Majoor van Lierdelaan 50, 9500 Geraardsbergen
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Preview waypointsLooking for the place where the Dender originates, after a steep climb through the slopes of the Flemish Ardennes, we end up in Wallonie Picarde on the other side of the language border. We stop in Ath, the city of giants, and continue cycling downstream towards Lessen and Geraardsbergen. This route is designed for those who enjoy a challenge, but rest assured: the reward awaits!
We start at café Het Bruggenhuis in Overboelare, just south of Geraardsbergen. Starting from the centre Geraardsbergen, cycle from node 81 towards node 83 and return the same way. This cycling route is hilly towards Ath, but mostly flat on the way back.
The origins of this café date back to just after WWII. The destroyed drawbridge was replaced by a fixed bridge, and in the adjacent bridge house, boaters and fishermen would henceforth find each other at the taproom. Today, in addition to cyclists and walkers, the café gets a lot of jazz-lovers. Young talent and veterans of the jazz scene regularly take the stage. In addition, Het Bruggenhuis prides itself on a sophisticated selection of Belgian beers and a menu of freshly prepared and catered dishes.
The Boelare forest is a wooded area south of the Dender, as well as a cobbled slope that is notorious in cycling circles. It is said to be a remnant of what was known as the Kolenwoud ('Coal Forest'), a primeval forest that stretched from Brabant to Picardy. During the construction of the Geraardsbergen-Edingen railroad line, a tunnel was dug under the Boelare hill. Along with the Louise-Marie and Voerstreek tunnels, it is one of the few Flemish railroad tunnels that run through a hill.
Akren forest between Lessen and Bever is part of a larger forest complex on the territory of the province of Hainaut. It is one of the few forests where traditional coppicing forest management is still fairly minutely followed. Trees are pruned just above the ground to make the coppice easier to access. Dozens of herbs from the Akren forest were used medicinally. At the edge of the Akren forest, angelica is still grown today.
The village of Bois-de-Lessines owes its name to the fact that the territory was completely forested for centuries. In earlier times, the forests of Bois-de-Lessines, Ollignies and Deux-Acren formed a single entity extending to Ath. The lime tree near the church was planted shortly after the French Revolution and bears the name Arbre de la Liberté, or Tree of Liberty. Just outside the centre, you will find the Château de l'Estriverie, a water castle that in a previous capacity belonged to Jan Van Oudenaarde – lord of Vloesberg and Lessen – and which today is protected as a monument.
The Dender originates at the confluence of the Eastern Dender and the Western or Little Dender near Ath, a medieval fortified town where the charms of the past have been remarkably well preserved. On the architectural front, the imposing Burbant tower stands out, while the folklore of yesteryear lives on in the annual Ducasse, an exuberant folk festival centred around the giant Goliath and his wife, the horse Bayard and the four other city giants. The region around Ath owes its nickname 'Le pays vert' – the green country – to its rural character, with picturesque villages, centuries-old farms and lonely windmills in the rolling countryside of Wallonie Picarde, the Walloon sister region of the Flemish Ardennes.
The so infamous Flemish cobblestones of the Muur van Geraardsbergen on which cycling fanatics wear out their 'tubes' every year come from Walloon soil. The appearance of Lessen – the birthplace of painter René Magritte – is still largely defined by the numerous stone quarries in and around the town. A great many quarries are now abandoned and overgrown with greenery, but the memory of the industrial past lives on in the small paths, the people's house, the street names, etc. The patron saint of the city, Saint-Roch, is therefore the patron of stonemasons.
The airfield in Overboelare features a 600-metre grass runway and is home to the local gliding club. At the entrance, a Douglas C-54A Skymaster serves as the clubhouse. An annual open house takes place during the first weekend of August with initiation flights and demonstrations of gliders and flying old-timers.