A weekend in the Ardennes (modem melter)
04-23-07, 06:36 AM
#1
A weekend in the Ardennes (modem melter)
With Fleche Wallone and Liege-Bastogne-Liege soon upon us, I thought I'd share some snaps, taken over the weekend.
The group that I ride with has been going on an annual pilgrimage to the Ardennes for the past few years. I started riding with them last year, and was out of town for that trip, but made sure to be around this year.
Lucky me: the house we stayed in was a converted barn, with plenty of space; one of the group has been part of a "cook club" for 20 years, so the food was outstanding; another one of the guys is a Sommelier, so the wine was perfect; and last but not least - the weather was amazing.
On Friday, after a 4+ hour drive from Amsterdam (good ol' gridlock, I felt like I was back home on the I-95) a few of us went on a spin, to loosen then legs. Unfortunately one of the guys had his chain break on the first hill.
Fortunately, one of the guys was grocery shopping nearby and came to pick him up. Even better, it was an easy enough fix, so everything was on schedule for Saturday.
Around the Ardennes there's a variety of driving/cycling routes marked by signs. They vary in length and difficulty, and occasionally the signs are tough to follow, but it's still a great resource.
The plan for the day was to ride the "Route Buissoniere", which is +/-127km with 1,790 M of climbing. We had to ride a bit to find the route, so it was a tad longer.
Some pics from the ride:
I spotted two Cofidis riders when we rode through this town.
Lunch
a faded sign marking the route for Fleche Wallone
The group that I ride with has been going on an annual pilgrimage to the Ardennes for the past few years. I started riding with them last year, and was out of town for that trip, but made sure to be around this year.
Lucky me: the house we stayed in was a converted barn, with plenty of space; one of the group has been part of a "cook club" for 20 years, so the food was outstanding; another one of the guys is a Sommelier, so the wine was perfect; and last but not least - the weather was amazing.
On Friday, after a 4+ hour drive from Amsterdam (good ol' gridlock, I felt like I was back home on the I-95) a few of us went on a spin, to loosen then legs. Unfortunately one of the guys had his chain break on the first hill.
Fortunately, one of the guys was grocery shopping nearby and came to pick him up. Even better, it was an easy enough fix, so everything was on schedule for Saturday.
Around the Ardennes there's a variety of driving/cycling routes marked by signs. They vary in length and difficulty, and occasionally the signs are tough to follow, but it's still a great resource.
The plan for the day was to ride the "Route Buissoniere", which is +/-127km with 1,790 M of climbing. We had to ride a bit to find the route, so it was a tad longer.
Some pics from the ride:
I spotted two Cofidis riders when we rode through this town.
Lunch
a faded sign marking the route for Fleche Wallone
Last edited by botto; 04-23-07 at 06:55 AM.
04-23-07, 06:36 AM
#2
After Saturdays epic ride (the first real hills most of us have climbed in 2007) we opted on doing part of another route, then taking a shortcut. The highlight of the day was ascending the Col de Wanne, then riding down one scary MoFo 9km descent into Stavelot.
The Peloton departs
The route de jour
Top of the Wanne.
Stavelot. L-B-L rides over this road.
The cobbles (which are nothing compared to the ones you get in Flanders).
One of the many memorials for the US troops that fought in the Battle of the Bulge. This one was for the 82nd Airborne troops that held their ground here.
And that's about all I've got photo-wise. We headed back after 3.5 hours on the road, had some lunch watched the last 2 hours of the Amstel Gold, and hit the road back to Amsterdam.
The funny thing is that we timed our trip back perfectly, I saw the Saunier Duval and Discovery team buses heading in the opposite direction, as well as team cars from AG2R, Cofidis, and Predictor. The one team that wasn't heading towards Liege was Rabobank. We passed them heading west towards Amsterdam.
The Peloton departs
The route de jour
Top of the Wanne.
Stavelot. L-B-L rides over this road.
The cobbles (which are nothing compared to the ones you get in Flanders).
One of the many memorials for the US troops that fought in the Battle of the Bulge. This one was for the 82nd Airborne troops that held their ground here.
