Frequently Asked Questions
What do I get for my membership fee? And how much is it?
Joining up you receive friends to go out biking
with, superb atmosphere, plenty of adventure, travelling opportunities,
and third party liability insurance when out on official bigM rides.
Our membership period is annually from start February to end January. Signing up for one full year's membership is 15 euro, which will give
you membership until the end of the following January.
Can I try it out without paying?
You can unfortunately not have full access to our maps, files, ride planning forum and other resources without being a full member.
However, you are welcome to come along for one or two 'try-out' rides as long as you follow the club rules.
How do I join?
If you're ready to explore Belgium's off-road trails with us, we'd love to welcome you to the group! Click here.
What do I need to bring along/wear for the ride?
Helmet! Club requirement, even when the sun
shines at its highest! Except for that, your bike and a big smile the
key is generally to always be self-sufficient. For local rides, close
to help should anything happen, many bring only water and the
necessities for fixing a flat. For night rides, good off-road lights (at least 10w halogen or equivalent). For club excursions outside of Brussels,
please see our checklist. NB. For more club requirements, please surf here.
Can I ride my hybrid?
Unfortunately not with us. You can ride
a hybrid on most of the tracks in Forêt de Soignes, but we prefer
not having to worry about your bike breaking down just as we are having
the most fun. Any half-decent mountain bike in good working order will be fine for at least our local rides.
Are there both women and men in the group? And how big is the club?
There are about 75 of us in the club, of which around a fifth are women. The core group of regular riders is
probably 15-20 people. Our planned rides have anything from 2-3 to 10-12 participants.
Where, when and how do you ride?
We have two main meeting points for rides in the local forest Forêt de Soignes (weeknights as well as weekends);
the Trois Fontaines trailhead in the Hermann Debroux/Rouge Cloître area, and
the entrance of Bois de la Cambre, by the two sugar-lump buildings by the roundabout at the outer end of Avenue Louise. These buildings seem to change name pretty frequently and we often refer to them by their old names of Cool Island or Rosy Estates, but currently they are offices for the real estate agent Engel & Völkers.
There are not many true off-road sections in this forest, much of it being double track 'fire-road'. Many of the most
ideal paths are unfortunately only open to pedestrians (please do not
ride verboden trails), but we have managed to locate a few
dirt paths, including the dedicated mountain bike 'BLOSO' marked trails. During weekends we often stray outside Brussels, either to
an organized ride somewhere (great to meet up with locals), to a
permanent mountain bike trail like Overijse, Namur, Houffalize or La
Roche or to capitalise on the trail knowledge of some of our members for a real singletrack experience. For more information on the kind of riding we do, click
here.
What ages are the people in the group?
Everywhere between 16 and 60 plus! The topic has never really been discussed, we are too polite ;-)
What fitness level are we talking about?
We have people of all fitness levels. We have those who are just
starting and doing 10-20 km for each ride, those who do up to 40 km for
each ride and even the occasional person who does 80-100 km regularly.
Don't let the longer distances scare you. With the exception of
rides organized by other parties than bigM we always ride together
at a pace manageable for everyone. No one is dropped!