Hallerbos

With this great spring weather I couldn't resist but go cycling again. For a change not along the Canal, Dijle or any other waterway in the north, but rather to the south of Brussels, around Alsemberg and Halle:(link)
The way out is a bit long, via Sint-Job, Linkebeek and Beersel - and hilly. But as of Beersel the nice cycling starts, with gentle hills and not so traveled roads - especially Dikkemeerweg towards Alsemberg/Dworp. I once attended the Brabantse Pijl there which was excellent to watch from the church in Alsemberg.

Crossing Alsembergsesteenweg into Dworp finding the way up to the "Hallerbos"  is not too easy. And the roads are not that good. Especially Chemin Bois du Vicaire is hardly suitable for road bikes but it's the only way I found so far uphill to the Hallerbos. However, once up there, the view from Dreve de Colipain is amaying:

Dreve de Colipain, south of the Hallerbos

However, things get a bit worse again through the forest itsself. Again, the road is not the best for road bikes but it is managable. And the forest itsself is worth riding through:

Rollercoaster ride through the Hallerbos

Once out of the Forest it is a relatively long downhill ride to the Brussel-Charleroi canal. And from there straight back home to Brussels. This time with a strong tailwind. Great.

Tour de Wavre

This one is still from last weekend. Finally Peter and myself managed to go for the famous Tour de Wavre again. A nice 85k tour around Wavre area, avoiding the heavily populated La Hulpe, Genval and Rixensart neighbourhoods.


Leaving the city via Bois de la Cambre and Foret des Soignes is ok on weekends, when it is closed to traffic. The cyclingpath along Lorrainedreef and Duboislaan to Groenendaal is ok but not great. From Hoeilaart to Maleizen and further to Rosieres is easy. And quiet. Then just after passing under the E411 the fun part with some hills start.

After the climb, the industrial zone of Wavre is some flat riding along newly built cycling pathes. However, thre built the Belgian way: ridiculosly high curbstones and other road bike nightmares. From Ottenburg we could have taken the shortcut via Florivalstraat but decided to do an additional loop via Nethen. The street to Grez-Doiceau is badly paved but roadworks started on some parts and in the future it might be much improved.

Unable to keep pace with Peter on the chemin de l'Herbe in Bonlez

From Grez-Doiceau we took the way through quiet Bonlez and uphill on the chemin de'l Herbe. It is a quiet little road until then. From there to Wavre we followed the N243, Chausse de Huy which has apart from lots of traffic also one of the typical horrible bike path. But I haven't found any better way to Wavre so far.

On top chemin de'l Herbe

Finally Rue Saint Anne, quite steep, brought us out of Wavre and back, downhill into Rosiere. We took the same way back through Hoeilaart and Foret de Soignes. Nice Satruday morning ride.

Some hills - for a change

After the flat north east it's time to go for some up-and-down cycling around Overijse.The track is available here.


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I decided to try a new way to go to Overijse, along the Knooppunten in Jezus-Eik. I thougth this was a good idea. Instead of cycling along horrible Brusselsesteenweg I followed from knooppunt 44 in Jezus-Eik towards knooppunt 44. There is a small 100m non-paved section but for the rest its fine - unless you go there in winter after some rainfall. So I had to carry the bike for some meters but for the rest this is a good way to not cycle along Brusselsesteenweg.

Groeneweg in Overijse

There is nice little connection road between this part of Overijse and Huldbenberg, the Ballingstraat:

Ballingstraat

Arriving in quiet Huldenberg, I decided to go for an additional hill instead of the main road towards Neerijse: The Smeysberg. This 15% or so hill is really a good training for the Tour of Flanders hellingen, although without cobblestones. Arriving on top, however, there are some nice roads along the plateau, before a relatively bad downhillsection to Neerijse.

Nijvelsebaan, on the Smeysbergplateau

At Neerijse, it's uphill again towards Leefdaal. Back to Brussels via Moorsel and Kraainem.