Zdeněk’s name is strongly tied to the cyclo-cross and road racing scenes but as he only just retired his career, we were more interested in his tips as a Flanders local and leisure gravel enjoyer. “I think that gravel has a hype now but it’s still a pretty uncharted territory. Its growing popularity lies in the combination of relatively fast riding without the push of chasing Strava records and the possibility of enjoying nature, fresh air, and off-road cycling. The lifestyle is a bit different and more relaxed than on a group road ride, there’s also no need for high-tech Lycra apparel,” he introduced the discipline.
Also, if you’re mostly used to riding a road bike, you’re in for a treat. “Many people will be definitely surprised how much of their own ‘backyard’ they can discover on a gravel bike, their cycling world will expand just 10-20 km from their house. Even I found a brand new route near my home recently and I’ve been riding around Belgium for years.” In Zdeněk’s case, his neighbourhood is the forests of Brabant, Brabantse Wouden in Flemish, aka the “green lung” between the cities of Brussels, Leuven, Wavre, Louvain-La-Neuve and Halle – the backdrop of this year’s UCI World Gravel Championships.
Unlike its neighbour, the Netherlands, Belgium isn’t nearly completely flat. In fact, the majority of the country consists of pleasantly unfurling hilly landscape – the best-kept secret of MTB, cyclo-cross and now also avid gravel riders. With Zdeněk, we set out to visit some of the amazing local trails to show you that gravel is all about “no road, no plan, no problem” and the “dirty but happy” mindset. As a nod to the Gravel Championships, which were due in just a few days at the time of writing this article, all of the places we visited were either directly on the course or in its vicinity.
Let’s sketch out what a three-day gravel programme in Flanders could look like.
Day 1
We met near the adorable mediaeval-castle-turned-restaurant Spaans Dak near the Zoet Water ponds outside Leuven because the surrounding forests are just teeming with trails. By pure chance, Zdeněk ran into his friend Laurens ten Dam in full gravel gear while prepping for a ride – the Champs were already drawing the pros to the region. From Laurens, Zdeněk learnt that Jasper Stuyven’s uncle Ivan runs an established chocolate-making atelier in a nearby town, which we decided to visit on Day 2. That’s pretty much how you stumble across amazing places in Belgium while on the bike – via friends on the trails, by word of mouth, and pleasant chance encounters.
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After some freeriding around Zoet Water, we headed over to the Brouwerij Boon, the Boon Brewery, for a well-deserved break. This cycling-friendly spot in Lembeek near Brussels, passed from the founding father, Frank Boon, on to his two sons, Jos and Karel, offers speciality brews, their signature being the Kriek Boon, a refreshing cherry beer.
Next, we got tipped off about Café Boerenhof, which is about 18 km from Leuven. A typical Belgian pub (yes, “café” apparently often means a pub in Belgium so be aware), this spot lies in Eddie Merckx’s birthplace, attracts droves of cyclists and is geared towards them with their offer. Also, if you’re staying in Leuven, there’s the amazing atmospheric Noir Coffee Bar downtown that goes above and beyond to make cyclists feel welcome.
And if you still don’t have enough and there’s plenty of daylight left, depending on the time of year, you can check out some of the pre-planned trips in the region, such as the Dwars door het Hageland, a 76-km-long gravel route northeast of Leuven, based on the namesake race.
Day 2
As promised on Day 1, we started the day by visiting the Chocolade Atelier Stuyven in Betekom – not a bad Thursday morning. We were treated to a backstage tour of the production process, tasting samples and little delicious nougat- and praline-filled bidons until we could no more, and Zdeněk was even allowed to try his hand at making tiny chocolate jerseys. Definitely stop here for cycling-themed handmade Belgian chocolates.
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Afterwards, since the Champs were only two days away, Zdeněk decided to pop into a frequented spot in downtown Leuven with a pretty self-explanatory name, Café Soigneur, to see if he could bump into any familiar faces. His instinct was on point as he immediately ran into Isabelle Beckers of Team IBCT, Tim Merlier and Bert Van Lerberghe of Soudal Quick-Step, and Jasper Stuyven of Lidl–Trek. “In gravel, you’re almost never alone,” Zdeněk quipped. Since all of them were joining the Garmin Social Ride, they headed together to the starting point at The Shelter – a cosy little barn-turned-café, which later hosted one of the Champs fan zones. A trail passes right by which you can check out.
The social ride, organised as an accompanying event before the Champs, was advertised as an easy-going 30-kilometre loop and a meet-and-greet but for some, the temptation to low-key race the many pros present was obviously just too great. So, we first-hand saw a beautiful occurrence coined by the gravel scene called “mullet racing” – business, aka time-chasing riders, in the front, and party, aka leisurely riding and chatting groups, in the back. If you’re ever in Belgium, be sure to Google search local gravel social rides.
After the ride, all participants were rewarded with the traditional mashed potatoes and sausage, the “best Belgians have besides chocolate and beer” as the announcer merrily said before the launch – another thing you must not miss while in the country.
Day 3
On Day 3, Zdeněk showed us a very special place just a few kilometres from his home. Kalmthoutse Heide, or Kalmthoutse Heath, is a gorgeous nature reserve on both sides of the Belgian-Dutch border. Besides being amazing for hikes, there’s also a network of wonderfully kept bike paths but here’s the kicker – you pay a small amount of money to enter these trails, a bit like a toll sticker, and it goes towards the maintenance crew. The best thing is that the fee is voluntary and no one will jump you in the forest and check if you paid but doing it is a matter of local consciousness and pride.
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For the must-have coffee break of the day, we visited the Poledor Bicycle Café and workshop in the heart of Moorsel-Tervuren 18 km west of Leuven. This “Velocafé” serves authentic, regional and cycling-related drinks and snacks and in the workshop, you will find a quirky selection of racing, mountain, urban and electric bikes.
For the typical (Friday) evening programme in Belgium, just look for the omnipresent “frituur” signs marking the classic beloved Belgian fast-food spots. You can always count on mountains of fries and pretty much anything you can plunge into a deep fryer with a hearty helping of mayo on the side. Sidenote: don’t try to play a hero and just order the “small” fries, or fritjes in Dutch. Trust us, Belgians are wholly unfamiliar with the concept of humanly-sized portions.
To get some late-night release from a frituur-induced food coma, we popped into the unique cycling-themed De Coureur (“the rider”) microbrewery. The co-owners (and spouses) Bart and Ine gave us a little tour and explained the Dutch names of the beers, which all relate to cycling. Among our favourites was Kuitenbijter, literally translated as a “calf biter”, meaning a hill that makes your legs cramp, and Rustinneke, a tyre patch for a puncture. If you’re not sure what to order, you can always get the Peloton tasting set. Also, the last call is rang by a bike bell. Yes, we fell in love on the spot.
And if you still crave more while in Flanders, you can always tackle the shortened and slightly altered version of the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships route – 136 km with 1260 altitude metres alternating gravel and forest paths, cobbles and roads should satisfy even the keenest of cyclo-tourists.
For all the videos and posts from Zdeněk’s We Love Cycling Belgian Instagram takeover, head over here!
