I am still new to the sport, I have ridden bikes most of my life but actively searching and riding trails for enjoyment has only come about since moving to Europe, Luxembourg to be exact. While living here we have been riding a lot, 3 – 4 times a week over summer. It’s just so easy and accessible, in the weekend we load the bikes onto the car and travel to the corners of the country and attack the more technically demanding tracks. The problem is that mountain biking is quite an addictive sport, once you have overcome one hurdle (without to much pain) you immediately look for another, this usually involves travelling a little further and looking for a bigger vertical drop – the Black Forest in Germany is my next destination, I have been told its incredible.Within Luxembourg there is a huge amount of terrain to cover on your bike; this is because roughly 2/3 of the country still covered in forest, the Ardennes region which crosses the borders and continues into Belgium is a personal favourite of mine for riding. It is actually a volcanic region covered in forested hills and fast-flowing rivers. What is excellent about this country is that you have enjoy a hard technical trail or follow one of the large river valleys like the Moselle, Sure or Rhine which are relatively flat and actually travel from village to village this way. It’s an incredible way to enjoy the scenery of Luxembourg and a nice way to spend a weekend over summer. There are even travel companies that have packages designed to suit your every need from touring the country to adventure trips.
For serious mountain biking you cant go past the Ardennes region, I have purchased a binder called ‘Mountain Bike Tour Luxembourg Ardennes’ it outlines a large number of different tracks all of which are fantastically signposted and with the map provided its hard to get lost. The Binder comes in English and can be bought in tourist offices or book stores. A worthwhile investment – they provide a lot of details about the track and the degree of difficulty.
I have added a few pictures of a trip we did at the start of the year, it was still cold and actually snowed later in the afternoon, luckily we where packed up and already heading home. It was Just Nicci and myself and we where having a chilled out Sunday afternoon so we took a nice easy route and discovered a couple of tiny villages while travelling through in the Ardennes and Luxembourg countryside.
These are a few links that can help you to identify some attractive terrain and alternately some nice walking tracks.
(The Mullerthal – Known as ‘Little Switzerland’ or the Lower Sure region offers great cycle tracks which are all described and mapped in the brochure “Mullerthal Biking”.)
http://www.pch.public.lu/reseau_routier/pistes_cyclables/index.html
Alternately the following site has a huge amount of information
http://www.ont.lu/
This link will take you to part of the Luxembourg national website; it contains data about cycling tracks – all of which are maintained by the government of Luxembourg and in fantastic condition. There is over 900km of tracks and 23 different paths. The rides vary in ability. The website translates into French, English and German. It also provides information about topography and traffic, both important if planning a cycle touring holiday. This video clip is of a mountian bike race on the steps of the Sacre Cour - A very famous tourist attraction in Paris. It just shows that there is a little bit of everything in Europe, no matter what your taste you will find something you enjoy here!
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