Cactus

text Filippo Gagliardi – photo Carlo PrearoThe Rise of Bike Tours in Brussels: A Greener Way to Explore the City

Brussels is a city notoriously built with cars in mind. The tunnels hugging its centre and the arterial roads prolonging the ring up to the royal Palace were designed to oppose the least possible resistance to traffic and to allow cars to roam freely around the city. It was meant to be a car heaven, imagined when the negative consequences of pollution and heavy traffic jams were perhaps not entirely clear.

Since a few years however, and especially from the lockdowns of the pandemic, bicycles started reclaiming a more central role as a mean of transportation, disputing the supremacy of cars on the roads. A recent study by nonprofit organisation Pro Velo indicates that the number of cyclists raised by 13.9% in 2023, more than the 12.6% average increase of the 2010 – 2023 period. In parallel, the number of cargo bikes also multiplied, as cycling continues to be perceived as too dangerous for kids alone. Unsurprisingly, this upward trend goes hands in hands with the increase of electric bicycles, which now represent 41% of all bikes circulating during rush hour, whereas in 2019 they were only 20%.

The Cactus Project

One of the organisations contributing to the increasing popularity of cycling is certainly Cactus Brussel à vélo, a non-profit organisation offering guided bike tours of Brussels.

“Cactus was created by three guys who met in Berlin”, Philippe Renders, coordinator of Cactus, told us. “For different reasons they had to move to Brussels and they realised that there were no bike tours in town, as well as very few cyclists. So they decided to test the idea and to create an association to manage the project. I joined the project right in the beginning, in 2011, just after university: at that time I was looking for a volunteer occupation and I received an offer from the Cactus founders after meeting them at a rally protesting the enlargement of the Brussels ring. It was certainly a challenge for me, especially because the job came with a considerable amount of public speaking, but I liked it very much since the beginning”.

Brussel à Vélo: An Innovative Approach to Bike Tours

The project took off quite quickly and is now taking centre stage as one of the most innovative and environmentally friendly ways of visiting Brussels.
“Cactus changed a lot during the years”, Philippe continued. “In 2017 the original founders left and a new group of people took over the management of the association. Then, three years ago I left my job in the social-cultural sector and I started focusing on Cactus only. Now Cactus has eighteen guides
providing bike tours across Brussels. They are all volunteers, but they receive a reimbursement for their guiding and a seat in Cactus’ general assembly”.

Cactus is aware of the increased demand for cycling in Brussels in all its forms, including tourism. And it is actively participating in many initiatives aiming and making transport more sustainable in the city.

Growth and Challenges for Cactus Brussel à Vélo

“Every year our client base increases by 30 to 40%”, Philippe explained, “meaning that we are constantly looking for new guides. We remain however committed to working with volunteers only, as we wish our community to be driven by passion, rather than by profit. In parallel, we do everything we can to greening our city and promoting cycling, by participating in events like Critical Mass, a monthly bicycle ride-out in Brussels, or Velotour Festival, a 3-day bicycle tour in Belgium. We also cooperate with other organisations like Bike-packer, which rents bicycles and touring equipment, provides training sessions and organises thematic weekends”.

Investing in Bicycle Infrastructure and Safety

The work of Cactus is becoming easier every year, thanks to the increasing investments in bicycle lanes deployed in the Belgian capital. In 2022, the Brussels-Capital Region spent €16 million on cycle infrastructure, although the offer still struggles to keep up with the demand: bike lanes should be further expanded to accommodate many more cyclists. According to the Group for Research and Action for Everyday Cyclists (GRACQ) in particular, which has been studying how cycling has progressed in Brussels for the past 50 years, an investment of €25-30 million would actually be needed. Unfortunately, progress in this domain is hampered by a debate on mobility that is often politicised.

In any case, the trend in favour of cycling seems clear and irreversible. According to Brussels Mobility, 7.2% of residents in the capital cycle to work now, up from 4.4% in 2017. And 8.6% of them already consider the bike their transport of choice. 

“All these developments are obviously good for us”, explained Philippe, “but traffic remains a problem in Brussels and more needs to be done in order to make cycling a safe and enjoyable experience for everybody”.

This is unfortunately confirmed by recent statistics. According to a survey of Pro Velo, 30.9% of respondents had a cycling accident in the past two years and nearly one third of them had their bikes stole, a 10.2% increasing in comparison to 2022. This is also why Cactus invests considerable amounts of energy and time in training its guides professionally.

Cactus’ Training Process for New Guides

“Besides encouraging cycling in Brussels, our mission is also to promote a different kind of tourism: slow, safe, sustainable, informal and off the beaten track”, explained Philippe. “When we train new guides, at first they shadow more experienced colleagues and then we organise two half-day workshops for them, where they get feedbacks on the tours they propose and their and presentations skills before allowing them to lead groups autonomously. This also allows us to test and evaluate different options, so that our participants can discover parts of Brussels that our guides are truly knowledgeable and passionate about”.

This makes Cactus’ offer very different from that proposed by other guides in Brussels. Bike tours around the capital involve a maximum of 14 people, who can rent their bikes directly from Cactus, and usually take roughly 3 and a half hours, with a 30-minute break included for a drink, where participants have a chance to socialize. Private tours, which are approximately one hour shorter, are also possible, as well as festive tours in combination with other local cycling events, which can accommodate larger groups of up to 30 people. Full flexibility is thus ensured.

The Future of Cactus Brussel à Vélo

This is why Philippe is optimistic about Cactus’ future. “We started in 2011 in Brussels central and two years later we moved to the bourse metro station. Now our office is in Grand Hospice and we’ll stay here until 2025 together with Bike-Packer. We’ve grown and improved a lot over the years and we want to continue in this direction”, he told us with a smile. “After all, the name Cactus was chosen because of its creativity and thinking outside the box was what inspired us to poke a hole in the usual approach to guided tours. This approach continues to inspire us today and will certainly continue to drive us tomorrow”.

The cycling movement is growing stronger and Cactus has definitely earned a place at its forefront.