Bikenodebrussels is the Brussel recreational bikenode network of around 250 km of bike loops.
It was created completely remote during the covid summer of 2020 by facilitator Tanguy De Lestré with the collective effort of citizens on the technical platform of Routeyou. The 250 km of bike recreational network thus
- has an easy north-south canal route and east - west crossing of Brussels region
- contains certain 'nuggets' like a denser network in Ixelles around the Art Nouveau houses, or rerouting in Anderlecht to admire certains 'cités jardins'; in some areas the best possible and safe crossing of railwway infrastructure has been choosen around Bruxelles midi area, and in other areas like Schaerbeek some non obvious choices were taken collectively: use the road to place Dailly that has a steep hill instead of the smoother Deschanel road; reason here are for example that Dailly creates a scenic view on the Atomium and that the Deschanel road needs a rerouting because of important road works further on in St. Josse.
The Bikenode.brussels network has about 60 nodes and is linked with the network of Toerisme Vlaams Brabant.
How to use it?
For the moment the network is only in digital format, so it is a little more difficult than to follow the signages.
A map?
Yes actually there is a map of the network, even three possibilities:
- bikenode.brussels complete map by visit.brussels to be found at BIP, plaxce Royale 2 ) availabvle in 3 languages and with thematic route proposals
- map of Bikebrussels (distribution points unknown sorry)
- map of Toerisme Vlaams Brabant: main routes of the network and links highlighted in 4 languages and with suggestion of restaurants/cafés that are bike friendly
A routeplanner?
Yes bikenode.brussels has its own node routeplanner on partner site routeyou and is available on the app fietsknoop. Other foreseen in 2022.
Here is the bikenode.brussels route you link and you can use it for free with some ads and paid version without ads
You can create your own route with the routeplanning function (on the right), or choose one of the thematic routes suggested. (on top left)
Once you have the network made on the routeplanner, you can easily:
- use it directly on your smartphone as a web app with routing function
- use some of the export functions and export the route to your favorite GPS app:
Or create a PDF overview/roadbook to guide you as there is no road signage (handy there is a QR code on the roadbook to go to the online site on smartphone) . And if your application is not present, by downloading the GPX file (is the route) , you can import it in certain bike apps lie BikeGPX
This is the app of fietsknoop that has integrated the Brussels network (in red) in its app. It is easy to create a bike excursion by clicking on the nodes of Brussels and those of the VL Brabant network around. Than click and the GPS will start and guide you in and out of Brussels.
Looking for inspiration? Visit Brussels has also created a portal on Routeyou and has included a routeplanner and 8 different well documented bike thematic routes. Enjoy the ride and drive safely.
See also previous article what are bikenodes anyway