I often use Strava heatmap to plan my training rides abroad, but in Brussels, where I’ve moved to live about a year ago, I found the Strava heatmap to be overpopulated by commutes.

If I was to plan my training rides using the heatmap, I often would find myself doing an interval training on somebodies route to the boulangerie or fritterie.

To solve the problem of planning a training ride in Brussels, me and my friend created a demo version of the Smart Strava Maps, where, behind the scenes, AI powered filter separates commutes from workouts. Example of such map in action is shown on the animation below. The actual interactive map can be found here.

In this article I would like to focus on another feature we’ve developed - the Start point filter. In order to show how it works, let me present my take on the rich Brussels cycling scene.

Brussels Big Brackets

This club describes itself as very cosmopolitan and indeed, on every ride, there will be plenty of expats present.

The main activity of the club is a Sunday 100 km ride that starts from the Bois de la Cambre at 9:00. Using Smart Strava Maps I can place a filter at the starting point and quickly find that in May the favorite destination of this club were the hills of the Pajottenland.

I went with this club only once and found the tempo a bit too relaxing for my granfondo ambitions, but for those, who are just starting with cycling, this is a great and friendly club to join.

Kring Dansaerts

If you are young, have no family obligations, like fast rides, long coffee breaks, expensive boutique cycling clothing and custom build frames, this up-beat cycling initiative will be for you.

All rides start at the Kring Dansaert bicycle boutique-caffe and in May the preferred rides destination were the hills around Overijse to the east and Ittre to the south-west from Brussels.

I never went with this club and can not tell much about the atmosphere during the rides.

Groot Halle Tourist

Not officially Brussels anymore, but I found it close enough to become a member of this very traditional flemish wielertouristen club.

If the term wielertourist is not familiar to you, let me just say that some riders from the GHT have proven records of riding top-30 on Les 3 Ballons French cyclosportive. Otherwise the club is not competitive in the flemish sense of this word - meaning they don’t ride kermesse races.

The A-team of the GHT is very efficient and starts it’s 100+ km Sunday ride at 8:30 from the main square in Halle. From Brussels is it about 10 km along the Brussels-Halle-Charleroi canal.

Tempo of the A-team is pretty high, but for those, who can not follow, there are B- and C- teams as well.

The club, quite naturally, explores the roads west and south of Brussels.

The Linde Peloton

The name_of_the_caffe peloton is a typical dutch and flemish self-organized training ride for those, who loves racing. The tempo is typically fierce and the expectations are that the participants know all written and unwritten rules of the bicycle racing. Many riders in the peloton are regulars in the kermesse races.

The most famous in Belgium is a Het Schelde peloton, but every reasonably large community will have it’s own peloton. In Brussels it is The Linde peloton named after the caffe at the Kasterlindenstraat 177, 1700 Dilbeek.

The rides are held on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 9:15. Given the speed and the racing character of these rides, the parcour is typically fixed.

What next?

The presented list is likely not complete and new additions are welcome in the comments down below or at my twitter @sladkovm.

What concerns the Smart Strava Maps - it is a work in progress and is heavily shaped by engagement it creates. We, by the way, also have a version for Berlin and Seattle.

Needless to say, that if you find such map to be useful addition to the arsenal of bicycle web tools you are already using, give us kudos everywhere you find appropriate and do not hesitate to spread the world.