Windmill blades between Geel and Westerlo

No less than four windmills adorn this 53 km long bike ride, which leads you from Geel to Westerlo. The mill of 't Veld is a stake mill with half open foot that was transferred from Heist-op-den-Berg to Eksum in Geel in 1993. From April to September you can visit the mill every Sunday and public holiday in the afternoon. The Bakery Museum will also be open. Lovers of black and white tripe should stop at butchery Vandecruys. This butcher shop is located near the starting point of the tour and has been known for its tasty sausages for generations.

1. Appointment at the Sint-Hubertuskerk of Ten Aard in Geel. With
The entrance of the church on your left starts in the direction of Vaart. You cycle past butchery Vandecruys, known for generations for its tripe. Then take the first street on the right, Hanestrik. At the crossroads straight ahead into Worfthoeven. Follow this winding road past the bakery museum to the Zeggendijk. On the right is the Molen van 't Veld. Our tour turns left until the end of the Zeggendijk and cycle junction 22. Turn right here, direction 23 to sas 9. You can cycle 100 m further to take a break in Taverne Den Thijs, where you can also eat your own picnic.
2. Our tour turns left over the seesaw bridge and continues via the Ganzenstraat to the football field of FC Vinus and junction 01. Take Papenhoeven on the right, direction 69. The signage takes you over paved and unpaved roads back to the Ganzenstraat, which you follow to the end. Then turn left. Follow Rauwelkoven, direction Westelijke Ring om Geel. You don't have to go that far. Turn right into the path for two-wheelers and pedestrians until you reach the Larumse weg. Turn right for a moment, past café Campus. Cross the road there and cycle past the real campus of the Catholic High School Kempen. Continue on a car-free path, past sports hall Axion and through the fields with a view of Larum on the right with the church and the windmill as eye-catchers. At the end you will come to junction 69. Turn right, direction 63. You ignore a street on the right and then turn right into merenseweg. The signage takes you to the picturesque Chapel of the Lakes, also called St. Willibrord's Chapel. Then leave the Veldstraat with a chapel in the middle of the street and continue cycling to the T-junction. Left. You now follow Schambraken between a few farms, along a grove and through a neighborhood with some spacious buildings to junction 63. Now follow Krentzen to the left, direction 64. First cross the Oevelseweg and then the N13. You now cycle through the Missestraat, past the football fields unpaved. You come to a concrete road: turn left here.
3. Along the Albert Canal At the end turn left again, parallel to the Albert Canal. You come on a busier road and follow it to the right. Do not cross the bridge over the canal, but take the descending path to junction 64. Follow the Albert Canal to junction 61 at the impressive locks of Olen. A big contrast with sas 9 and sas 8 later. Cross the Albert Canal to junction 62. Turn left, past the Buulmolen, direction 65 and then right into Honing street. You follow it, without caring about side roads, past the Heuninghof, known for its farm ice cream, to the end. Turn right, under the Boudewijnsnelweg and immediately left into the Schommenstraat. Past a playground and a residential area and turn right at the end. Now follow the Bulestraat, direction olen centre. At the first traffic light turn left into a church path and at the end turn left. You now follow the Drogebroodstraat to the Boerenkrijglaan and turn left there. At junction 65 go straight ahead, direction 68. Past the nameplate of Oosterwijk, over the Mechelsestraat, right into the Schuurveldstraat and immediately after that left the Bremstraat. On the T turn right and at the fork with the chapel keep left. Again through civilization, with loose buildings. At junction 68 continue straight ahead, direction 70. You follow the Bosstraat past the Dravershof and nature reserve Sterschotsbos and further past farm Stassenbos and the Brigandshof to junction 70.
4. Goodies from the abbey Now turn right, direction 81, through the Oevelse drift. You have to follow that for the node network until the end. However, our tour enters the Abbey of Tongerlo on the left. There is a shop with bread and other abbey products and the abbey bookshop 'De Oude Linden', where you can also go for a liqueur, available throughout the Benelux only here: the 'Elixir du Révérend Père Gaucher' praised by Al-phonse Daudet in his Lettres de mon Moulin. Exit the abbey through the 12th-16th-century gate on the other side of the large courtyard and cycle through the lane to junction 81. Turn left, direction 82. At tavern Het Park turn the road to the left. You cycle to the right to a square. Turn right and then left and on the other side into Voorteinde. Note! For junction 82 you have to go straight ahead. At the fork, choose Molenwijk on the left. Now you follow the node network 82 again. Don't worry about side roads. You cycle past the windmill of Tongerlo and at the crossroads you follow the Wimpstraat to the right. Past the Tongelse Hoeve, a crossroads and the Wimp over. Then turn left, now through Paddenhoek. At a fork you keep left, ditto at a second fork, until you reach the N19. Cross it carefully and continue cycling through the Kruishei to junction 82. Direction junction 40 and left, just before the agglomeration sign of Zammel, into the Neerstraat and then into Wimpebrug and over the Wimp. On the T turn right and then right into Klavet. Cross the highway and follow the signs to junction 40. There direction 49 and keep the church of Stealing left. Cross the Albert Canal and after the descent at junction 49 turn right, direction 10, through Hulsterveld between some farms.
5. Along the Grote Nete At junction 10 turn left, direction 16. At the crossroads turn right and over Wildersedijk until the Grote Nete and junction 16. Do not cross it, but follow the path along it to the left, direction 09 to the N126. Cross the 'Grote Neet' and the road and continue cycling on the other bank. On the other side you see the slaughterhouse of Geel, on the right the beautiful nature reserve Malesbroek. The first bridge you encounter you cycle over and at the end of the road you are at junction 09. Turn left, direction 81. At the end of the Zandstraat, on the T with the lonely tree on a square, turn left again. Past café De Bliek and through a tunnel under the ring around Geel. At junction 81 turn right to junction 03. At the end of the Zandstraat, on the T with the white chapel, turn right. Cross the Geel-Mol road (N71) and cycle next to restaurant De Waag into Kievermont. At the intersection go straight ahead and at the junction with the chapel keep left. Cross the railway to junction 03. Continue towards 02, past a former military domain and then after a bend turn right, through the Amerikalaan until junction 02. Then turn left into Belgiëlaan, direction 20, until the N118. Follow it to the left until you can turn right into Ericastraat. Further past tennis club Berkven and through a quiet landscape. The signage takes you to the Herentals-Bocholt canal and junction 20 without any problems. Follow the canal to the left until junction 21 at sas 8, with the Bloemmolens van Geel on the other side. Cross the canal through the sasdeuren and continue your way, towards 22. Then turn into the Vaartstraat, to your starting point.