coolblock

For the past few years I have been able to spend a bit of time in Maastricht Holland during late April and early May. During this time I try and set aside a few days for bike riding in the "Dutch Alps" as well as the unending hills of the Ardennes forest in Eastern Belgium. This year I had three very nice rides which I will post pictures from.


I arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday morning and hopped the train for Maastricht. I have friends in Maastricht that allow me the use of their guesthouse which really helps cut my expenses. Maastricht has at least two very nice bike shops but I always use the one located at the south end of the train station. Anyway rented myself a 27 speed hybrid Gazelle bike. These bikes are solid as a tank and a good bit heavier than what I ride in the states but they are very reliable. 8.50 euro per day with 100 euro deposit.

My plan was to hop the train on Friday morning and hop off at Gouvy Belgium and pick up the route of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race which was scheduled for two days later on Sunday.Arrived at Gouvy about 10:20 and set out in the direction of Vielsahm

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Here is a picture of the "tank"

I picked up road N68 just north of Bovigney and continued towards Vielsahm





Finally passing thru Vielsahm I continued north until taking a right in Grand Halleux and at that point I wasrealizing the Gazelle Tank was going to be an issue quickly because I knew Wanne and Stockue were just up the road. The scenery along these roads is really pretty and some of the descents made me appreciate the pro bikers and their fearless approach. As I road thru the small village of Wanne I was greeted by this sign



At this point I had only traveled 12 or 15 miles but my legs were saying something more like 50 or 60. I chugged along as best I could until I finally relented and di something I have not doen in years...push my bike but I reasoned I was riding a tank and suffering from jet lag as well. After reaching the top of Wanne the next few kilometers were pretty easy and I cruised into Stavelot Belgium and the famous Cote de Stockue with Eddy Merckx statue at the summit. This climb is less than 2 k more like 1.5 k. It starts out at about 14% grade on a fairly nice road. Soon the road turns into not much more than a trail and the grade increases to around 18% which is way out of my league but just as you think the worst is over the grade increases to 21%. As I was pushing my bike up the 21% grade a group of cyclists came thru . All of them were in some level of distress so it made me feel better about having to push my bike.







More in a bit

Johnny_Monkey

We just came back from there. Didn't do any riding but the Ardennes looks like a pretty good place for it.

sakonnetclip

When I was in Luxembourg for a week some years ago I rented a car and drove all over the Ardennes for the day. It's really a very beautiful place, I would have loved to spend the week riding there.

The idea of fighting a war there in the winter is really something to think about.

-spence

Pheeny

I live 12 miles from Maastricht (over the border into Belgium) so most of my cycling is done in and around the areas mentioned.

adeline-cyclist

Belgium is a really beautiful place
And the ardennes the best ...
But a lot of climb ...
I live in the south of Belgium and i HATE when it's climbing