When it came to the honeymoon, two wheels were better than four for Deb and Stacy Moon.

The Bellingham couple skipped the sunny beaches after their June 2, 2012, wedding, and instead, they packed up their bikes and headed to Belgium, to the beautiful city of Bruges.

Stacy had brought his dad there a few years before for his dad's 60th birthday, and he realized it was the kind of place he wanted to bring someone special.

"When I went to Bruges I was like, 'Wow, this is a really cool place. If I ever get married I'm going to take my wife here,'" he says. "It definitely has that romantic feel."

The city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northwest Belgium, is filled with canals and cobbled streets, picturesque buildings and bistros.

"Everything there lends itself to romance," Deb says.

It also lends itself to bike riding. Just about everyone walks or rides there bike to get around town, with cars only used sparingly.

"Once you have your bicycle there, you can basically go anywhere," Stacy says. "You can bring your bike on a train and literally in an hour you can be in France and go on a bike ride there. You can take a train for 20 minutes and be in the Netherlands."

For the most part, though, the couple explored the tranquil countryside outside of Bruges, dotted with castles and farms.

"It was just absolutely gorgeous rolling green hills," Deb says. "You could ride around for hours and hours and hours on these roads. It was just perfect and relaxing."

Deb and Stacy met through local cycling groups, where Deb heard about Stacy's exciting hobbies, including paragliding and backcountry skiing. The couple got married at the Mazama Ranch House near Winthrop, saying their vows in a patch of ponderosa pines near where Stacy had landed his paraglider.

They had a vintage Western theme wedding, with hay bales and antique quilts and bouquets of wildflowers. Their wedding took place on the one sunny day in a sea of early summer rainy weather.

When they got to Bruges, though, the weather wasn't quite as nice. But it was perfect for cycling: cool and occasionally sprinkling, with on and off sunshine.

"When you go to Belguim, you don't go for the weather," Stacy jokes.

While the couple enjoyed the endless breweries and bakeries and medieval sights, what meant the most to Stacy was getting to share the experience and make new memories with Deb.

"There are things you experience over there that you never get to experience in the U.S.: being able to ride on cobblestone streets and where bicyclists always have the right of way," Stacy says. "In the morning you'll see thousands of kids in their school uniforms riding their bikes to and from school, singing songs. It's just not something you see in the U.S."

Reach ZOE FRALEY at zoe.fraley@bellinghamherald.com or call 756-2803. Visit her School Days blog at blogs.bellinghamherald.com/schools or get updates on Twitter at twitter.com/BhamSchools.