The starting point of all the trails in Braine l'Alleud is at the Grand Place Baudouin I. Stand with the red-brick town-hall in front of you, and you have the first signpost-pole to the left of you.

Reaching the Grand Place can be tricky with all those one-way streets. Once there, it has plenty of parking space. Beware, though, on Sunday mornings they tend to have their weekly market ...

These trails are at their best when it has been really dry and warm for at least three days, else you will experience a mud bath. Even then the muddiest three or four sections are still muddy, I wonder if they ever dry up! But once you have the perfect conditions, these trails are beautiful to ride! Lots of loose stones, roots and sand. Fast descents interspersed with longlong or steepy, short hills. Some really nice singletrack sections.

You have to start out on the 10k blue trail to reach the green and yellow loops. Each one of these will take you on 25k and 35k respectively. If you do the combination of blue, green, yellow (and then the blue) signs you get 55k in total. Green trail wanders in NW direction, goes up to Sept Fontaines (our starting point when riding in Hallerbos ... hm, this sparks some new ideas ...), and yellow trail goes S/SW direction.

L'office du tourisme de Braine l'Alleud has an overview map with step-for-step ride instructions for sale. They are located at Place Cardinal Mercier, 18 (Tel 02-387 31 14). You will need this at the very least! We cannot say how many signs that might be missing completely, but the natural disguisment of grass and stuff covering them up is highly prevalent.