Along the windmills around Herenthout

Appointment at the parking lot at the chapel of Kruiskensberg (V) on the Kruiskensbaan in Herenthout. With the parking on your right you cycle to junction 34. This is where the tour begins. Continue cycling towards 22. After 300 m turn left into a lane and cycle through the Merodebos. The arrows first let you cycle to the right and at a crossroads of drifts to the left. When you come out of the forest, turn right and take the first street on the left: Blokt. At a tree chapel you cycle on the left onto a dirt road. Past a farm, the road is paved and you reach junction 22. Continue cycling straight ahead, towards 46. At the fork, turn right. You will pass windmill 1 in Bouwel and then turn left into the Molendreef. After sports hall De Molen you turn right with the road and you come to junction 46. Cross the Herenthoutse steenweg on2 and continue cycling through the car-free Langedreef, towards 45. At the end of the lane turn left and then the first street on the right. Cross an intersection and keep left at the first and second forks. Via the Zellestraat you cycle out of Bouwel and continue through an open agricultural landscape to junction 45. There, turn diagonally left, towards 44. At the T-junction turn left and further on right. You immediately notice why this place is called De Bergen. The road rises gently. Turn left with the narrow asphalt road and cycle through a grove to the T-junction. Turn right until the Herentalsesteenweg and then turn right again on a suspender cycle path. Then turn left into Oosterhoven with a hairpin bend. Follow that street until you can turn right into Klein Baan. You pass the Heidehoeve and at the end of the road you turn left before the Grothoeve. In the garden of the Grothoeve there is a Lourdes grotto. Along the old railway bed At the junction with the tree chapel you choose right and just before the name sign of Noorderwijk you turn right and cycle past fishing club 't Schipperke to junction 44. Continue straight on, past Hogewegmolen 2 van Noorderwijk until junction 43. Turn right and follow the old railway bed of line 29. You cycle past Pavilion 7 (a former railway house) and continue via junction 66 through Morkhoven with café Berkemus to junction 67. Then turn left, direction 80, away from the old railway. At the first intersection turn right and at the end of the road turn left until the quadrangle with a brick chapel. Turn right and at the end of the Landbouwstraat turn left onto the narrow concrete road Elsbroek. The signage now guides you flawlessly past the Elzenhof, the Elsbroekhoeve, 't Kievitshof and the football fields of KFC Immervoort to the busy Olenseweg. Cross it and continue cycling to junction 80. Turn right, direction 83. After a few bends it continues on a dirt road. When you get back on asphalt, turn right. Meander with the Jagersweg around a football field and leave Overwijs on the left and Gooreinde on the right. The road becomes unpaved and after the Dutch drive you turn left into the forest. A star with 8 floats Bicycle to the Star, the central point in the Beeltjens, where 8 lanes meet. In the beginning of the 18th century, De Beeltjens was laid out as a hunting domain by Field Marshal Jan Philips Eugeen de Merode. He was inspired by the forests of the French Versailles. Continue cycling to the forester's house 3, now a youth hostel. "Shhh... Cyclists, hikers and Fliere whistlers rest here!! Everyone welcome'. Here you can try 'ne Flierefluiter'. For children there is a playground and a fairytale forest. Turn left past the parking lot of the youth hostel and then right into the Dutch drive. Opposite the water tower, turn right into the castle park. You cycle past the sports hall and the castle of Jeanne de Merode 4 - called the New Castle in Westerlo and now wheels extra on2 town hall - to junction 83. Cycle via the Beeltjensdreef towards 85. At the end of the beautiful double beech drive you come after a parking lot on a traffic road. Follow it to the right and turn left into Zoerleberg. You cycle past fishing club De Nieuwe Lippers and through a residential area. Cross the N152 and continue cycling through Stippelberg. After 2 km between the separate buildings, turn right into the Kwachtstraat. You cycle through a forest and then turn left into the Locht. Then turn right into the Holleweg and via the Molenweg you will come to a mandatory stop. Cross the road and continue on the Heiweg. Then turn into the Grensstraat and cycle past the agglomeration sign of Hulshout to junction 85 on the old railway bed Herentals-Aarschot. Continue cycling towards 99. Don't worry about side roads and cycle more than 3 km between the separate buildings, first over the Heibaan, then through the Peerdekerkhofstraat until you reach the intersection with the Kaasstrooimolen 5 of the Bruggeneinde. Cycle right to the fork with the chapel and keep right. The Averegten Cross the Wiekevorstsesteenweg and turn left at junction 99, direction 93. At the end of the Buntstraat turn left until the fork. Now follow the busy Herentalsesteenweg to the right, direction Heist-op-den-Berg. 'Dangerous road, keep right' reads a sign. Fortunately, there is a bike path. Cross the Grote Nete, cycle past café Looidijk and then turn into the road to Hallaar. Follow it until you can turn left into the Moutstraat. On the left, in height, you see the church of Heist-op-den-Berg, on the right that of Hallaar. At the first intersection you are at junction 93. Turn right, direction 29. In the center of Hallaar turn right. Cycle past the church and take the Langendijk on the left, direction De Averegten. At junction 29 you cycle straight between the poles, direction 25. Ignore the Hallaaraard on the right, cycle past the parking lot of Provincial Domain De Averegten and the agglomeration sign of Itegem to junction 25. Continue to follow the Langendijk, direction 33. Cross an intersection, cross the Isschotweg and immediately turn left into the Parklaan. On the right you see the white castle La Garenne. Turn right at the crossroads. Cross two priority roads and continue cycling until you reach the Hooiweg. Just turn left and then with a right-angled bend into the Haringstraat. At the fork turn left into the cul-de-sac. It now winds its way to the Grote Nete. Follow the meandering river to the pedestrian bridge at tavern 't Schipke at Nete 6. Cross the bridge. Cycle through the lane to junction 33. Turn left, direction 34. Ignore a road on the right and turn left at the intersection with a dirt road on the right. At the end of the road turn left until the departure point.