On the Grote Markt of Kortrijk a tower stands alone in the middle of the square, as if the building it belonged to had wandered off. In a sense it did. The Belfort, or Halletoren, was once part of the cloth hall, the trading heart of a medieval textile town, and when the hall disappeared the tower stayed. It is one of the belfries of Belgium and France on the UNESCO list, and it has a pair of local celebrities at the top: two gilded figures, Manten and Kalle, who strike the hours on the bell. Kortrijk people are fond of them, and you will see their likenesses on all sorts of souvenirs.
The town's great moment came in 1302, when Flemish town militias, mostly craftsmen on foot, faced the heavy cavalry of the French king on the fields near the Groeninge stream and beat them soundly. Hundreds of golden spurs were collected from the fallen knights and hung in the Church of Our Lady as trophies, and the Battle of the Golden Spurs remains a founding story of Flemish identity. There is a museum about it near the park where the fighting took place.
Kortrijk is a busy small city on the river Leie, with the medieval Broel towers guarding an old bridge, a béguinage tucked behind the church, and plenty of modern design and shopping around the centre. Riding through it means traffic lights, cobbles, cyclists and one-way streets, so park near the market and explore on foot.
For riding, head east or south. The Flemish Ardennes around Oudenaarde, half an hour away, are low hills famous among cyclists for the cobbled climbs of the Tour of Flanders, and the lanes between them make an entertaining, if bumpy, playground on a motorbike. Westwards, the hills of Heuvelland near the French border, including the Kemmelberg, offer short climbs and wide views over the old battlefields of the First World War. The weather is changeable all year, and wet cobbles are treacherous, so take care on any stretch of stone.
With over seventy thousand people, Kortrijk has fuel, workshops and good food everywhere. Sit on a terrace on the Grote Markt with a Flemish beer and a portion of frites, and wait for Manten and Kalle to do their job on the hour.