BY BERT STEPHANI

When the pandemic first hit and we learned what a lockdown is, I was suddenly robbed from the ability to roam and explore. I don’t necessarily think that my “explore pictures” are my best, but it’s where I find inspiration, motivation, locations, ideas en calm. That’s why I invested in a gravel bike. It’s fast enough to bring me to new places and travel decent distances, yet slow enough to be able to look around, interact with people and let my mind drift. I’ve already made good use of the bike: I ride it to shoots that don’t require to carry a lot of gear, I did many location scouting trips and it’s been a great way to work on my project about the borders of Belgium. But I think the bike has even more potential for my work. It’s not just a mode of transport, there’s something about experiencing the world on two wheels. I find myself forgetting to take pictures often and I’ve been experimenting with many different ways to always have a camera ready while on the bike. I haven’t fully cracked the code yet, but I’m working on it. Last week, I rode quite a bit, in different circumstances with different goals. It isn’t easy to get much time on the bike in these winter months, trying to juggle family and two jobs.

Tuesday - Night Gravel Ride

I threw my bike in the back of the car before driving my girl friend to her workout. While she did her workout, I did mine. I didn’t plan of riding offroad but my curiosity took the better of me when I encountered a nice gravel track. In April I have an organised night gravel ride planned with friends, so I figured I might as well get a feel for riding in the dark through a forest.

It’s pretty crazy how perception changes in different light. With just a frontal bike light it’s a lot harder to read the trails. But on the other hand, it gives a completely different experience on familiar ground.

I usually plan a route for my rides but more and more I just get lost and see where I end up. By now, I know pretty much all the usual roads and tracks in our area but when I allow myself to get lost, I still encounter new spots.

Thursday - Wet Gravel Ride

Thursdays are usually reserved for photography, but sometimes I squeeze in a longer ride too. I wanted to do a longer gravel ride but the weather really sucked. The terrain was terribly slippery, muddy and wet. But still, it was fun to be out on my own in nature.

I’m still blown away by how this bike feels at home on just about any terrain, although mud tires would have helped here.

Once I’m pedalling I find it hard to stop but I’m learning to squeeze the brakes every now and take a picture. After all, enjoying the landscape is more important than average speed.

The Vlooyberg tower made famous in Flanders by the hilarious tv show Callboys.

No need to say that my bike needed a good wash after this ride. But cleaning and maintaining my bike is like meditation to me (at least when I’m not confronted with unexpected repair issues).

Saturday - Touristic Ride

On Saturday I went for a ride with Kim, my girlfriend. She has an electric city bike which makes us stay on paved roads or nice gravel (although we had some spectacular muddy exceptions). In summer we avoid the more touristic routes but at this time of year theses routes are usually calm and we always discover some nice new places.

After all the wet, grey days it was so nice to be riding in the sun although it was still chilly.

One of those places that I didn’t know existed despite having been on the parallel big road hundreds of times.

There’s still a lot of work on Belgium’s cycling infrastructure but I like how we’ve been getting more smooth gravel roads along rivers.

Sunday - Indoor Training

To top off last week’s cycling, I did a ride on the cycling trainer on Sunday. In the future I want to ride longer and further but my shape isn’t that impressive. With a couple of longer rides planned in the spring, I’m trying to get a bit better by doing some structured training. In some way I enjoy these workouts in the garage but not nearly as much as a real ride. I don’t care for personal records but the simple truth is that the better I’m in shape, the more I enjoy the ride and the more energy I have left to photograph.