Iris’ Hometown on road
We asked Iris to explain why riding in her hometown is so great. “Between Eindhoven and the Belgian border lies the village of Westerhoven. It’s a typical, small, elongated street village in the Kempen, in the province of Brabant. The Village makes up for an ideal base for cycling trips through the Malpie, Strabrechtse Heide, Leenderbos or to the ‘Lommelse Sahara’, just across the border in Belgium. All these names sound just as intriguing and attractive as they are to actually ride your bike there, I promise.
For a good cup of coffee we can move to the adjacent Bergeijk. This town is actually known for another kind of ‘good taste’. In the 1950’s, the village certainly was the predecessor of Eindhoven as a design city. Known for, among other things, the De Ploeg weaving mill, which still weaves beautiful fabrics here in a factory building designed by Gerrit Rietveld. And also furniture factory ‘t Spectrum, where designer Martin Visser designed a number of Dutch design icons. For the architecture and design enthusiasts, I would love to take you on a little detour to show you the various Rietveld buildings. On my rides with my road bike I always love to take some unpaved paths too. Of course you can ride them with your road bike, and you will love it I am sure, so make sure your tires are also in good condition.
My area offers countless quiet roads to discover in this Beautiful part of Brabant. My rides for you can be a mix of forest, heathland, cropland and a touch of ‘Modernism’. Let’s go.”