A challenge for climbers and a test for e-bikers, with steep and sometimes long slopes and stunning views.

Text and photo Stan Verelst

Meeting at the Place du Bâti in Maillen. Depart with the church on your right until you reach the priority road. Turn left. At the first little intersection, go straight on, towards Lustin. Ignore the road to Crupet on your left and continue straight. After the agglomeration sign of Maillen, you will see the first panorama on your left. You cycle past the entrance of the château-ferme d’Arche (17th century). At the next fork, turn left, over Neuve Ferme towards Ivoy. At the end of the road, turn right, along the small Chapelle Notre-Dame de Hal and further through the open landscape. You cycle past the Aeroclub ULM Maillen and ignore the left road. Continue straight through the open landscape, past a large shed and through a small wood until you reach the priority road you left earlier. Turn left along the agglomeration sign of Lustin. Ignore the side streets and continue until the fork, where it goes left to Profondeville. Turn right there into Rue Pepin and climb to the intersection with the Chapelle Saint-Donat. Here, cycle diagonally left, past the football field of AC Lustin. You cycle past the end of the agglomeration sign of Lustin and descend with a beautiful view ahead of you. Ignore the side roads, continue along the forest edge and turn in the hairpin bend with the chapel, going straight ahead until the dead end, turning left.

Have courage!

Continue cycling between scattered buildings and at the first fork, choose as straight as possible, diagonally left, Rue de Goffioul. Now you begin a steep climb, along scattered buildings and through the woods. After a bend, you get to descend a bit. At the end of the road, go straight and begin a new solid climb. A sign for Le Triple Mur des Monty wishes you ‘courage’. You climb past the agglomeration sign of Lustin and a sign with information about Le Triple Mur des Monty (1), of which you have just climbed the last part. You arrive at a square with the church of Lustin on the right and directly in front of you, the Pizzeria Venezia. Cycle into the local traffic street next to the restaurant and follow it until the mandatory stop. Turn left and at the small intersection after the Pharmacie de Lustin, turn right into Chemin d’Hestroy, towards UCL Mont-Godinne. Ignore the side streets and cycle along the forest edge to the end of the agglomeration sign of Lustin. On your left, you will see a beautiful panorama. Continue past the Boucherie de la Ferme, where you can find farm products 'from the stable to the table'. You arrive at a fork with an unpaved road straight ahead that ends in a dead end and turn right onto the asphalt road. You pass another end of the agglomeration sign of Lustin and enjoy a beautiful meadow landscape. Keep cycling until you come into the bend of a wide road. Turn left towards UCL Mont-Godinne. Now comes a necessary, less pleasant connecting segment. Climb 600 m along the busier road, without a bike lane, until you reach the entrance of CHU - UCL de Namur (2). Then, continue straight on a separate bike path, towards Mont and Crupet. Ignore the road to Godinne on your right and cycle as you enter the village, past the agglomeration sign of Mont-Godinne. Here the bike path ends.

Into the woods

Ignore the side streets and continue past the church of Mont-Godinne, with its ‘special’ tower, and take the mini-roundabout at the cemetery to the right, towards Crupet. You roll between scattered buildings and past the community school. There is no bike path, but on both sides of the street, white bicycles are painted on the ground to urge motorists to be cautious. After the end of the agglomeration sign of Mont-Godinne and the name sign of Maillen, together on one pole, the road narrows. You cycle briefly between the meadows and then enter the woods, passing the entrance of the Domaine de Ronchinne. When you emerge from the woods, you see the donjon Carondelet (3) and the castle farm of Crupet on your right. At the T-junction, turn right, towards Durnal. Ignore the street on the left at tavern-restaurant Saint-Antoine and turn right at the next fork, towards Yvoir. Now you get to see the donjon and the castle farm of Crupet from the other side. At the junction, with the right going to hotel Le Moulin des Ramiers, go straight and then turn left into Rue du Comte. At the end, you arrive at a crossroads with the Chapelle Saint-Roch (1867). Here, turn into the second street on the right, Rue Trou d’Herbois, towards Durnal and Spontin.

Descending through beautiful landscape

You drive past the end agglomeration sign of Crupet and the name sign of Durnal. Ignore the road to Herlevaux on the left and continue until you reach the center of Durnal. Keep ignoring the side streets and turn right after the Chapelle Saint-Roch towards Spontin and E411. At the crossroads near the church, turn right, along the church, towards Spontin and Dorinne. At the fork, where it goes right towards Spontin, you cycle straight to the T-junction, with a chapel across. Turn right over the wide concrete road. There isn’t much traffic, but it goes fast. Enjoy the 360° panorama and cross the E411. Cycle past the name sign of Assesse and continue on the fork straight ahead, towards Assesse. At the T-junction, turn left, still towards Assesse. After the agglomeration sign of Assesse, you cross straight over a small intersection and continue through Rue du Hameau. At the next fork, go straight down Rue de Wavremont. At the crossroads, keep following Rue de Wavremont straight ahead. Ignore a left road and turn left at the next intersection. Cycle under the E411 and continue straight until you can turn diagonally left into Rue Jassogne. You pass the Petite Ferme de Jassogne and through a small hamlet. At the next fork, turn left, through Rue Inséfy. Now you may descend for quite some time through a beautiful landscape. After a bend, you cross the Ry de Vesse and turn right.

Detour for Saint Anthony

Now follows a beautiful stretch of 2 km between the meadows. You cycle through a small wood and then further between meadows and fields, and already catch sight of the church of Crupet. After the agglomeration sign of Crupet, turn left into Rue Haute. At the end of this rising road, you arrive in the center of Crupet. Our journey goes here to the right, but it is worth cycling straight for 50 meters to view the Grotte de Saint-Antoine de Padoue (4), just before the church. You can also get a bite to eat or a drink in the center. From the center, it is then left, still through Rue Haute. You descend along the road to Yvoir, where you previously cycled, again past the Relais de Saint-Antoine and ignore the left road to Ronchinne, where you came out earlier. Go straight ahead, towards Assesse and Maillen. You cycle past the end agglomeration sign of Crupet and choose left at the fork towards Maillen. After a short stretch through the woods, it continues rolling through the open landscape and past the agglomeration sign of Maillen until you reach the intersection with an antique signpost and the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Walcourt (behind which is the walled cemetery). Turn right, through Rue sous les Prés until you reach the crossroads where it goes straight ahead on an unpaved road. Here turn left, with a beautiful view of the church of Maillen until the next small intersection. Again turn left and continue until the starting point.