Post by enzorhodehagen on Feb 27, 2017 14:17:07 GMT
Hello,
Today we'll see a short tour from approximately 9 km back and forth between Belgium and the Netherlands, but this is easy to extend to at least 30 km back and forth if you start from Bruges, still along the same canal. The below is a translation from an article I wrote in French for the Danystance.com website, the site where French LDP people exchange ideas, etc.
I know 9 km is a very short distance for most of you, but it was already a distance for me back then, as I was a beginner paddler. On top of it, this small tour was also a warm-up and a board test to select what we will be using in the afternoon the same day for another tour.
My brother SamD and our mate Vincent came from France to Bruges, Belgium to visit us, and looking at the fact that the weather predictions looked quite OK, SamD brought a selection of boards and paddles with him.
Bruges city-centre with its pavement is halas not suitable for skating, but luckily there is more than enough to compensate in the country side around the city or on the sea-shore. But priorities first, let's go to the supermarket to buy beers for SamD to bring back to France. As some of you may know, Belgium is a big beer country. There is a saying telling that Belgium has as many beers than France has cheeses.
There is a discount sport shop next to the Carrefour supermarket, and as we always do when together, we go and check it. This time they have some discounted Penny Longboards for sale. As my brother find them quite cheap, I decide to buy myself a 'glow in the night' model...(yep, I was not visible enough with my paddle, my beer stomach, my turtleneck and my old velvet trouser...). This Penny will be my vehice for the next 2 days.
Before leaving for our first tour in the region, we enjoy a deserted part of the mall parking lot on this saturday morning to do a little test session for the boards and paddles, so that SamD and Vincent could decide what would be their Equipment for the first run.
OK, now that the choices are made, we go by car towards Hoeke, a very small place next to Damme. The plan is to go from there to Sluis in the Netherlands following the canal, and back. The former towpath is now a car free bicycle path covered with tarmac. It is riding OK, but the road surface is generating vibrations, which at some points can cause a "running ants" feeling in your feet and ankles after some kilometers (we are only paddling for the moment, no real push).
On our way, we pass by a mini ferry crossing: you get it to move by turning a metallic wheel that actions cables, so you can cross the canal. Of course, we have to go on it and cross the canal, and come back, just like that, for fun.
Back on our decks, and armed with our sticks, while riding towards the Netherlands, we finally meet a tiny downhill section, followed by a very small uphill. Oh, it is really nothing, it is just to pass under the main road's bridge, but here in the flat country I live in, any sort of terrain variety is welcome ;-)
Just before that road bridge, we actually crossed the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. This is our first border crossing on Land-Paddles (yes, we are in the middle of nowhere, so it cannot be street paddle, but only land paddle ;-)). Could it be that we are the first to ever cross an international border on land-paddles? I doubt it, but just thinking about it makes me smile even more on my board. At least that smile is a way to mark the boarder crossing, as it is totally invisible to the eye here. The Benelux area, that existed even before EU, has made all border post disappeared years ago.
Finally we are arriving in Sluis, Netherlands. We decide to ride in the city to find a place to eat. The pavement here is not so bad, it is more interlocking bricks than real old pavement, so our wheels and trucks can digest this.
Speaking about Sluis, I need to tell you: On the Belgian side of the border, you cannot mention going to Sluis without getting a small smile from your interlocutor. This because some time ago either pornography or/and sex shops were forbidden in Belgium, so the Belgians were going just across the borders where it was legal to make their naughty purchases. At some point there were really a lot and lot of sex shops here. Belgians came also to the Netherlands, so Sluis for the area of Bruges, to cash their stocks, as taxes were way lower there than in Belgium... This was of course illegal, but the Belgian police did next to nothing to forbid that, so Sluis enjoyed crowded week-ends. But don't focus on this, Sluis is in fact a very nice small city to visit with its city hall, wind mill, etc.
After riding in the city streets, and a lunch break based on hamburgers and french fries, we jump back on our boards and paddle on the return way. We make already a stop at the exit of the city, along the canal, to admire a stork on its nest feeding two little ones.
The return way towards the car (known as the paddlemobile) is done via exactly the same way as we arrived. We have a bit a headwind at start, but it is not tremendous, we can manage it quite well. As we did on the coming trip, we stop every now and then to exchange our boards, so we all ride on all decks. What we have on this trip is the Penny longboard I just bought that day, a surf like longboard made by SamD, and another Sam made board with a carving truck on a pivot in front.
To summarise it, it is a nice little tour that you can also extend, along some nice landscapes. The area being very flat, you don't have to struggle going uphill, but you need to pay attention to headwind. It is usually better to start with headwind, so that you have it helping you on your back on the way back when you're more tired. At least I feel this way better than the reverse.
The only drawback on this tout would be the quality of the tarmac. It is not so bad, and you won't feel anything on a bicycle, but on our four small wheels it starts to give quickly some running ants feeling on the ankles and feet.
To extend it, you could start the tour from Damme, or even from Bruges. If that was the case, I'd recommend you to take the right side of the canal when you have Bruges on your back and Sluis on your front. The cycle tracks may look less attractive than the towpath on the other side, but I feel it more confortable to ride on.
OK, that is it for now, see you soon I hope, and I'll try to share some more rides with you.
