Hello All!

I live in Belgium and as you probably already know since most of you are experts this is bike riding country! We live in the north near Antwerp and there are hundres of miles of trails - usually sand and gravel in the woods or road type conditions beside the street or elsewhere. The great thing is the only hills you run in to are the bridges you have to cross over canals and highways/streets. The bad part is there is a lot of wind and although my DH says hills are way harder, I can attest that riding in a wind tunnel with the wind against you is hard work!

My DH (who is a Belgian and has been biking seriously a lot longer than I have been around) got me in to this since it is more of a culture here than a fun hobby. He took me to his bike shop and got me what the call translated from Dutch as a sport bike which is from what I have been reading a hybrid bike. I love it and it is so much fun when we do our weekend rides - although not at a super fast speed - we will cover anywhere from 40-50km in about 3 hours. That of course is not including the couple of stops for a drink but gives me a great workout without feeling like I am exercising.

I am so glad I stumbled across this thread and got so much information from all the very knowledgable people. You know I can't ask DH or his head would swell and I would be sitting there with a glazed over look while he goes in to unbelievable details :-)

Thanks again and keep on riding!
Minerva