guys at The Ride Journal, Darkstar Brewing, BrewDog Brighton and everyone who came along on the ride for a fantastic day and I look forward to the next one!

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Bike Assembly

After crashing my dads custom built SCONI (colossi scandium frame) just before Christmas last year, I had been riding fixed gear again to commute, which was starting to take a toll on my knees, the reason I had started riding a road bike to begin with. 

I attended a bike ride to Brighton in 2014 that was organised by the guys at The Ride Journal, and met Will from Brother Cycles on that ride. He was on the early version of the Kepler, and it looked amazing. Chatting to him and getting to know how him and his brother started up the company, I knew that should the time come, I was going to get a frame from them, not because they are just two guys in London with an independent company doing something the love (working for BrewDog for a couple of years now has engraved the idea of supporting independent in my head), but also because what they are making are sturdy, well built and sexy frames. They also sponsor a fixed gear racing team, Defi, in which a friend with whom I cycled to Paris with is part of, and for such a small company to be helping out a local team to get started in the racing world is amazing, compared to other teams that are sponsored by the big guys such as Cinelli and Specialized. 

Finally getting my act together to get a new frame to rebuild with the components of the SCONI, I contacted the guys at Brother and they couldn't have been more helpful. Turned out a shop around the corner from my work, Soho Bikes was a new stockist of their frames. I dropped into the store and in three days I had the frame in my hands, with the headset and bottom bracket installed free of charge. The remaining assembly I took home, with a few bits and pieces such as cutting the forks to length and the cables of the brake and gear cables, which i took across the road to Mamachari cycles and they had it done on the same day. Having not dealt with cantilever brakes before, I had a friend at Condor Cycles tweak them till they were perfect and within 2 weeks of getting the frame it was road ready and had its maiden voyage a day later down to Brighton, on another ride organised by the guys at The Ride Journal and myself, a perfect start. 

 I must say that the cycling community in London is amazing and extremely helpful. I had never put together a road bike before, never dealt with derailleurs, shifters, brakes etc. There are so many tools that no one has at home that are required to put together a road bike so I am extremely thankful for the guys at Soho Bikes, Condor Cycles and Mamachari cycles in Walthamstow for helping put it together.

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The triple tandem at Mamachari Cycles, Walthamstow. 🚲🚲🚲 Apparently this thing will be doing John O'Groats to Lands End in the near future!

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Do a tour

February 2014. In two months time i would be relocating to the uk in search of something new and different. i love Brisbane, it's a great city that is moving and evolving so quickly, but after being there for a couple of years straight, it begins to feel very small. Before most likely getting caught in the rat race of London, i felt like i needed an adventure.

Doing a bike tour is one of those things I've really wanted to do for years, but always felt like it required too much planning, training and money. I floated the idea of touring through northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands for a couple of weeks with a weekly riding buddy of mine. He had some spare cash and was stoked on the idea and thus LONXDAM was born. From then on there was no backing down, which was an amazing motivator to organise everything, save as quick as possible and train to improve our fitness. We met up every saturday for coffee and a short ride before having breakfast and discussing our plans. As we were both planning on doing the tour on track bikes, we chose an easier route with minimal hills and short distances, short for touring that is, neither of us had done a +100km ride beforehand. 

It turned out to be far easier than we could ever have imagined. We just decided on a rough daily average, picked cities that were roughly that distance apart between London and Amsterdam and that was the route sorted. With choosing a place to stay, both of us had gone backpacking before so we were happy to stay in the cheapest hotels and hostels along the way. Neither of us had panniers so backpacks were the chosen method of transporting our possessions. In terms of fitness, we would go for a 50km ride a week and feel pretty comfortable so doing that twice a day with a rest in between for a couple of weeks with rest days didn't seem unrealistic. While that may sound ridiculous, touring is a different form of riding compared to your average recreational river loop. Starting in one location and ending somewhere completely different, in a different country, with a different culture, you forget about the distance left to go and you just keep pedalling.

We ended up on dirt, mud and gravel trails that led us through country farms, while the pedalling was tough, it was the last thing on our minds as the scenery was spectacular and so different to what we were used to. There were the tough times, getting bogged in the dirt and falling into a bush of stinging nettles is at the top of that list, but experiences of riding through country France, around the Roubaix velodrome, drinking the most amazing Belgian beers, riding along paths smooth as butter in the Netherlands are just a few of the great moments. The tour totalled 886km over 13 days, with six +100km days, 40 litres of beer each and 1 major crash each (the 3 Trappist beers over lunch may have had an impact on that). After completing the almost 900km journey, I feel like this is just the beginning of many more tours to come, and after realizing how easy it actually is, they are only going to get bigger and better. Just pedal.

