Brussels (Sprouts) Bike Lanes

Brussels is the worst--when it comes to traffic congestion. That's not my opinion, that's the ranking from Tom Tom, the GPS manufacturer. The last time Tom Tom checked,  in June of 2011, Brussels topped the list of European cities with the worst traffic congestion. Though there are indications that's changing.

You might guess all that traffic congestion would translate into nightmare conditions for cyclists. You'd be right--and wrong. Listen to what Chloe Mispelon and Julian Ferguson, members of the communcations staff at the European Cyclists' Federation had to tell me when I visited their office in Brussels.

Listen to Julian's amusement when I start by telling him after my biking trip to his office, riding in Brussels wasn't so bad. I was surprised by the bike lanes stretching up from Brussels Gare Centraal, but as Julian explained, they are, as in many American cities, a patchwork affair. Chloe and Julian explain how the gridlock can--oddly--benefit a cyclist.

Julian is right: you'll spot great cycling infrastructure like this, (note the red path and bike light ahead) then blocks later, you're back on to the street where you might or might not find sharrow markings, or you're forced onto unmarked cobblestones (cobblestones lose all their charm on a bike like the Brompton). You could also be herded into construction zones where you'll have to hop off your bike and walk it through narrow chutes as pedestrians struggle to avoid getting hung up on your handlebars.

Still, it's a big difference from the Brussels I remember on my first trip here in 2006--one that makes cycling in an unfamiliar city much less daunting. And yes, that is a giant golden mussel that appears to be perched on my handlebar. This is Brussels, after all.

Row! Row! Row!

Biking back from a nature reserve (Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen) along the Coupure just outside Ghent. Can you see the megaphone on the man's back? He's  coaching a women's crew team. You'll see them in the final frames here.
Done on a Bike from Kate Ryan Reports on Vimeo.
Taken with my iPod Touch. I'm not sure, but was he telling the women to work harder?
Sounded that way to me.

Bikes and boats and beaches...

This Marconi-centric journalist is still just flirting with the video skills, so bear with me as I practice, but here's a little something from today on the many places you may find a bike in Europe. In Belgium and the Netherlands, they're parked all over in giant clusters, and on the many boats that line the canals.

Here in France, in the area known as Pas-de-Calais, if you're headed to the beach, why not bike it? As a matter of fact, if you want a workout, ride along the beach. But mind the tides: time it right by heading out on a weekday in October, and you have a huge expanse of hard-packed sand pretty much to yourself. Get it wrong, and you'll be riding waves on your bike. And depending on how buoyant  you and your bike are, it will either be exhilarating, or a water rescue in the making.

Note in the video the riders are wearing helmets. Not a common sight in the smaller cities here in France/Belgium/Netherlands, but increasingly so in Paris and Brussels where congestion that rivals DC's fuels short tempers and bad behavior. On everyone's part.

In rural areas like this one, you'll find sport-cyclists using helmets. The logic being they'll hit high speeds, crashes (between cyclists who often ride in club packs) are possible and the riding takes place on narrow roads without shoulders and plenty of blind curves. But for utilitarian riding, you still see most folks going without the headgear. 

I note this because I spotted Gypsybug's column "You Wear a Helmet, Don't You?" and I understand her frustration. That question is kind of like when your Mom/roommate/boyfriend/husband/partner might have asked you:  "You're wearing that to go out?" A guaranteed conflict-starter. And the helmet question does seem to feed the notion that the cyclist who opts not to ride with a helmet has a death wish or thinks they are somehow invulnerable. 

As a reporter speaking from my own experience here, I'll give you my take on the inclusion of the helmet-or-no-helmet detail. A crash--any crash--happens. The questions start rolling: Was there alcohol/speed involved? What were the weather conditions? Was the driver/victim wearing a seat belt? Was the child in car seat? Was that car seat properly strapped in?

We, like the listener/reader are looking for the cause. It's human nature. "How awful, but I wear my seatbelt, so that probably won't happen to me..." I suspect that just as there is lots of head-shaking when it's found someone wasn't wearing a seatbelt, the same thing happens when we hear of crashes involving cyclists. We---and I don't just mean journalists here, I mean we as in people in general-- ask about that helmet. We like to think as long as we have one on, we'll be ok.

But here's the thing, and it's something that Gypsybug hit on (no pun intended) in her post. While we've all heard the stories about the father of nine who averted disaster when his helmet bore the brunt of his crash (I made that up, but you get the idea) some of us have wondered: are the fatal/critical injuries always head injuries for cyclists? A helmet won't prevent a ruptured spleen courtesy of a dooring, but you'll hear those "Tsk, tsks" when someone is injured that way. "See? He should have been wearing a helmet!"

It's fodder for another study and analysis. Put it on my to-do list. 

Caution: Working Dog at Play

Meg, the Wonder Dog.

Actually, she's an English flyball champion. I met Meg, and her very nice owners on the beach not far from Calais in France. She didn't stop to talk. Like most Border Collies, she had one thing on her mind. Working. Which for Border Collies, is the same as playing. Except for they are deadly serious about both.