The top three trails through Maas Valley River Park
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The top three trails through Maas Valley River Park
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“Gravel riding is about setting off on limitless adventures. It takes you right into nature, to places you wouldn’t otherwise discover. For me, gravel biking mainly means finding peace and clearing my head, but just as well you can spend a whole day having fun with friends. Gravel riding in nature feels completely different from road cycling. You don’t encounter traffic or cars, but you share the paths with other nature lovers. There’s much more understanding and respect—for each other and for nature.”
“Gravel sits somewhere between road cycling and mountain biking. A gravel bike looks a lot like a road bike, but with its wider, rougher-profile tires, you can tackle pretty much any unpaved path. On the other hand, it doesn’t have tires as wide as a mountain bike and usually no suspension either. So you can’t go too wild with it, yet the possibilities are almost endless compared to a road bike.
I also find gravel riding more accessible than road cycling or mountain biking. The focus isn’t as much on athletic performance as in road cycling, and you don’t need the same technical skills as in mountain biking to enjoy it.”
“From the summer of 2019, I regularly went cycling on my father’s old road bike. I always set off at random, and often ended up near the mine slag heaps of Eisden. As a child, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ in Eisden-Tuinwijk, and my grandfather and I often walked or cycled around the slag heaps. He had worked as a conductor in the mine, so he always liked to return there. And so did I, although my father’s road bike wasn’t at all suited for unpaved forest trails.
It took until 2022 before I bought a gravel bike—and a whole new world opened up for me. Suddenly I could ride anywhere I wanted. No gravel road or forest path was impassable anymore, and I could get from A to B in countless ways. I still regularly discover beautiful new paths where I think: how is it possible I’ve never been here before?”
“Absolutely. On one side, you have the Hoge Kempen National Park, and on the other, the Rivierpark Maasvallei. Wherever you start in Maasmechelen, you’ll be in nature within just a few minutes. I live in Mechelen-aan-de-Maas, so my rides always begin along the Maas. The Rivierpark Maasvallei is really underestimated. There are centuries-old gravel roads there that take you past Mazenhoven, through the castle estate of Vilain XIIII in Leut, and on to Lanklaar. From there, you can cross the canal and connect to the Hoge Kempen National Park. Before you know it, you’re riding among the Eisden mine slag heaps.
You can then leave those behind by crossing the old coal railway, and via the Mechels Bos you arrive at ‘Cycling through the Heath.’ From there, you dive back into the forest towards the Ziepbeek valley, and later cross the Rijksweg at Neerharen to return via the fields around Herbricht to the Maas villages of Maasmechelen. And so on. With a gravel bike, you can endlessly enjoy yourself in and around the nature of the municipality.
That’s why it’s not surprising—and above all very special—that Heathland Gravel is starting in Maasmechelen. It’s the only event in the world outside the United States where you can qualify for Unbound Gravel, the biggest gravel race in the world, held annually in Kansas. As residents of Maasmechelen, we can be extremely proud. It proves once again that this is a true gravel paradise.”