A tour of Dentergem

The West Flemish town of Wakken, part of Dentergem, is one of the seven oldest parishes in Flanders and also the starting point of this route through the Lys region. You cycle through a gently sloping landscape along mainly low-traffic roads and specially constructed cycle paths. Inspiration on this tour can be found in the figure of Lucien Buysse, a Flandrien who won the Tour de France in 1926, with 5,745 km the longest tour in history. At the church of Wontergem you can admire his monument. Other picturesque villages along the route are Gottem, Oeselgem, Grammene and Dentergem.

1. Meet on the market square at the three-aisled classicist Sint-Pieter en Sint-Catharinakerk (1790-1794) (V) in Wakken, one of the seven oldest parishes in West Flanders. In the Middle Ages it was a city without gates, hence the expression 'it closes like Wakken' or it does not close at all. In the center is also the classicist Bluefoot Castle.
2. Cycle into the Kapellestraat with one-way traffic (but not for cyclists), towards junction 8. Don't worry about side streets and cycle past the football field of Wakken to the T-junction with the Sint-Katarina chapel. Behind it lies Provincial Domain Baliekouter (1). Here turn left and continue over a narrow asphalt strip between the pollard willows that is forbidden for cars. Via the narrow Teeuwenbruggetje you cross the Mandel, to junction 8. Turn right, direction 9. At the Nieuwbrug you are at junction 9. Cross the Mandel again, ignore the road to Dentergem and continue cycling towards junction 10. At junction 10, turn right into Boomgaardstraat, direction junction 4. After a short stretch of larger road, turn left into Dujardinstraat. At a T-junction, turn left into Oostrozebekestraat. After the chapel you turn right and a little further at a crossroads, take the dead end road on the left. After a farm, the asphalt turns into a gravel road with quite a few pits. Then you bend around a copper beer kettle (a Dentergemse?) past a riding school. Via the beautiful driveway you come to the somewhat busier Markegemsesteenweg, which you follow to the left. Where you turn to the right, you cycle straight on the Tieltseweg. At a wooden cross (junction 4) you cycle straight on to junction 51, on a traffic-calmed road between fields and fields.
3. When you cross the Meulebekesteenweg, it continues quietly. Where you leave the Katteknokstraat on the right, you have a white farm right in front of you behind a large puddle in the meadow. Here you turn left and immediately after right right, still in the Tieltseweg. After 1 km you will pass between two chapels (2). On the left the imposing dilapidated St. Anne's Chapel, on the right a smaller, white and more modern one with bell tower. This would be the 'real' and oldest fever chapel. That's what it says, by the way, with "DE" in capital letters. Here you also get the Poelmolen (3), an open-footed stake mill from the 18th century on the Poelberg, in your sights. At the end of the road, at the T-junction with chapel of Our Lady Comfort in Need, you come to junction 51. Turn right, direction 50, in the Marialoopstraat, always in a gently undulating agricultural landscape. At junction 50 turn right into Appelstraat, direction junction 1. At junction 1 continue straight ahead, direction 81. You cross the Speibeek and then come to the railway. You cross it and after a detour you do it a second time.
4. Now follow the winding Tabakstraat until you arrive in Wontergem on the busy Dentergemsesteenweg. Leave the centre on the right and cycle left. On the right, first take a look at the church to the monument of Lucien Buysse (4), who cycles out of a rock, as it were. Then turn right and cycle away from the center. Cross the railway again and at the first opportunity turn right into Goedstraat. At junction 81 continue towards 83. Again across the railway and immediately next to it turn right into the Warandestraat. Continue cycling through the fields to a busier road. Follow it along the cycle path to the left. Ignore the road to Machelen on the right and cycle past café De Zwaan and the picturesque church of Grammene. After the center, immediately after the railway crossing, take the unpaved path on the right, to the railway bridge, where you cycle, with a beautiful view of the church of Grammene. You cross an old Leiearm here and continue cycling along the railway to the Leie, which is clearly channeled here. The old Lys arms usually still determine the municipal boundaries. Follow the Leie to the right for more than 4 km, until junction 82. Pass under the Machelen bridge and continue straight on for another 1 km until junction 86. Here you leave the dike and cycle into the Ardennes Jagersstraat, direction 88.
5. It takes you to the center of Gottem with home brewery Sint Canarus (5) and the Sint-Martinus- en Eutropiuskerk, with an octagonal tower from ca. 1300. At the intersection with the Oude Heirbaan you are at junction 88. Cycle straight ahead, direction Wontergem and junction 2, into the Donkerstraat. Just past a white chapel, turn left for a private road. Then take the first road on the right, cross the Mandelbeek and cycle past a small, white chapel. 500 m further, opposite a farm driveway on the right, take a narrow path between the fields on the left. Through the fields and between the meadows you continue cycling to junction 2. Here you turn left, direction Dentergem and junction 3. Just past Transports Vansteenkiste you turn left on a gravel road between two houses and make a detour behind the houses to the Gottemstraat. Follow it to the right and then turn left into the centre of Dentergem. After the library, choose the Markegemsesteenweg on the left and follow the signs to junction 5. A little later you cycle through a dead end street, which turns into a cycle path through the fields. Over a bridge and then for a while along the Mandelbeek and further along a chapel through the fields. Continue towards junction 5. On the Gottem-Oeselgem road, follow the wide cycle path to the right. You make a detour through an SME zone and drive from junction 5 to 6.
6. You touch the Lys for a while and then arrive at the church of Oeselgem. Follow junction 8 behind the church. You leave the center by choosing the Vijvestraat at a fork with a chapel on the left. Don't worry about side roads and enjoy the beautiful view on your left. After about 2 km, turn right into Molenstraat and follow it to the right. At the fork with the somewhat bizarre chapel of Our Lady of Hall, keep left. On the right you can still see an old mill hull. Continue cycling to the departure point.