Day 4: Gravelines to Bruges (The Coastal Section)
Blue skies, Belgian cycle paths, and a hotel upgrade. This is more like it.
Some days just deliver. Everything I’d hoped for when I planned this trip, the blue skies, light winds, good trails, people out enjoying themselves, beautiful canals, interesting things around every corner. After the brutality of Days 2 and 3, Day 4 felt like the adventure saying sorry and making it up to me.
The only moment of drama came courtesy of the Garmin, which confidently tried to route me down a road that didn’t exist. A brief detour across a field, a few creative navigation decisions, and we were back on track. The Brompton didn’t complain. In fact it’s been behaving impeccably since its bath, no rattles, no mystery noises, running smoothly. I’m starting to think it just needed a good clean. I’m going to find a decent bike shop in Bruges and treat it to some premium oil, because it’s earned it.
I stopped for lunch at the 50km mark, sitting on a bench somewhere in Belgium, watching the world cycle past. Road cyclists on high-end machines, families on hybrids, three tandems in a row, and the kind of spider web of cycle infrastructure that makes you slightly envious of how seriously this part of the world takes getting around by bike. I sat there long enough that I was genuinely expecting to spot another Brompton. None appeared, but I’ll keep looking.
The second half of the ride followed the canals into Bruges, flat and fast, or as fast as a Brompton reasonably gets. No elevation to speak of, just good miles ticking by in good light. Riding into Bruges is its own reward, the city reveals itself gradually, all bridges and medieval rooflines and cyclists everywhere you look. Electric bikes in particular seem to be the transport of choice here, the city hums with them.
At the hotel, a small and welcome surprise. The owner noticed I’d overpaid on Booking.com, upgraded my room without being asked, and threw in breakfast. A genuinely kind gesture, the sort of thing that stays with you.
Dinner was everything a long day’s cycling deserves. A beer first, cold and earned. Then pork schnitzel, béarnaise sauce, chips, a side salad and a glass of red wine. Just the one. Ice cream on the way back to the hotel, obviously.
Days 2 and 3 were character-building. Day 4 was the reason you do it.
Well done, Belgium.
