Cycling the Via Belgica in three days — it’s possible …

On Tuesday morning they left Boulogne-sur-Mer on their gravel bikes; on Thursday evening they arrived at the cathedral (Dom) in Cologne. In doing so, Nol van Loon, Kenneth Alting, Casper van Amelsvoort and Mark van Ham completed the entire Via Belgica route in three days. Their journey is being recorded in a video documentary and a photo exhibition.

“Completely our own idea and design,” admits Nol van Loon when asked who came up with the idea for this ultra cycle ride. “Every year we look for a cycling challenge for the quiet days between Christmas and New Year. We call it our ‘Crazy500’ because we aim for 500 cycling kilometres. For bicycle manufacturer Ridley we made a video about a new bike with a mythological name, and that brought us onto the trail of Greek and Roman mythology. That’s how the seed was planted and how we came to the Via Belgica. Thanks to the routes on the Via Belgica website and Wikipedia, we mapped out the route along historically interesting points. In the end, we rode about one-fifth of the 500 kilometres on gravel. And I must say, thanks to the gravel paths we saw the most beautiful places.”

Story-based cycling

Nol van Loon is part of Fatpigeon from Tilburg. The company creates and rides story-based cycling routes, “because we want to show that cycling can be more than just sitting on a bike.” The routes are filmed and sold to national and regional tourist boards and other clients, such as bicycle manufacturers.

Cobblestone sections

The first stage of 120 kilometres was on Tuesday 27 December from Boulogne-sur-Mer to Arras. Wednesday 28 December meant 220 kilometres from Arras to Orp-Jauche in Belgium, a ride over slippery cobblestone sections, a crash without injury, and fifteen punctures. On Thursday, the group rode the final stage of 170 kilometres via Tongeren and Maastricht to Cologne.