Floris cycles: bicycle touring stories, routes and gear from Belgium to the Silk Road.https://floriscycles.com/https://floriscycles.com/six-day-cycle-through-limburg-part-i/https://floriscycles.com/six-day-cycle-through-limburg-part-i/Over Easter weekend, Florianne and I planned to go on a three day bicycle tour. It was going to be Florianne’s first tour on her new bike, having put ~250 km on it since its arrival in early February. Understandably, she was a bit apprehensive about the trip but proper planning and a bit of…Sat, 10 Apr 2021 20:57:18 GMTBelgiumEuropeReporthttps://floriscycles.com/brm-200-herentals-22-02-2020/https://floriscycles.com/brm-200-herentals-22-02-2020/Dragging myself out of bed at 4:30, I reminded myself that I chose to ride a brevet today. I had spent the evening before preparing the stead for a 10 hour+ sortie: mounting my handlebar bag, swapping garmin mounts and repositioning my front light (due to the handlebar bag). As a result, I could now…Tue, 25 Feb 2020 21:07:47 GMTBRMRandonneuringhttps://floriscycles.com/cycling-through-the-karakum-desert-in-turkmenistan-on-a-five-day-transit-visa/https://floriscycles.com/cycling-through-the-karakum-desert-in-turkmenistan-on-a-five-day-transit-visa/The sound of the wind blowing in my ears drowns out all other audible impulses. Looking around, I’m surrounded by an arid landscape populated by low shrubs and the occasional dust devil blown up by the wind. My throat is screaming at me to drink, but the hot water in my bottles has failed to…Fri, 13 Jul 2018 12:23:22 GMTAsiaReportTurkmenistanhttps://floriscycles.com/seven-days-in-austria/https://floriscycles.com/seven-days-in-austria/Leaving Passau on the fourth of March, I left Bavaria behind and entered Austria (the fourth country on this trip). This is probably the most popular section of the Danube bicycle trail with thousands of cyclists traveling from Passau via Linz to Wien every summer. I decided to make a small detour to Salzburg instead,…Mon, 19 Mar 2018 21:19:42 GMTAustriaDiaryEuropehttps://floriscycles.com/supporting-the-world-bicycle-relief-charity/https://floriscycles.com/supporting-the-world-bicycle-relief-charity/I’ve long contemplated how my bike ride east can give back to society in a way that is meaningful to me. I considered (Flemish) charities on mental health, but felt I am not properly equipped to promote the message of said charities. While mental health is an important cause and I suggest that you have…Wed, 07 Mar 2018 20:38:08 GMTReporthttps://floriscycles.com/die-deutsche-gemutlichkeit/https://floriscycles.com/die-deutsche-gemutlichkeit/Despite the cold winter conditions during the last week, I have been surprised by the friendly people I encountered in Germany. One illustration is the multitude of generous warmshowers hosts that have invited me into their homes over the last two weeks. Another is when random strangers stop and ask if I need any directions…Wed, 28 Feb 2018 04:00:40 GMTEuropeGermanyhttps://floriscycles.com/audio-radio-interview-mnm-de-ochtendshow/https://floriscycles.com/audio-radio-interview-mnm-de-ochtendshow/On February 16th (just three days into my silk road trip) I had a short chat with MNM radio host Sander Gillis about my trip. At the time, I was nice and cozy in my sleeping bag on the bivakzone De Steenberg. The tent and the bicycle were covered in frost after a cold night,…Tue, 27 Feb 2018 12:19:20 GMTTravelhttps://floriscycles.com/my-trip-through-morocco-in-fourteen-photos/https://floriscycles.com/my-trip-through-morocco-in-fourteen-photos/Instead of writing a trip report on the Moroccan stretch of my autumn 2017 tour, I thought I’d share a selection of photos. I selected fourteen photos from the 350 photos I took during my time in Morocco. This is one photo for every day in the saddle.…Tue, 23 Jan 2018 11:26:44 GMTAfricaMoroccohttps://floriscycles.com/cycling-the-high-atlas-from-khenifra-to-tinghir/https://floriscycles.com/cycling-the-high-atlas-from-khenifra-to-tinghir/I made a short video on cycling from Khenifra to Tinghir though the high atlas mountains in Morocco. Date: 8-10 December 2017, Morocco. 270km distance, 4300 meters of ascent Day 1: Khenifra – Tizi N’Isly Strava Day 2: Tizi N’Isly – Agoudal Strava Day 3: Agoudal – Tinghir StravaMon, 22 Jan 2018 22:07:55 GMTAfricaMoroccohttps://floriscycles.com/reflections-on-seven-weeks-of-cycling-through-france-spain-and-portugal-part-2-portugal/https://floriscycles.com/reflections-on-seven-weeks-of-cycling-through-france-spain-and-portugal-part-2-portugal/From Santiago de Compostela to Caminha, Portugal After spending two nights in Santiago de Compostela, I continued south through Galicia. I had made a route that follows paved roads while avoiding busy main roads. As I passed through many smaller villages in Galicia, the route often had me climbing away from the valley floor and…Mon, 18 Dec 2017 16:58:31 GMTEuropePortugalReportSpainhttps://floriscycles.com/reflections-on-seven-weeks-of-cycling-through-france-spain-and-portugal-part-1/https://floriscycles.com/reflections-on-seven-weeks-of-cycling-through-france-spain-and-portugal-part-1/While I am waiting for my Belgian passport to arrive in Torremolinos, so I can continue on to Morocco, I thought I’d share some reflections from the last seven weeks of life on and off the bicycle. First some numbers: I covered just over 4 000kms in 50 days (45 days on the bicycle) and…Thu, 30 Nov 2017 12:09:14 GMTCaminoEuropeFranceReportSpainhttps://floriscycles.com/my-camino/https://floriscycles.com/my-camino/I’ve been on the road for over two weeks now and am writing from Burgos, Castellia y Leon. Leaving home and all through France, the Camino de Santiago felt little more than a (scenic) bicycle route to me. This has changed considerably since I entered Spain and started tracking the much more popular Camino Frances.…Fri, 27 Oct 2017 21:24:52 GMTCaminoDiaryhttps://floriscycles.com/leaving-home/https://floriscycles.com/leaving-home/Tomorrow morning I am setting off on my first multi-month bicycle tour. Tonight I am sleeping in my own bed for the last time in the next two months. Tomorrow this time I will be lying in my tent somewhere along the Belgian-French border as I make my way south. The last week has been…Tue, 10 Oct 2017 20:59:38 GMTBelgiumDiaryEuropehttps://floriscycles.com/two-week-bicycle-tour-through-belgium-netherlands-and-germany-week-2/https://floriscycles.com/two-week-bicycle-tour-through-belgium-netherlands-and-germany-week-2/For my 2017 summer holidays I considered several options for my first solo multi-week trip by bicycle. On the short list were Iceland (scratched due to only two weeks of time), the popular JOGLE route across Great Britain (also scratched due to time constraints) and cycling North to the most bicycle-friendly city of the world…Mon, 09 Oct 2017 12:03:20 GMTReporthttps://floriscycles.com/two-week-bicycle-tour-through-belgium-netherlands-and-germany-week-1/https://floriscycles.com/two-week-bicycle-tour-through-belgium-netherlands-and-germany-week-1/For my 2017 summer holidays I considered several options for my first solo multi-week trip by bicycle. On the short list were Iceland (scratched due to only two weeks of time), the popular JOGLE route across Great Britain (also scratched due to time constraints) and cycling North to the most bicycle-friendly city of the world…Fri, 06 Oct 2017 08:57:16 GMTReport