Why this ride
A 282 km round trip from Hoogstraten - roughly 3 h 52 in the saddle. The stops in between: Flemish Béguinages, Sint-Leonarduskerk and back through Flemish Béguinages. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Wortel and Sint-Leonarduskerk
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 282 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 52
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Wortel
Wortel is a village in the Belgian Kempen, near the Dutch border, and it is the Belgian member of a World Heritage group whose other two parts, Frederiksoord and Veenhuizen, lie in the Netherlands. The story begins in 1818, when a Dutch army officer, Johannes van den Bosch, founded the Society of Benevolence, an organisation with the grand idea of rescuing the urban poor by sending them to work on farms in the countryside. The first free colonies were founded in the Netherlands, at Frederiksoord, and in 1822 the society bought land at Wortel, then part of the same kingdom, and opened a colony there. When Belgium split away in 1830 the colony remained in Belgian territory.
Read the complete Wortel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wortel is where the day begins. Next is Flemish Béguinages.
2. Flemish Béguinages
In the thirteenth century, a remarkable movement spread across the Low Countries. Women, often unmarried or widowed, chose to live together in communities devoted to prayer and work, without taking the permanent vows of nuns, keeping their property and the freedom to leave. They were called béguines, and their walled settlements, the béguinages, became towns within towns. The Groot Begijnhof of Mechelen, the great béguinage, is one of thirteen in Flanders listed by UNESCO, and at its height it housed well over a thousand women, making it one of the largest communities of its kind.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Flemish Béguinages comes up about 66 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sint-Leonarduskerk.
3. Sint-Leonarduskerk
The church of Saint Leonard rises over the little town of Zoutleeuw, in the fruit-growing country east of Leuven, and it is far grander than the size of the place suggests. In the Middle Ages the town, known in French as Léau, was a prosperous trading centre on a route between Brabant and Liège, and its burghers put their money into stone. Work on the church began in the thirteenth century and went on for generations, giving a late Gothic body with a tall tower, rich sculpture and a lofty, light interior with white walls and tall windows.
Read the complete Sint-Leonarduskerk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 143 km into the recorded legs you reach Sint-Leonarduskerk. Next is back through Flemish Béguinages.
4. back through Flemish Béguinages
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Flemish Béguinages, late in the day. Next is Wortel.
5. Wortel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wortel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Wortel. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Wortel to Flemish Béguinages
Wortel → Flemish Béguinages is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Flemish Béguinages to Sint-Leonarduskerk
Flemish Béguinages → Sint-Leonarduskerk is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sint-Leonarduskerk to back through Flemish Béguinages
Sint-Leonarduskerk → back through Flemish Béguinages is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Flemish Béguinages to Wortel
back through Flemish Béguinages → Wortel is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.