In Belgium they make cycling sexy again!

Limburg’s Cycling Junction Network is a great way to get to know this Flemish area of Belgium. Come and join me in my experience going with the bike through the town, the forest and even the water.

When you wake up at seven and the weather outside is completely freezing (maybe not for Belgians but for someone who comes from Spain) the last thing you would like to do is taking your bike and cycle for a couple of hours, but the Cycling Junction Network of Limburg was waiting for us. And it was anything but disappointing.

Limburg is the most oriental province in the Flanders Region and both the tourist interest and the appropriate geography have made it develop a Cycling Junction Network with 2000 kilometres of cycling routes that are easy to follow because there are recognizable blue road signs that indicate with a number or a GPS coordinate in which road you are and in what direction you are going. The trip guide planned a 20 kilometres itinerary and provided us a map with the route (cycling junctions 96–97–98–91–95–96) made by a very useful routplanner: fietsnet.be. It is also possible to download the app Fietsparadijs Limburg to choose the routes and to have practical information such as the weather or the distance you have cycled.

Our press trip started in PXL University College in Hasselt, where we could rent a bike if necessary, and after receiving some notions about the region we began the route. First we went by one of the main attractions of the capital of Limburg, the Japanese Garden, which is the biggest authentic garden of its kind in Europe. Inspired in a 17th Century tea garden it has its own tea house where you can join a tea ceremony with native people or enjoy the blossoms in spring. If you want to visit it you must be aware that the timetable is limited, although you don’t need much time to drift around.

Useless bridge

This first part of the route was the most difficult because we had to cross some busy roads, but the rest of the morning we cycled through a part of the 40% car free ways that make up the network. Well, maybe the most difficult part was not that, it was going up a slope with the wind blowing ahead. It was the only slope in our tour, parallel to the Albert Canal. That is the most important economic waterway in the zone, connecting Antwerp and Liège.

Over the canal we found the cable-stayed bridge of Godsheide, which appears to be a political failure because it was supposed to connect two big regions but after building it there were handicaps to also build a big road. So now it is only used to link a pair of towns, furthermore it will have to be rebuilt due to its low high. It looksas if in Spain we are not the only ones who waste money in useless public constructions. However, bikers use this bridge frequently in their trips throughout the network.

Continuing with our route we arrived at the Provincial Domain of Bokrijk, where there is an open air museum -the biggest one in Europe- that recreates the typical and traditional houses of the Flemish area. It is a quite good place to go with children because they can enjoy a playground area as well as activities like mini-cars. For kids another good option is the Children’s farm you can find just a few minutes from Bokrijk. It was a villa with farmhouses in the 19th century and now it has different animals and a playground for children.

Waterland

Following the path through the forest, we get into De Wijers, my favourite place of the route. De Wijers is the area of ponds and lakes with more than 700 hectares of water in a peaceful and green environment. The origin of this place lies in the extractions of iron and peat in the 13th Century, that then were filled by water and used for fish farms by the monks nearby. Nowadays fish farming is still the main activity and preserving the biodiversity of fish, birds or amphibian has gained importance.

Riding between the trees makes you forget about anything but nature, and especially if you are used to live in a big city it is a good way to clear your lungs from pollution. Suddenly, you look to the front and stop seeing trees, a big pond is now in front of you. But it is not a normal pond, it is a pond split in two! You can perfectly cross the lake without swimming and watch the ducks or the swans really near. I think it is an original idea and a good way to attract people’s attention and encourage them to take their bikes and do some natural sightseeing. If you are lucky and choose a sunny (or at least a not rainy) day to go there, you can bring sandwiches and do a picnic in the grass.

At that point, the most ‘touristic’ places are already seen, but you still have to ride some more kilometres to arrive to the starting point of the route while enjoying the landscape and the ponds or if you have an adventurous spirit you can get lost into the woods.

Unfortunately, we had to shorten the itinerary we had planned due to the time it was, but we were told by our guide about the prison nearby or some other places worth to visit in Hasselt, like for example the Fashion museum, the Jenever museum or, related to our trip, the fietsbar.

I totally recommend you to spend a morning of your weekend or your holydays in doing this route by bike or by foot. When you come to a new country or a new city, the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about tourism is visiting historical monuments or going to famous towns, and maybe you miss the opportunity of doing something different and also enjoyable as biking in Limburg is. So go and make cycling sexy again!