non-fixie 

Sunday August 26 there will be another edition of one of the nicest C&V events I've come across so far: La Savoureuse.

The ride starts from Havelange, a town in the Belgian Condroz region, which is named after the Condrusi, a Germanic tribe encountered there by Julius Ceasar, and documented in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico. Together with the Segni, they lived between the Treveri and the famous Eburones .

The Eburones, led by Ambiorix, defeated Ceasar's army in 54 BC:




Anyway, you can choose between rides of 30, 60 or 90 kilometers and the idea is that you ride from stop to stop - there's one every 10k - and they provide you with a taste of the local specialties at each one. The price of admission is a quite decent €25.

Following earlier mentions of the event by @CMAW and @Munny, mrs non-fixie and I went to Ciney last year and came away pleasantly surprised. Nice people (all 226 of them), beautiful scenery and great food and drinks. The 2017 report is here.

I can't think of a much better way to spend a Sunday in late August.

letenn 

That looks like the most awesome ride ever!

Munny

Hi,

As every year ... I'll be there.
Don't know yet with what.
Yesterday I decided against my fifties Galmozzi.
The weather forecast and the roads might decide against my lopro DaVinci (anyway for the 100K, with a 650C X 18 mm front tubular ...)
So the selection might be narrowed to
- my ultralight Alan , Ofmega CX , Assos rims (again the tubular dimensions...)
- my Merckx Fiat team bike
- One of my PY10 (That would be a disgrace. Then why not a cyclo cross ?)

Not sure you will continue to see me on this media

non-fixie 

Why might that be? You'll be sorely missed!

Anyway, looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

paulkal

That is a a nice area of Belgium, I have been several times.
Unfortunately, this weekend I don't have time I already planned things with my wife.
But I can't wait to see the pictures of the ride and the food.

non-fixie 

Sorry you can't make it. Enjoy your weekend! Wilco wrt pics of ride & food.

MiloFrance

I'd not seen this one. Looks lovely, but a 10-12hr drive is a lot! Will think about it for next year, Thanks non-fixie!

non-fixie 

Shall look forward to seeing you then!

Wildwood 

Bump

non-fixie 

As promised, pics of bikes and food.

To start with the latter - which is always a good thing, IMO - here's what I found for dinner when we arrived in Marche-en-Famenne on Saturday, where we'd booked a room, so as not not have to get up too early on Sunday. A nice Américain Haché (Chopped American )



This year the ride started in Havelange, and when we arrived we were greeted by the band:



There were various stands, with bikes, bike parts and accessories. Don't know if these were for display only or for sale, but it was a nice collection of potential Clunker Challenge contenders:



There was also a stand with Deroy bikes, a brand I'd not yet heard of, but certainly worth some further investigation:



Riders had brought all sorts of vintage bikes for the ride. From nicely preserved touring and city bikes ....




... to very serious-looking racing machines. Fellow member @Munny had brought this Da Vinci which features a truly awesome Carlo Dossena paint job, but just looking at it made my back hurt:



After getting some first impressions we got our stamp cards, 'race' numbers and then breakfast. We'd already had breakfast at the hotel, so I limited myself to a small croissant and pain au chocolat:

non-fixie 

At 10:30 we assembled for the start and left for a ride through the beautiful Condroz.





Due to lack of attention on our side we missed the first food stop , so it was only after 20k that we got our first taste of the local cuisine ....



... a nice quiche Lorraine and a small drink that I think was beer. The 'consommer avec modération' was apparently taken quite seriously ...



On we went, over the hills and through the dales.



Don't be fooled by this picture. This year's route through the Ardennes was pretty tough. The hills were short and steep, and they just kept coming, one after another. Maybe we had an off day, but after 30k we were pretty much done in, and decided to take a shortcut to the finish line. We ended up logging 45 out of the planned 60k.

We did manage to find another food stop, though. This time we were served a delicious pasta salad with chicken, sausage and a remoulade sauce. And this time with a decent blonde:



At this stop I spotted the cutest participant, bike-wise. A tiny Plum Vainqueur. Awww:



There was also evidence that the rules weren't enforced all that strictly:

non-fixie 

Back in Havelange we were welcomed back with a sausage roll and a beer, which were so good, and so welcome, that they were gone before I remembered to take a picture.

To compensate, I did take more pictures of bikes. Including one of what may have been the most extravagantly colored bike of the day, this BRH. A little OTT maybe, but when you've even got your tires wearing the Belgian national colors, you deserve your thirty seconds of fame here on BF:



Another one that caught my eye was this Cycles Maurice tandem. Never mind the cheap modern saddles and grips, that bike is a beauty:



And then there was this Peugeot ...



... whose owner had found an ingenious way to mend a broken rear fender:



Sympathetic, this Moto, and fairly typical for this event: nothing fancy, just old bikes that get ridden.



We finished the day with a little dancing:



And a lottery, at which we didn't win the nice blue Deroy frame set :




After which the bikes went back into the car:



The end.

3speedslow

northbend 

Thank you N-F for posting this, it sure looks like a wonderful time.

Munny

Hi,
An Américain is a typical easy belgian dish.
A raw steak choped mixed with a choped shallot, a yolk, 2 spoon of mostard , 1 of mayonaise and some drops of worcester sauce.
To eat raw

I might be responsible of your lost first dish.
I left 20 min late, waiting for a friend who couldn't wake up timely and chasing the peloton, we cross your route, trying a shortcut to gain time
You should have turned right instead of following us.

We ended up heading, temporarily, until my 18 mm front tubular gave up. Dropped back and again a long stop due to the accident. Bad feeling finding a friend laying in blood on the middle of the road. Consider wearing an helmet but before all, bike for keeping your health ! (benefits are more important than potential injuries)

P.S. My bike was rather comfortable, even on the 90+ Km ride. Some road segments were not meant for it

Munny

Armand Deroy was likely the best frame maker in the city of Liege
He sold his business about 2 years ago, so the things seen have not much to do.
I can only presume that the current people do whatever the customer want (one of these has his rear hub axle half outside the dropouts... another has about 1 mm of tyre clearance due to a misspositioned bridge..)

paulkal

Thanks for the pictures. Looks like you had a fun day.

Wildwood 

non-fixie 

​​​​​​
I'm glad the bike worked well for you. I saw the picture of you riding it on the FB page, and it looked quite convincing!

And yes, you may indeed have distracted us when passing. No worries, though, as we got more than enough food that day.
But thanks for offering to take the blame.