Enzo Rhode-Hagen
Today we'll see a short tour from approximately 9 km back and forth between Belgium and the Netherlands, but this is easy to extend to at least 30 km back and forth if you start from Bruges, still along the same canal. The below is a translation from an article I wrote in French for the Danystance.com website, the site where French LDP people exchange ideas, etc.
I know 9 km is a very short distance for most of you, but it was already a distance for me back then, as I was a beginner paddler. On top of it, this small tour was also a warm-up and a board test to select what we will be using in the afternoon the same day for another tour.
My brother SamD and our mate Vincent came from France to Bruges, Belgium to visit us, and looking at the fact that the weather predictions looked quite OK, SamD brought a selection of boards and paddles with him.
Bruges city-centre with its pavement is halas not suitable for skating, but luckily there is more than enough to compensate in the country side around the city or on the sea-shore. But priorities first, let's go to the supermarket to buy beers for SamD to bring back to France. As some of you may know, Belgium is a big beer country. There is a saying telling that Belgium has as many beers than France has cheeses.
There is a discount sport shop next to the Carrefour supermarket, and as we always do when together, we go and check it. This time they have some discounted Penny Longboards for sale. As my brother find them quite cheap, I decide to buy myself a 'glow in the night' model...(yep, I was not visible enough with my paddle, my beer stomach, my turtleneck and my old velvet trouser...). This Penny will be my vehice for the next 2 days.
Before leaving for our first tour in the region, we enjoy a deserted part of the mall parking lot on this saturday morning to do a little test session for the boards and paddles, so that SamD and Vincent could decide what would be their Equipment for the first run.
OK, now that the choices are made, we go by car towards Hoeke, a very small place next to Damme. The plan is to go from there to Sluis in the Netherlands following the canal, and back. The former towpath is now a car free bicycle path covered with tarmac. It is riding OK, but the road surface is generating vibrations, which at some points can cause a "running ants" feeling in your feet and ankles after some kilometers (we are only paddling for the moment, no real push).
On our way, we pass by a mini ferry crossing: you get it to move by turning a metallic wheel that actions cables, so you can cross the canal. Of course, we have to go on it and cross the canal, and come back, just like that, for fun.
Back on our decks, and armed with our sticks, while riding towards the Netherlands, we finally meet a tiny downhill section, followed by a very small uphill. Oh, it is really nothing, it is just to pass under the main road's bridge, but here in the flat country I live in, any sort of terrain variety is welcome ;-)
Just before that road bridge, we actually crossed the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. This is our first border crossing on Land-Paddles (yes, we are in the middle of nowhere, so it cannot be street paddle, but only land paddle ;-)). Could it be that we are the first to ever cross an international border on land-paddles? I doubt it, but just thinking about it makes me smile even more on my board. At least that smile is a way to mark the boarder crossing, as it is totally invisible to the eye here. The Benelux area, that existed even before EU, has made all border post disappeared years ago.
Finally we are arriving in Sluis, Netherlands. We decide to ride in the city to find a place to eat. The pavement here is not so bad, it is more interlocking bricks than real old pavement, so our wheels and trucks can digest this.
Speaking about Sluis, I need to tell you: On the Belgian side of the border, you cannot mention going to Sluis without getting a small smile from your interlocutor. This because some time ago either pornography or/and sex shops were forbidden in Belgium, so the Belgians were going just across the borders where it was legal to make their naughty purchases. At some point there were really a lot and lot of sex shops here. Belgians came also to the Netherlands, so Sluis for the area of Bruges, to cash their stocks, as taxes were way lower there than in Belgium... This was of course illegal, but the Belgian police did next to nothing to forbid that, so Sluis enjoyed crowded week-ends. But don't focus on this, Sluis is in fact a very nice small city to visit with its city hall, wind mill, etc.
After riding in the city streets, and a lunch break based on hamburgers and french fries, we jump back on our boards and paddle on the return way. We make already a stop at the exit of the city, along the canal, to admire a stork on its nest feeding two little ones.
The return way towards the car (known as the paddlemobile) is done via exactly the same way as we arrived. We have a bit a headwind at start, but it is not tremendous, we can manage it quite well. As we did on the coming trip, we stop every now and then to exchange our boards, so we all ride on all decks. What we have on this trip is the Penny longboard I just bought that day, a surf like longboard made by SamD, and another Sam made board with a carving truck on a pivot in front.
To summarise it, it is a nice little tour that you can also extend, along some nice landscapes. The area being very flat, you don't have to struggle going uphill, but you need to pay attention to headwind. It is usually better to start with headwind, so that you have it helping you on your back on the way back when you're more tired. At least I feel this way better than the reverse.
The only drawback on this tout would be the quality of the tarmac. It is not so bad, and you won't feel anything on a bicycle, but on our four small wheels it starts to give quickly some running ants feeling on the ankles and feet.
To extend it, you could start the tour from Damme, or even from Bruges. If that was the case, I'd recommend you to take the right side of the canal when you have Bruges on your back and Sluis on your front. The cycle tracks may look less attractive than the towpath on the other side, but I feel it more confortable to ride on.
OK, that is it for now, see you soon I hope, and I'll try to share some more rides with you.
Enzo Rhode-Hagen