Cycling in Belgium

I finally succumbed to that most Belge of activities and bought a cycle. we had been looking for a secondhand one but eventually found a cheap new one and so we headed off for a few hours cycling on Sunday. Cycling in Belgium takes some getting used to. Firstly there are the wide cycle paths all over the place and even when there isn't part of the road is segregated off. Secondly in UK cycling is a leisure activity but in Belgium it is very much a mode of transport. And that not to say it isn't a leisure activity as well, on Sunday you see the whole familly from youngest toddlier to the great gran parents out on their bikes, and the Belgiums are also fanatic sports cyclists and you see peletons all over the place (after all the greatest cyclists ever is a Belgium - Eddie 'the Cannibal' Merckx). And finally in Belgium cyclists have priority over cars and this really takes some getting use to. Often I would slam on the brakes expecting a car to pull out while Nancy would speed on without a second glance. and the motorists would give me a strange look on why I had stopped, this is especially so with roundabouts were you have priority over cars already on the roundabout. Any Belgium cyclist coming to the UK I fear wouldn't make it past the first junction without being mowed down!!!!