니노베 최고의 사이클링 경로

A little further on you can follow the F209 (cycle highway) along the same railway line.

The Dikken van Pamel is a beacon in Pamel along the Dender river, a mammoth of a landmark.

It's said that a man once passed through Pamel who was so tall and heavy that he defied the boundaries of the ordinary. Victor De Klerck, almost two meters tall and weighing, according to some, up to three hundred kilos, early on became a figure whispered about rather than spoken. On hot summer days, he would slide into the Dender River, and anyone who saw him swore he floated as if the river itself carried him. Passing boatmen carried the story along, and with every bend in the towpath, it became a little more fantastical. On Sundays, he appeared in church, where he needed three chairs—a figure that, generations later, still whispers through the village. And yet, despite his mythical stature, he stubbornly refused every circus director who wanted to exhibit him. As if he knew that some riddles are not meant for the public. Today, his statue stands by the Dender, not as certainty but as a question mark. A quiet reminder that sometimes, only one river flows between fact and fiction.

The official climb begins on a concrete and rather flat surface. Suddenly, the forest appears, interspersed with cobblestones; that's where the real climb begins.

Once an icon in the Tour of Flanders, today an icon in the Omloop het Nieuwsblad.

Iconic to ride here.

There are transverse (slow-down) ridges across the road. Annoying.

For cyclists, it's a close call. The towpath is narrower than other towpaths. And especially during the week, you'll be weaving between hikers, runners, recreational cyclists, and athletic cyclists.