Bats in the Belfry

Singlespeed training rides along all the Belgian and France belfries.

By BIKEPACKING.BE

February 29^th, 2016

BTR 2016 - Vézelay-Barcelona singlespeed

In June, Chillkoot organizes a fixie/singlespeed and geared self-supporting race from Vézelay (France) to Barcelona (Spain).

4 mandatory checkpoints along the way

- Clermont-Ferrand (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption)

- Le Puy-en-Velay (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Puy)

- Montpellier (Cathédrale Saint-Pierre)

- Perpignan (Basilique Saint-Jean-Baptiste)

Finishing in Barcelona in front of the Basilique de la Sagrada Familia.

Preparation is the key to success

I won’t ride this race fixed geared. I don’t like fixed gear. But I will try to ride it singlespeed. And I’d better be prepared. So I’m planning to visit all belfries in Belgium and the North of France.

The belfry is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached to a city hall or other civic building. A belfry encloses the bell chamber, the room in which the bells are housed; its walls are pierced by openings which allow the sound to escape. The openings may be left uncovered but are commonly filled with louvers to prevent rain and snow from entering. There may be a separate room below the bell chamber to house the ringers.

I will split it up in several rides, increasing the number of kilometers, altitude and difficulty every time.

- Province East-Flanders: 150 kms (Done! - 173kms)

- Province West-Flanders: 200 kms (Done! - 205 kms)

- Province Antwerp + Flemish Brabant + Limburg: 250 kms (TODO)

- Province Hainaut + Namur: 300 kms (TODO)

- France: Nord pas de Calais + Picardie: 600 kms (TODO).

100% complete

I finished them all but didn’t find the time yet to document all rides on this page.

3rd ride: Limburg + Flemish Brabant + Antwerp

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3rd ride: Limburg + Flemish Brabant + Antwerp

3rd ride, combining 3 provinces: Limburg, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. We took an early train to Liège and set off in the cold to nail quite some belfries, a +200 kilometers singlespeed ride from East to West.