Leuven - Leuven via old railway routes (RAVEL) through Brabant

Total railway embankment = 48 km
Update July 2013: Fine-tuning of the route
Update August 2012: The bridge over Raadshovenstraat near Racourt station has been completed

Update November 2011: RAVEL has been extended to the level of Racourt station over 1 km to the under-construction cycle bridge (the route will be adjusted after completion)

Update January 2011: A new section of RAVEL between Ramilles and Jauche has been completed.

Departure at Tiensepoort via Bierbeekstraat, over the cycle bridge and then the Old Railway to Korbeek-Lo. In Korbeek-Lo, turn right along the church towards Bierbeek. Under the E40 to "de lindeboom", where we turn left towards Bierbeek center. We follow the main road to the first roundabout, turn right and steeply rise to Opvelp.
In Opvelp, we go straight towards Honsem and Meldert. After a right turn in the village center of Meldert, we turn left onto the ascent, where we turn left onto Waversesteenweg after 300 meters and then take the second road on the right towards Houtem. Passing the village, we turn left (the first meters on cobblestones), but appearances are deceiving: a bit further lies a beautiful descent through enclosed paths on paved bike paths to Hoegaarden, allowing us to avoid the (shorter) descent in cobblestones to Hoegaarden.
Upon arriving in the village, we turn right towards the village center and follow the main road (Sationsstraat) to the left over 650 meters towards the start of the bike route to Namur.

We follow the bike route over the old railway embankment of line 142 (Ravel 2) for 15 km until
UPDATE 01-2011: just before Ramillies, turn left when you see the blue metal bridge in the distance - see photo). After a few meters, a dirt road, and then turn left onto the NEW RAVEL for 5 km to Jauche.

In Jauche, we cross the main road and go straight ahead. Behind the factory, the beautiful bike path continues over the former railway line 147, which together with line 142 forms the "Croix de Hesbaye" (the Cross of Haspengouw). We ride the next 10 km through Orp-Jauche, Orp-le-Grand, and Maret towards Lincent, where we encounter some old train stations. The one from Maret has been converted into a family home, which we pass.

As we continue our way through the fields, we pass under the E40 at the level of Lincent and soon notice where the language border lies: where the asphalt surface changes to dolomite. A hundred meters further, we reach the outermost tip of Flanders, at the beautifully restored racetrack station of Raatshoven (www.stationracour.be), which has since been converted into a B&B. This is already in Flemish territory (Waasmont). Unfortunately, the bike route ends here.

We turn left and then take the first right towards Landen via Raatshovenstraat. In the extension of the garden of the B&B, we still see the railway embankment - the bridge no longer exists. We dismount towards the military area, where we turn left over the industrial area back up, where we cross the (unpaved) old railway embankment towards Overwinden.
We continue our way northwest through the fields, where we turn right into a tunnel under the railway to Laar and further towards Wange and Neerhespen, where we take the Steenweg Tienen-Sint-Truiden towards Dormaal and then towards Zoutleeuw, where we turn left and follow the next old railway bed between Sint-Truiden and Tienen for 14.5 km.

After 3.5 km near Drieslinter, this old line 23, coming from Tongeren, meets the old railway bed of Diest, better known as the "railway". We continue towards Tienen, where we have to leave the railway bed 2 km before the ring road and take the concrete roads. We follow the Ambachtenlaan for a few dozen meters, which we cross to get back on the old railway bed via Grimde, until almost directly in the center of Tienen near the ruins of a burned-down church in Bostsestraat.

We cross the ring around Tienen and turn left a bit further towards Oorbeek via Oorbeeksesteenweg and Kasteelveld to Oorbeek, where we cross the E40 towards Hoksem and Kumtich. From Kumtich, we head towards Willebringen and from there to Vertrijk, where we take the Steenweg Tienen – Leuven to Leuven.