And that's about all I've got photo-wise. We headed back after 3.5 hours on the road, had some lunch watched the last 2 hours of the Amstel Gold, and hit the road back to Amsterdam.
The funny thing is that we timed our trip back perfectly, I saw the Saunier Duval and Discovery team buses heading in the opposite direction, as well as team cars from AG2R, Cofidis, and Predictor. The one team that wasn't heading towards Liege was Rabobank. We passed them heading west towards Amsterdam.
04-23-07, 06:40 AM
#4
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Nice Pictures Botto!
That Rabobank bus is cool, as are those roads. Awesome scenery.
That Rabobank bus is cool, as are those roads. Awesome scenery.
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04-23-07, 06:42 AM
#5
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Great rides, and great pics. Not like I needed more excuses to go riding in Europe again, but now I have some.
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04-23-07, 06:46 AM
#7
wow, thank you for sharing those pics, it's amazingly beautiflu! I would LOVE to travel there someday! your friend are a good looking bunch too!
04-23-07, 06:47 AM
#9
Originally Posted by ViperZ
Nice Pictures Botto!
That Rabobank bus is cool, as are those roads. Awesome scenery.
That Rabobank bus is cool, as are those roads. Awesome scenery.
I got a snakebite flat descending at 50+km, fortunately it was the rear wheel, and on a straight section.
04-23-07, 06:49 AM
#10
Peeled out too late
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A 130 km ride on a sunny day in the Ardennes sounds great, but don't you miss going around and around and around on a 3.1 mile loop in Brooklyn at 6:30 on a Sunday morning?
04-23-07, 06:51 AM
#11
Originally Posted by GuitarWizard
That's pretty nifty....I need to get over to Europe someday to ride 
04-23-07, 06:51 AM
#12
Up on the Down Side
Originally Posted by botto
the ardennes are kind of similar to upstate CT, although closer to NH and VT (except the beer/food is better, and they speak french).
04-23-07, 06:52 AM
#13
Originally Posted by Davey
A 130 km ride on a sunny day in the Ardennes sounds great, but don't you miss going around and around and around on a 3.1 mile loop in Brooklyn at 6:30 on a Sunday morning?
if only there was a way to do that in the afternoon, instead of 5:00 AM
04-23-07, 06:57 AM
#15
Originally Posted by blonduathlongrl
wow, thank you for sharing those pics, it's amazingly beautiflu! I would LOVE to travel there someday! your friend are a good looking bunch too!
04-23-07, 07:08 AM
#19
Originally Posted by botto
the ardennes are kind of similar to upstate CT, although closer to NH and VT (except the beer/food is better, and they speak french).
04-23-07, 07:11 AM
#20
BTW - if anyone wants some info on the various routes, check out this site:
https://www.klimroutes.nl/
click "bordjesroutes".
it's only in dutch, so altavista babelfish might help, but you'll still be able to figure out the length/elevation.
https://www.klimroutes.nl/
click "bordjesroutes".
it's only in dutch, so altavista babelfish might help, but you'll still be able to figure out the length/elevation.
04-23-07, 07:14 AM
#21
Originally Posted by blonduathlongrl
I can speak french to you too if you come up to NH and I can also garantie you the spaghetti will look a heck better then what you had!
it was surprisingly good, believe it or not.
i just made sure to add a lot of tobasco, and warned my buddies to not try and stay too close to my wheel afterwards.
04-23-07, 07:30 AM
#22
Videre non videri
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Originally Posted by botto
i just made sure to add a lot of tobasco, and warned my buddies to not try and stay too close to my wheel afterwards.
04-23-07, 08:45 AM
#24
Originally Posted by simplyred
Nice pics.
What wheelset did you roll for a ride like this? The SL's?
What did the cobbles feel like?
What wheelset did you roll for a ride like this? The SL's?
What did the cobbles feel like?
the cobble bits amounted to the grand sum of 1 km of the 270 km i rode over the weekend.
if i was planning on riding over cobbles (ala the ronde van vlaanderen) i would have brought my old c'dale with mavic OP wheels.
04-23-07, 10:53 AM
#25
Guinea Hood
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at first i thought the title of this thread was a reference to germany's conquest of france in 1940....
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