Exploring Hasselt by cycling

Discovering Hasselt and its environment by bike is something you have to do before dying, an activity to add to the list which includes writing a book or planting a tree. It’s a way to discover nature in the heart of a city, hearing nothing just few metres away from the highway. That’s what the Cycling Paradise of Limburg’s name really means: paradise, discovering places hidden to everyone’s eyes.

The Cycling Junction Network is trying to make cycling tempting again, and in fact, they succeeded. The network was started by the engineer Hugo Bollen in 1995 in the east of Limburg, and nowadays it has 390 numbered intersections along the province. It has been developing since 90’s, adding more regions to the organization, introducing e-bikes and also making some innovations such as the possibility of cycling through water. Now all the routes are on one map so, as the junctions are free to combine, you can create your own route just linking some of them. Even more, you will find blue signs all along the path. That way you will always be informed of where you are or to choose where you want to go.

To the canal

Nevertheless, after one month in Hasselt, you may think that you have nothing more to see. No more places to be explored, and probably that’s why I started the cycling trip without great expectations . However, after riding a few metres and leaving behind the city buildings, magic started shaking my body, a kind of enchantment.

We started our route in junction 97, just after crossing the Japanese Garden, constructed because of the relation of Hasselt with the Japanese city of Itami, and which is also the biggest authentic Japanese garden in Europe. It surrounded our first road by trees which were trying to maintain their last autumn leaves.

It was a cold day but the movement of our legs cycling had warmed us after arriving at our first stop, the Albert Canal. The canal was built between 1930 and 1939 and was used during the World Wars as a defence line. Although it doesn’t look like anything of interest, its big doors (the water lock), which seem to be out of a Middle Age story, are a good cycling destination, with grass on both sides; a nice place to stay in a sunny day and enjoy the scenery.

The 10 metres height difference of the Water Lock made our excursion a challenge for a few minutes, even more if you are not a usual bike rider. Anyway, there were only few metres of slope, a little distance with effort and then we were back on the flat roads to which we are accustomed in Belgium.

The Water Lock and Cable Stayed Bridge Godsheide made a magic landscape to take pictures to. The trees remarking their background and the sun reflecting in the water let us breathe after a tiring ascendance.

Fantasy is coming

However, the best was yet to come. From junction 98 to 91, nature surrounded me and magic became the main actress of the view. Fairy tale houses framed the path, the animals grazing near our bikes made it a landscape to dream of, a place not to forget.

It was not only magical because of the nature, but also because of the calm, because of the peace; some feelings that were thought impossible to sense beside the city, beside the main high road. The road which in fact we had to cross to get into the Provincial Domain of Bokrijk, known for its Open Air Museum, the biggest in Europe, with historical buildings from ancient times.

Nevertheless, we hadn’t arrived at junction 91 yet. At first, the excursion seemed to take a long time riding but at that moment, the dreamy outlook didn’t let us think on that. The lovely image of the sunlight trying to get in the road through the branches of trees and the cold weather less appreciable between the nature, made such beautiful place to look like something out of a romance novel.

Let’s cycle through the water

And, is there anything better to get to junction 91 than driving into the water? The new water line, built this year, offers you the opportunity to feel the Wijers water without getting wet but getting surrounded by the pond. As the Bible presents Moises opening the sea, you can cross the small lake landscape of Wijers driving through the water over a lenght of 200 metres enclosed by ducks and swans waiting for you to give them some food.

That experience will make your trip much funnier and interesting, if possible.

After crossing another high road, which can be the worst part of the cycling tour (even though it has 60% low traffic and 40% car free roads is sometimes difficult to cross the main roads), some more beautiful places were displayed. Our exploring time hadn’t finished yet.

We had seen a part of De Wijers when crossing by bike through water, but now it was the time to see it with all its brilliance. De Wijers are a really important pond area due to the fish farming that has always been done there but also because of Endurable Nature Projects done to protect some important birds, such as bittern or egret, and amphibians like the tree frog, which let you take pleasure from the flora and fauna of the pond.

The end of the tale was near, and we started riding back home, but I have a pending visit to explore the whole Cycling Junction Limburg Network, to tour the 2000 km of cycling routes it has and to enjoy in one of its cafés or other facilities such as camping. With 2 million bikers per year, the cycling Paradise of Limburg has been copied by other regions and countries in Europe, and now I understand why it is.

So take your bike, plan a route and enjoy Limburg. You won’t regret it!