Cycling around Romershoven

1. Appointment at the church in Romershoven (V). With the church on your right and the presbytery on your left, start towards junction 519. You will pass bicycle café 't Siebelke - with charging option for electric bicycles - and keep left at the junction with the Bruggestraat. At the next fork turn left and direction Hoeselt. At the roundabout turn right, direction Schalkhoven for cyclists. You climb through a residential area, turn left into the first street, keep climbing, you arrive at junction 519, choose direction 123 and cycle further into a narrow asphalt path for cyclists. On the T you follow another church path to the left. At the end turn right, away from the center of Hoeselt. Cross the intersection with Kruisstraat and cycle past the end of the Hoeselt agglomeration sign. Past the last houses you come to a fork. Follow the narrow concrete road on the left. Then ignore the side road on the left and cycle between two field crosses, past an orchard, fields and a grove to junction 123, with a covered picnic area and a white chapel under the trees. Turn right, direction 122. You can descend and cycle past the castle of Hardelingen ? . Ignore a street on the right and turn right at the next quadrangle into the Tramstraat, with the building that belonged to the tram stop of Sint-Huibrechts-Hern on the corner. Where the Tramstraat makes a right-angled turn to the left, you cycle straight into a narrow, hollow path.

Between the orchards
When you get out, you cycle next to an orchard and cross a road. You are now in Schalkhoven. It continues on a narrow, gently undulating asphalt road through the open landscape. You cycle past an orchard and end up on a wider road. Follow it to the left, turn right for a moment and then take the narrow road on the left, towards light poles of sports grounds. Take the first road on the left, turn right on the T and follow the Valgaerstraat along the football fields until the end. On the left is the church of Vliermaal. Turn right and immediately turn left onto Oude Tramstraat. You descend through a residential area, cross the Kerkeveldweg and continue cycling on a narrow asphalt road for cyclists. You can go down and bulge. Cross the Mombeek and continue cycling to the T. Turn left, on a separate cycle path until you can turn right onto the narrow concrete road for agricultural vehicles and cyclists. Gently up, first between fields, then between apples and pears. At the first quadruple turn left and continue until a T-junction. Turn right, continue past orchards, meanwhile in Guigoven. Turn left, still between the orchards. At the end turn right. At the Mersenhoven chapel (1818) continue straight on until the bend of Mersenhovenstraat. Continue cycling straight until you can turn right into Kapittelstraat, with junction 122.

By Kortessem
Cycle towards 121 and past the church of Kortessem to the busy N76. There is no shortage of catering establishments in the center of Kortessem, including the bicycle-friendly eatery 't Raedthuijs, with charging point for electric bicycles. Follow the busy N76 to the left until the traffic lights. Turn right and cycle towards Hasselt until you can turn left, between some poles, into the Lievehereboomstraat. Ignore a street on the left and continue cycling through a residential area. After a traffic plateau you continue cycling between orchards and fields to junction 121 with the Onze-Lieve-Herenboom ? , with picnic area. Turn right, direction 145, on a somewhat wider road and at junction 145 (with information column) turn left, direction 144. Cycle past the Wellen nameplate and turn right at the T-junction at De Lanterfanter, on a wider road and past the Alken nameplate. Don't worry about side roads. The road narrows and it continues between the meadows until you can turn right into the Rechtstraat. Leave a beautiful chapel and the Smoutstraat on the left and you will arrive at a priority road. Turn left and then right into Thielestraat. At the end turn left until junction 144.

Then turn right, direction 143. The road seems to be dead on a spacious building, but just before that you can turn right onto a narrow concrete road towards Sint-Lambrechts-Herk. At the end continue on a narrow dolomite path through a grove and over a stream. You end up in a street, cross the Mombeek and climb to the intersection with the Muntelbeekstraat. Cross it and cycle between the white chapel and the electricity cabin onto Sasput. You climb gently between beautiful buildings, past a beautiful chapel under the trees, with picnic area, to junction 143. Turn right, direction 141, now over a narrow asphalt road before landing. It winds on, under a high-voltage line and along the park of Claes Castle? to the Trekschurenstraat. Follow it to the right, on a separate cycle path. You pass the entrance of Claes Castle and turn right onto a concrete path, to the Henegauwlaan, which you follow to the left until you reach the busy Luikerweg (N20). Cross it and cycle further to the right on the separate cycle path and turn left into the Mombeekdreef, through a plane tree drive, past restaurant Figaro to Mombeek Castle ? . Here turn left and at the T-junction turn right until junction 14 Straight ahead, past the name sign of Diepenbeek, direction 138 until the T. Turn right, around 't Klein Cafeeke, into the Netelbroekstraat.

Along old farms
The road becomes hollow for a while and you cycle past an orchard, meadows and Nietelbroek, a restored farm from 193 At junction 138 turn left, direction 126, along the edge of the forest until a T-junction and then turn left. Don't worry about side roads until you can turn right into Tierstraat. Past Veevoeders Lambrichts and on until, just before the bridge over the highway, you can turn right into the subdivision road. Cycle next to the highway, turn away from it and dive under the N76. On the T turn left, direction highway and then right through a residential area. At the next T-junction turn right until junction 126, and continue straight ahead, direction 125. At the end of the road turn left and just past community center Terlogt turn right. At the sign 'straight ahead dead end' turn right and on the T turn left, past pony club Ter Herken, past a picnic area and just next to the busy N76.

At junction 125, direction 519. A little past a traffic plateau on the left into a gravel road and along a spacious building. Of the 18th-century Hoeve Wermerbos, only a remnant of the keep remains here. Cross the Wermerbosbeek and continue cycling through a canadadreef. At the end turn right on a red bike path next to a busier road until you can enter the first road on the left. Along a pond and between fields and then into the forest. On the T you follow the forest road to the right, now through the Jongenbos and past castle Jongenbos ? . Keep cycling straight ahead, leave the Bronstraat on the right and take the next fork, with a dirt road straight ahead, on the left. Ignore the Siliestraat on the right as well as sign 519 and turn on the T, at the white house, turn left and continue cycling on a gravel road with lots of greenery in the middle. The dirt road turns into a narrow concrete road and you cycle out of the forest and into the fields. On the T turn right, on another narrow concrete road. Don't worry about side roads, turn left at the T-junction. You're also back on direction 519. On the 3-jump keep right into Sitsingenstraat. Then turn left into St.-Jansstraat to the church of Romershoven.