Meerdaalwoud OR

Once you've experienced the beauty of the Meerdaal Forest on a gravel bike or mountain bike, you'll be hooked. We combed it in all directions and finally found 3 routes. Depending on your mood, you can choose bronze, silver, or gold. If all 3 of you ride, you've completed the Meerdaalwoud challenge.

BRONZE: Meerdaalwoud BRONS - Recreational Cycle Path | RouteYou
SILVER: Meerdaalwoud ZILVER - Gravelbikeroute | RouteYou

MEERDAALWOUD GOLD
'Difficult' 100km course
This is the ultimate Meerdaalwudrit. It becomes epic after only 20 km. It's a real war of attrition for 3 reasons: the distance, the subsoil and the slopes. This route, where we started from a route by Bart Timmermans, goes almost anywhere you can cycle in the Meerdaalwoud.

We don't want to discourage anyone, but we want to warn them. The further south you go into the Meerdaal Forest, the more of a havoc it becomes. Uprooted from forestry materials and worked by tractors. We couldn't determine if it was "normal," but the large chunks give a destroyed impression, destroyed by logging.

Almost every path – with the exception of the wide boulevards – is also a bumpy route where you are completely buffeted non-stop by dried mud pits and protruding tree roots. And on this terrain: difficult climbs and technical descents.

You'll eventually see the squinting of the rapid succession of steep ascents and descents. And again, the further south you go, the steeper it gets. The southern part of the forest is dotted with 3 clusters of slopes. The surface is also sandy. In Nethen, you get such a heavy but beautiful sand climb under your wheels.

After the De Heide Forest Reserve and the Tomberg, you descend to a second valley in the Meerdaal Forest: the Warandedal. Then it's forest climbing over the Walloon border, above Hamme-Mille. In addition, you pass through the forest reserve of the wild boar pool. In this reserve, which has been completely left to nature for a quarter of a century, a number of exceptionally thick beech trees come together in a small area.

Where the most beautiful gravel paths in the Sonian Forest constantly reward you with wonderful descents after steep climbs on flat surfaces, the climbs here pass on a bumpy course and the descents are not rewards.

On the contrary. They are steep and take the same bumpy course where you must constantly be careful that your euphoria doesn't override your alertness and caution. Because before you know it, you're exploding into a pit or over a large tree root at high speed.

Due to the many challenging forest trails, the entire route is better suited for mountain biking or a heavy-duty gravel bike with thicker tires. Suspension is not an unnecessary luxury. The heavy cobbled strips mean that the Flanders feel is never far away. Stomping, pushing, pulling, pure pleasure.

You have to earn gold. You'll notice how fantastically beautiful Meerdaalwoud is during the renunciation. You pass through forest palaces and fairy tale scenes. It's worth it for us.

Read all about the Meerdaalwoud Challenge here: Meerdaalwoud Challenge: Ride the Bronze, Silver and Gold Road this Autumn and Winter - WielerVerhaal

See a special photo here: Special photo: the completely combed Meerdaalwoud - WielerVerhaal