About forgotten church paths

Appointment at the church of Steenhuffel in Steenhuffeldorp (V). You leave via the Brouwerijstraat, direction Malderen and KP 61. At Leireken station you are on KP 61 and continue cycling towards KP 64. On the right you see Diepensteyn Castle (1), where the Brabant draught horses of the Palm brewery are stabled. Then turn left into Eshagestraat and continue cycling between meadows and pollard willows. Take the first road on the right and cycle at the T-junction, turn right at the Versalof chicory nursery and turn left immediately afterwards. On the T-spliting, follow Meir to the left. Then turn right into Walrotstraat and cycle to the small triangular square with a resting bench and a young oak tree to the left until the T-junction. Here you turn right. You follow Bouw and the landscape becomes more open. • On KP 64, at café De Grens, turn left towards KP 54, over Maldersebouw. Cycle on2 along the edge of the Buggenhoutbos and then continue until you can turn right just before the steenhuffel nameplate. You bolt past the nameplate of Buggenhout. In the first bend of the asphalt road you cycle right and enter the Buggenhoutbos. You cycle through magisterial lanes to KP 54. Turn left, direction KP 65, through the lane to a traffic road. • Turn left again and then right onto the first forest road. You still cycle through the Buggenhoutbos. At the first two T-junctions, turn left, on the third, just after a kiosk, turn right. On the left you see the baroque Forest Chapel (2) from 1504. You can't go there because the road is closed with a gate. So turn right out of the forest and between the fields until KP 65. Turn right, direction KP 59. You drive through the Schommeldreef, without trees, with the Buggenhoutbos on your right and fields on the left and the Beukenhoeve. At the first intersection turn left, over the cycle path next to a wide concrete road until you can turn right after the name sign of Opstal into the Stenenstraat. • Follow it until you can take the Hofkwartierweg on the right. Via this asphalted church road you cycle to KP 59. Turn left towards KP 96, past an orchard and further between meadows and fields. Along the way, the street is made car-free with a pole and you can see the church of Opstal in the distance. At the end of the road turn right, direction Opstal for cyclists. At the T-junction turn right and immediately after left, Dreef in. Cycle along the football fields of Eendracht Buggenhout and riding school 't Hoefijzer to the T-junction. Then turn left, direction Lebbeke for cyclists. At the end turn right. At the junction with a square, keep left and cycle past de Heimeulen nursing home until KP 96. • Continue straight ahead, direction KP 42. At the roundabout, turn left until you reach the intersection with KP 42. Straight ahead, next to café In 't Lindeken, direction KP 48. Just before the railway, turn left and cycle parallel to it. Right through Mazenzele After a factory shed, the path briefly moves away from the railway and further on you arrive at the station of Heizijde. Do not cross the railway but take the street on the left in front of it. That ends up dead, but you continue cycling along the path for cyclists between the railway and the waiting basin on the Vondelbeek (3). Then cross the railway and follow it to the left until kp 48. Here you make a hairpin turn to the right and cycle along the Leirekensroute (4) to KP 50. Turn left until KP 5 and turn right into Klaarstraat, direction KP 7. • You pass a few football fields and turn left at the T-junction. Continue cycling through Wijngaardstraat, cross the intersection next to café De Werker and at the fork choose the road for local traffic, diagonally right. Also at the next fork, choose right and follow Perreveld through the fields to the T-junction. Turn left until you can turn right at an intersection with a sharp bend into a church road. Follow it until you reach Vilvoorde on the busy stone road. • Turn right and then into the first street on the left. You cycle past the water tower and the end agglomeration sign of Droeshout and head into the fields. The landscape becomes gently undulating and you cycle over a cobblestone strip. Then it continues through the open landscape. Ignore a road on the left and continue cycling along the edge of the forest and then through the open countryside. You drive past the agglomeration sign and the cemetery of Mazenzele and keep left at the fork afterwards. • After primary school De Knipoog, turn right into the street. At the fork you keep left and cycle past the church of Mazenzele and further along Dries with a statue of an archer. Turn left there and back into the fields. At the crossroads with a straight on dirt road, follow Weyenberg to the left. You cycle along an orchard, between fields and meadows and along 't Stappeshof. At a mirror you ignore a road on the left and at a second mirror you turn right. At the fork with a chapel diagonally to the right, directly into the open agricultural landscape. Enjoy the panorama and continue cycling to KP 7, at a brick chapel. Turn left, on a comfortable asphalt road until KP 6. Turn right, direction KP 20. It goes uphill, past a farm to a T-junction. • Follow the Drielindenbaan to the left and turn right at the first intersection into Sleeuwagen. You bolt past the football fields of the Christal Boys and turn left at the fork afterwards, past the nameplate of Merchtem, a triangular chapel from 1959 and between orchards. Cross a railway and then turn right into Koeweidestraat. Gentle climbing, smooth descent At the bridge over the Grote Molenbeek you reach KP 20. Continue straight ahead, direction KP 19. It goes up gently and you turn right into the Ezelweg, a narrow concrete road between the meadows. At the T-junction, follow Meerpoelstraat to the right. After a bend, the roadway turns into two concrete strips with a grass strip in the middle. Then follows a climb over cobblestones and then you descend over concrete strips with grass in between to KP 19. Turn left, direction KP 55. At the fork after a white farm, keep left and climb into the open landscape. Cross the busy Brusselsesteenweg and cycle into the Eeckhoutweg. • The road becomes hollow and you climb through a grove to KP 55. Choose Voetweg 96, direction KP 58. The path narrows and you continue cycling on a real singletrack. With a right-left nod you descend to a farm and continue cycling to the T-junction. Turn right over the cobblestone road and at tavern Het Bos turn right until the T-junction. Follow Kleistraat to the right and keep left at the fork. Climb through a grove and keep following Kleistraat until you reach a priority road. Cross it and cycle next to the Top Green flower and plant centre to a brick chapel. Turn right until you reach a priority road. On the other side is a chapel of Our Lady of The Need. Turn left, you bolt over a wide concrete road with the impressive site of Stephex Stables on the right. • Just past the agglomeration sign of Meuzegem, turn left and cycle to KP 58. Turn right into the narrow asphalted church road, direction KP 69. At the first houses it turns into a narrow asphalt road. At the fork you take a narrow path again and cycle next to a grove to a crossroads. Cross it and continue cycling until you reach a priority road. Turn left and immediately after turn right, into Voetweg 60 and then continue until KP 69. Turn left, direction KP 61. Just over Kleinendries and then into a new church path. You arrive at a priority road, turn directly away from it and continue cycling on the Kerkevoetweg to Rossemdorp with the church of Rossem on the right. • Cross the street and continue cycling along a beautiful church path through the fields. Back in civilization, follow the asphalt road to the right. Just before the nameplate of Steenhuffel, turn right into Robbeekstraat and further left into Grotendries. At a white farm building with a chapel from 1881, turn left into Pluimennest and continue cycling between the fields. At the crossroads turn left, past Raff Plastics. Ignore the side streets and keep following Over de Beek until you can turn left in a bend, next to a picturesque chapel, into the Schommelweg - also Voetweg 27. Continue cycling towards steenhuffel church and palm brewery. Cross the Grote Molenbeek and continue cycling until you reach a T-junction. Turn right until you reach the departure point.