We visited this town in East Flanders at the end of March as we heard it was a popular destination for cycling and we wanted to scout it out. It is built around the Oudenberg, one of Flanders' few hills. There is a cobblestone street that runs downhill from the top of the Oudenberg to the market square. Cycling courses often come through Geraardsbergen and I've heard that many cyclists have "bit it" on this downhill. Thus, this street is known to cyclists as "The Wall".
The town is also known for three more things: A Manneken Pis statue like the one in Brussels, but much older (15th century); a curd pastry called a mattetaart, which we found to be dry and boring; and a festival on Ash Wednesday in which a local dignitary drains a goblet of wine containing a live fish and the audience pelt each other with thousands of mattetaarts. Now, that would be worth seeing! I'm guessing that the tradition started as way to get rid of the yucky pastries that are so hard and dry they are better for pelting people with than for eating.
An example of Belgian quirkiness---a Manneken Pis statue over a sink in a public restroom!
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