Initial piece submitted to The Ride Journal in June, 2014. Image courtesy of Kelsey Heinrichs.

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Westvleteren Ride

3 countries 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇧🇪. 2 cyclists 🚲🚲. 1 day ☀️🌦⛈🌨.

The task: to travel from London to a Poperinge, a small town close to the border of France and Belgium to get our hands on some of the most exclusive beer in the world.

An early start to cycle from East London to Victoria Station for the train out to Dover was the beginning of what turned out to be a longer than expected day. We arrived in Dover after a 2 hour long train journey and the weather was clear, the sun was out, far better than what was forecast. Mapping the route to Cafe In de Vrede (only legal reseller of Westvleteren Trappist Beer, located directly next to the Saint Sixtusabdij and Brewery), it seems i had misjudged the distance, initially looking at the distance from the town centre in Dunkirk to the cafe, instead of from the ferry terminal to the cafe. We had an extra 10km each leg which was going to significantly reduced the amount of time we would liked to have had to relax before the journey back.

Dissembarking in Dunkirk, France, we were surprised at the lack of border patrol, rolling straight onto the streets of France without passing a single guard, far different to other experiences travelling between countries via ferry. Everything started off smoothly, a nice tailwind leading us into the town centre, before turning to head south along Le Canal de Burgues. We came to the small town of Bergues that seemed to be surrounded by a moat, with beautiful big stone buildings along the waters edge, but we were making such good progress, we thought it would be best to save the pictures for the return journey. Turning left after Bergues, we were on the D916A, leading us directly to the Belgian border and only a short distance away from the famed Saint Sixtusabdij and Cafe In de Vrede. We were now well and truly on French country roads, very few cars, glorious green fields and farms, extremely flat, sun shining and an amazing tailwind.

I took us all of two hours to complete the 50km to the Saint Sixtusabdij, but knowing we had an intense headwind in front of us on the return journey, we took 15 minutes to sink a quick Westvleteren XII, purchase some bottles and cheese to take back to London and be on our way.

We had given ourselves an extra hour to get to the ferry with an hour to spare before departure as the return trip was always going to be tougher. Once the bags were packed, three six-packs and half a kilo of cheese each, we got on the bikes only to be pummeled with hail the second we departed the Cafe. The combination of the hail, then rain, added weight and a powerful headwind, made the return journey all the more difficult. Looking at the time, we had to keep a consistent pace of 20km/hr without breaks compared to the comfortable 30km/hr we maintained on the way there with the occasional rest. The ferry was set to leave at 8pm, the last one allowing us to get home to London that night. It had hit 7pm, the time we had hoped to arrive, and we were still a long distance away. Both feeling the burn after nearly 90km, almost 5 hours in the saddle, and having nothing but a beer and some oreo's (really bad planning on my behalf), we stopped to assess the situation and see if we were going to make it or not. Coming off the main road, the ferry was in sight, and was yet to depart the dock, so there was still a chance. Getting a glance at the ferry was the motivation we required to power through the last few kilometres and arrive at passport control with no time to spare, we were the last ones to board the ferry, with the ramp being lifted shortly after we boarded the ship.

The sigh of relief when boarding the ferry and the feeling of sitting down, relaxing with a massive sandwich, a bowl of fries and bottle of coke is unforgettable. Definitely a cycling trip i will always remember, though next time it will be a weekend trip, or i'm driving.

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3 countries 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇧🇪 2 cyclists 🚲🚲 1 day☀️🌤🌦🌨 another banger of a cycling trip through France and Belgium all in the name of beer!

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Training for the Hackney Half Marathon in preparation for Vasaloppet 2017 and get to jog past this ripper of a view!

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Some open shutter shots of the new beer menu at BrewDog Soho

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My recreation of the famed Manchester New Years masterpiece, featuring To Øl Gose to Hollywood.

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Nice to be back on the bike after another injury!

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A video to celebrate the Biking Bonanza! Get out and ride and submit your times! https://www.facebook.com/events/1626946147571315/ https://www.brewdog.com/lowdown/events/brewdog-biking-bonanza-shoreditch

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#elfspresso @eastlondonfixed morning coffee spot 🚲☕️👍🏼

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