Belgium

Perspective. Its how things look from where you are. As a cyclist, you immediately have a very different perspective to non-cycling members of our society. You see things differently. You might not think that you do, but believe me you do. It does no harm to remind yourself of this every now and then. Its good to get some perspective.

Examples of cycle-specfic perspective are many, but the most obvious include:

Lycra - to the cyclist it is practical, essential, even cool. To huge swathes of the public at large it is not acceptable in any polite circumstance. Ever. I do lycra quite a bit. Most days.

Shaved Legs (male) - again, completely acceptable to those in the know (although there appears to be no consensus on exactly why) and guaranteed to raise more than an eyebrow in most outside circles - particularly the non metro-sexual ones. Haven't taken the plunge personally - doubt I will.

Red Traffic Lights - for far too many of us on the cycling side of the fence, these appear to mean nothing. Perspective, bordering on blindness. To society in general a red traffic light means you stop and wait for a green one, or amber at the very least, but you stop, before ploughing on. I'll say one thing for motorists (I am one from time to time) at least the vast majority know a red light when they seen one and stop.

Belgium - for me, this is the big one. A country that separates itself as clearly as the cycling community can define itself from the nasty outside world. Belgium - a political basket case of a country which finds itself without a government for over a year, paralysed by the failure of the two populations to come together. Belgium - its a joke.

Can you even name a famous Belgian? Belgium - known for beer and chocolate that most people think is French anyway. Belgium - Plastic Bertrand, Tin Tin and  Poirot. Again, most people probably assume anything marginally famous and Belgian to be French.

We live in blissful ignorance of Belgium, until we cycle.

It is possible for your perspective on Belgium on its own to define you as a cyclist, even if you never ride a bike

Perspective. Belgium - commonly viewed by many as the epicentre of the cycling world. A cycling Garden of Eden, if you will. The spiritual home of cycling as a real sport. The races, the riders, the cobbles, the climbs - only in Belgium, and most of us want a little bit of Belge to rub off on us. We crave it. We even pay for it. Kit with a flash of black, yellow and red. Bikes from Ridley, Merckx, Flanders...

The greatest of the cycling greats? Why it can only be Eddy Merckx... the Belgian legend that grows each year - he is the starting point for most newbies to our sport (at least they can see past Armstrong). By the time my son is boring people in pubs about the unbeatable Mr Merckx, the legend will have grown yet further to prove that he won every single bike race on the face of the planet between 1967 and 1976.

Think about beer and sport... Budweiser/Carlsberg/Amstel, Official Beers of whichever football tournament is currently raking it in... talk to a cyclist about beer and you will get one of two responses - CTC leaning types will invariably go for "a pint of old stuff with bits in it" (beards are wonderful bit filters) but talk to anyone with a modicum of race interest and I would be surprised if you weren't bombarded with some of the most obscure Belgian brews available. I am a little more commercial in my tastes and happy to settle for Duvel or Leffe, but your hardcore race fan will swear by some Flemish Monkische Scrotebrau and settle for nothing less.

Belgium - produces more World Tour riders than any other country. Given the size of the place this is amazing. The Spring Classics fought out on the cobbles and climbs of Flanders and Wallonia each year are OWNED by Belgian winners in a way that French fans of the Tour de France or British Tennis fans at Wimledon can only dream of. Take the Ronde, or Tour of Flanders as an example - run on 95 occasions. Won by Belgians 67 times. They own it.

How many famous Belgians can you name? Newbie cyclists, probably at least five. More established riders and fans, at least 10 to 15. I bet many hardcore, long term race fans will be able to name 25 - 50, or even more.

Cyclocross - don't even get me started on cyclocross, my favourite racing discipline - I could be here all night... there will be many posts to follow on cyclocross in the coming months, but you cannot deny that 'cross is possibly more Belgian than Belgium itself.

Oh Belgium... how I have come to admire you... but only because I cycle.