Day 10 - Lieschbach - Etang de Hanau (F) to Trois-Ponts (B)

Day 10 - Lieschbach - Etang de Hanau (F) to Trois-Ponts (Ardennes) - (B)


Sunday 23/06/2023

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Long Ride back into the Ardennes


Didn't sleep well as I managed to puncture my revolutionary new compact sleeping mat. I knew it wouldn't last...... That said it was a mild night and the partying around the lake didn't go on much beyond midnight (although Leon and I chatted until 1am)... There were lots of fireflies lighting up the area where we were sat, not something I have seen for over 30 years.

After a relaxed start we hit the road again and crossed back into Germany and got to Schmelz. Nice countryside and riding from the outset, but we did have to do a stint on an express road.  We stopped in Trier to see the Roman built gateway to Germania - impressive and a nice stop.

From there we quickly headed for Berdorf and crossed into Luxembourg in no time where we tanked-up and then found a small roadside restaurant to take a break and have some lunch and a coffee. The roads after that flipped constantly from Luxembourg to Germany and vice versa taking us through Vianden (stunning medieval town), Kautenbach, Kilerf and Trois-Ponts in Belgium.

The road was super varied, open sweeping bends, hairpins, forests, countryside - what a great route and the weather was good to boot. Konrad thought that these could have been the best riding roads of the trip.

We got to our planned campsite but we couldn't find anyone in reception and nobody answered the phone so we backtracked to a proper redneck campsite with pretty rough facilities out in the sticks. The place was empty and ina dilapidated condition, even getting up the drive was a challenge!

The campsite owners were all sitting around drinking beer and smoking - it all looks like something out of Amytiville horror. It was cheap though. No food around so we set-up camp and quickly rode back to the nearest little town to grab a meal rather than to faff about cooking on our last night. I had a burger made of pork, beef and horse meat apparently. It was good. After that back to the campsite for our final beers of the trip before the final slog back home tomorrow.

It's been a long and tiring trip. Glad we did the backroads there and back, but when combined with making camp every night it was a bit too much in too little time I think. It has been amazing though, we have seen and done so much.

Leon's chain is a little noisy now (we will adjust it tomorrow) and my rear tyre is shot, but hoping that the final run home will be trouble free.




Mileage: 1942
Beers / Drinks: 59 beers + 8 bottles/boxes of white/red + Konrad's mountain tally
Fines: 0 (me and Konrad may have fines in post)
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 5/10
Mechanical issues: 2 - puncture and my heated grips have broken (long start, flat battery and overheating excluded)
Accidents: 0
Wetness: 0/10 (no rain)
Coldness: 2/10 (nice but we were a bit damp in the morning from the days before)
Theft count: 0
Country Count: 7






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