Cobblestones and hollow roads around the Brabant language border

Meet at Sint-Gillisplein in Kumtich (V). Keep the church and cemetery wall on your right and leave for Hoxem. You arrive directly at KP 35 and turn left, direction KP 14. At the next fork, turn left again, then cross the tracks. Ignore a street on the right and pedal straight on the crossroads at the triangular square with a chapel under a beautiful lime tree, on a wide concrete road. First uphill, then downhill with a beautiful panorama in front of you. Dive under the E40 motorway and LGV 2 and pedal along the Hoksem agglomeration sign (on the Hoxem signs). • At the end of the road, turn left until you reach the church and water mill of Hoksem (already mentioned in 1340). You are now on FP14. Continue cycling through Bronstraat towards KP 17, ignore Ridderstraat on the left and keep right at the Y-junction at the cemetery. You now climb a narrow paved road, which becomes hollow and briefly turns into a gravel road. At the first crossroads of country roads, turn left and go down in front of an orchard to the Chaussée de Wavre. Turn right, on a bike path separated from the road by a grassy strip. A little climb, enjoying a 360 ° panorama and then in the first road on the right. You now descend on a convex paved road with grass in the middle. The road becomes hollow and you pedal through a green tunnel, because above your head the bushes form a green roof. • Then you come to a curious road sign. Cyclists are asked to disembark to cross the cattle gates. Don't worry about side roads and continue until you reach the Molenstraat. Turn left after the Meldert agglomeration sign. On the left a nature reserve, on the right buildings in bulk.

Detour through Walloon Brabant Turn left onto KP 17, direction KP 16. At the church of Meldert turn right. At the next intersection, turn left before KP 16. Here you turn right and leave the Flemish Brabant cycling network, to make a detour to Walloon Brabant. You walk along the Overhemstraat and follow it until it becomes straight for local traffic. Turn left and turn towards Hof ter Meren. Turn right and immediately after turn left. At the end of this small street, turn left again. It rises slowly. • Skip the Keulenweg and pedal up the Chaussée de Wavre with the impressive 18th century Saint-Quirinus chapel around the corner (1). Turn left, then into the first street on the right. It has three names: Mutsaardstraat, Gaatstraat and Rue de Gaët. You will also notice the signs of the cycling network of Walloon Brabant and walk along the agglomeration sign of L'Ecluse. Ignore all secondary roads and follow Rue de Gaët to the church of L'Ecluse. Keep it on your left and go up the rue de la Tourette, a paved road, at the exit of the village. The cobblestones blend into a wide concrete road. Ignore on the left the Mutsaardstraat, which is also called Rue du Fagot and walk along the end of the agglomeration sign of L'Ecluse. Further on, you can see the farm-castle of Tourette (2) on the right behind the meadows. The oldest parts of this complex date back to the 17th century. Century-old farms You again pass a sign of agglomeration of L'Ecluse and turn at the crossroads with a brick chapel on the right, the rue de Sclimpré on the right. First, you pedal between separate buildings, then you go into the fields and enjoy beautiful views. At the junction of the fork, turn left, pass the La Bruyère agglomeration sign and further right, on Duchêne Street. Follow it to the end, turn left and immediately after the Beauvechain agglomeration sign, turn right onto Rue de Louvain. Ignore a street on the left and where the concrete road turns left, stay right and pass an 1889 farmhouse. Then turn left onto Rue des Anges, past the 18th century square farm La Grande Grayette (3). Don't worry about side roads and follow the winding road until you reach a crossroads with a chapel on the left and a straight line on a road to HammeMille. • Turn right onto Rue du Village. At the five jumps, you continue to follow the wide concrete road straight. Then ignore a road on the left and turn left at the next intersection in Rue de Mollendael. Along a castle park You now walk for a long time on a paved road through the gently rolling agricultural landscape with beautiful views. Along the way, the road gets worse. Finally, you will arrive at the Zwartehoekstraat. Follow it with a sharp right turn. From now on, you will once again follow the junctions of the Flemish Brabant cycling network and are on your way to KP 81. After the last houses, the asphalt turns into cobblestones and further into a gravel road. The road becomes hollow and you cross a green tunnel. Then continue by bike to the Chaussée de Wavre. Cross it and continue cycling through the Perrestraat. Then turn left onto Culostraat. Don't worry about secondary roads and continue cycling to the obligatory stop, just past the 18th century Jesuit courtyard (4). On the right you can see the church of Opvelp. Continue straight onto Velpestraat. • After the last houses, the concrete road turns into a sand pebble road. At the fork with two oaks, turn left. The gravel road becomes wider and gets a strip of grass in the middle. After a short paved strip, you arrive at the Chaussée de Wavre. Follow it on the right, on a cycle path behind hedges, past the neervelp agglomeration sign and continue to KP 91, at the intersection with the unstained Notre-Dame chapel received from 1732. Continue straight onto KP 37. Drive under LGV 2 and motorway (E40), then take the first road on the right. Follow this gravel road for local traffic to the first intersection. • On the right, the road plunges under the highway and the railway. Turn left, pass the park of Kwabeek Castle, cross the crossroads and continue through the Dreefstraat, past the Vertrijk agglomeration sign. Fraternisation Boutersem Just before the end of the Dreefstraat, ignore the Honsemsestraat on the right and follow the Kerkweg on the right until you reach KP 37. Turn left onto KP 68. Follow the Stationsstraat until you turn left onto the E40 and Neervelp. Immediately after the bend, take the path of the church on the right. You find yourself on another street and follow it straight. At the end of the street you pedal through a comfortable tunnel under the railway tracks. You will pass the church of Boutersem and follow the Dorpstraat on the left at the T-junction. • Ignore the Eksterstraat on the right and choose Werenberg diagonally on the right at the Y-junction. You pedal along the railway tracks and continue at the intersection with a bridge over the railway tracks on the left, driving straight. Then turn right onto Boststraat. You cycle along the football pitches of Verbroedering Boutersem and turn further into the Kromme Herentstraat. Then cross the Leuvensesteenweg (N3) and continue cycling through the Aarschotsebaan, direction Lubbeek. Ignore all secondary roads and cycle along the Grootbos - Butselbos. • Where the road turns right, take Klein Drogenhofstraat on the left, direction Zandgroeve Roelants. At the end of this narrow and winding concrete road, turn right, pass the sand quarry. At the fork, where it becomes local traffic, you pedal straight on a priority road. Turn left onto KP 68, then continue straight onto KP 69. Then turn right into Heideken and continue cycling through the open landscape, worrying about secondary roads until you can turn left, next to an orchard, into the unpaved Smisveldstraat. In a house, the gravel road turns into a narrow path along the edge of the forest. At the end of the path, you continue pedaling on a narrow concrete road to KP 69. • Continue straight, direction KP 36, then turn left, lubbeeksestraat. At the crossroads, you cross a priority road and continue straight along the Roosbeek name sign. Don't worry about back roads and continue cycling straight until you reach KP 36 just before the church in Roosbeek. Turn left into Oude Baan and exit the village. Ignore secondary roads. The asphalt turns into two concrete strips with a strip of grass in between and is only accessible to agricultural vehicles, walkers, cyclists and horse riders. On KP 12 you cross the intersection and continue cycling through the Roosbeekstraat, towards KP 13. Here too you can choose a concrete strip. Skip all back roads and cycle along a beautifully located picnic area to KP 13. Turn right onto KP 35. Cross the Leuvensebaan (N3) using the traffic lights and continue by bike to the starting point.