Electric duo bikes in the Voorkempen

The starting point of this cycling tour through the Voorkempen, with its many quiet roads through forests and along the towpath of the Albert Canal, is the Zorgverblijf Hooidonk (V), just outside the center of Zandhoven. This agricultural and residential village is located in a wooded area with numerous picturesque corners, especially along the Willeborrebeek. • You can do this tour with a regular bicycle and also with one of the electric duo bikes for less mobile people that you can rent in Hooidonk (reservation is made, see box). • At the start it is just a matter of watching out. You leave at the main entrance (where you pick up the bike, in the entrance to the building) and then immediately cycle to the right. Follow the paved footpath past the buildings (careful for the other guests) until you reach a T-junction. Turn left here. After a few meters turn on2 turn right and continue under the hedge arch. At the end of it, turn right again until langestraat and then turn left. • At the intersection with Hooidonck street, cross Langestraat at the zebra crossing (be careful, because people sometimes drive too fast here). You are now in the Zandbeekstraat (sign) and will soon come straight ahead to the first sign of the cycle route network that will become your guide during the entire tour. Follow the signs to the 95 cycle junction. On the way – and just before you reach this junction – you should definitely take a break at the beautiful Mill of Pulderbos 1, a protected monument from 1840. The mill was purchased in 1987 by the municipality of Zandhoven, restored and made grindable again. On the mill site there is also a mechanical mill, the inn Het Molenhuis, Museum het Karkot and the Bijenhal. The mill can be visited on Sunday afternoon (or by appointment for groups). • You will soon leave the busier road on which the Molen is located and cycle along the rural Boskant to junction 07. From there it goes along the Pulderdijk to junction 06. On your right is the Nature Reserve Lovenhoek 2, a contiguous and valuable piece of nature that has not yet been crossed by traffic roads. Together with the Krabbelshof domain and its ponds and marshes, it forms a complex of more than 500 hectares. Along the Kleine Nete At junction 06 you can possibly choose the shortest variant of this tour (23 km, see below). Now continue cycling through the wooded area via the Heirbaan to junction 05 and then 03. Via the streets Plein and Vispluk and past Gasthof De Roskam (with large terrace!) in Vorselaar you reach junction 01. There you follow junction 18. You will then pass the fairytale water castle De Borrekens 3, which originally dates from the 13th century and looks back on a rich past. You can take a break a little further in Taverne Sportcentrum De Dreef. Vorselaar is a residential and agricultural village on the Aa and the Kleine Nete with an 18th century pillory on the market square. Cyclists Ward Sels, Bart Wellens and Paul Herygers come from this village, as does former athlete Fons Brydenbach. Also admire the Nature Reserve Schupleer 4, through which the Aa and the Kleine Nete flow and provide a rich fauna and flora and some beautiful reed beds. From junction 18 it goes to junction 19, about 800 metres away. And from there follow direction junction 08. You will now pass the Kleine Nete, a side arm of the Nete in the catchment area of the Scheldt. She babbles sweetly between fields and rows of trees. Along the way you will also catch a glimpse of the ruins of Our Lady Ten Troon 5, a former priory of the elite wheels extra on 2 monastic order the Windesheimer, which did book illumination, among other things. The abbey was almost completely destroyed in 1579 and a fire in 1898 made den Troon the ruin it is today. There at that watermill It is now a bit further cycling from junction 08 to junction 15. However, along some of the most picturesque spots of this tour, with the Watermill of Grobbendonk 6, one of the most beautiful windmills in the Kempen, at the confluence of the Kleine Nete and the Aa. From junction 15 you continue cycling towards junction 17, past Boshoven. The three routes - the original and the two shorter - all have junction 17 in common. It is the place where all routes connect back to the original route. • From 17 it continues towards junction 97, which you reach along the beautiful Cauwenberglei with some beautiful buildings. You also cycle past the Do-meboerderij Groenhof, also a youth center for farm classes, among other things. Along the Albert Canal From junction 97 you continue cycling towards Albert Canal and junction 68. You always follow the Mastendreef with its luxurious villas and