Canteclaer cycling route

A stone's throw from the centre of Stekene, near the old railroad embankment, beckons the Steengelaag, a varied nature reserve with a history of clay mining. Where clay was once extracted from the soil for the neighbouring brickyards through diligent labour, today you will find vast pools teeming with waterfowl. Dismount for a short walk on the hiking trail that, following the level differences, leads you along the different parts of the Steengelag.  Be sure to check the information boards along the way too: they will give you some details about the place you are visiting. Every so often, you can catch your breath on the rest benches, which are strategically scattered about.

Further ahead, along the canal, is where you'll find the Fondatie van Boudelo, an important natural area that belonged to the stately Abbey of Boudelo 800 years ago. This is where the monk William of Boudelo – aka William who made Madoc – is said to have written the story of Reynaert the Fox. Nothing remains of the abbey, but the nature that took its place – a succession of ornate pools, vast hay meadows and oxygen-rich forests – is possibly even more monumental.

If one village in the Waasland region deserves the title of postcard-perfect, it might be Daknam. 1,000 inhabitants and the size of a postage stamp, but very briefly the centre of the Waasland every year on Whit Monday during its annual crafts market, better known locally as the Trappist Festival. Settle down on one of the terraces in the pleasant village square with its lime trees, the Romanesque church with its whitewashed cemetery wall and the Reynaert bench with a verse from the animal epic.

Walking down Catharinastraatje, you will bump into some iron replicas of all the protagonists of the Reynaert story. Walked all the way down that alley? Then you can even serve up a picnic on King Nobel's throne.

This cosy little café in the village square of Daknam not only pays tribute to the Reynaert epic with its name; the house beer is also called 't Vosken ('The Little Fox') – highly recommended, by the way! 

After a short ride along the Moervaart Canal, cross the water via the Coudenborm Bridge towards Klein-Sinaai and to get back to the starting point. If you continue cycling along Heirweg and choose Koebrugstraat on the right, you will come to yet another special place on this route: the Cave of the Cyclists, a true place of pilgrimage for cyclists from all over Flanders. Over the years, the church next to the cave has collected more than 100 jerseys from phenomenal cyclists such as Museeuw, Merckx, Cancellara, Gilbert and Albert. The list goes on and on and can be admired in a small museum on the site. On the first Sunday in March, some 700 cyclists have their bikes dedicated here each year. A real happening in otherwise quiet Klein-Sinaai!