Every year my friends and I plan a weekend to go cycling. We usually travel abroad because we like to do some climbs which we don't have in The Netherlands.
A couple of months ago we already created some nice routes.

Day 1 (60.64 kilometers, 1,484 meters of elevation)

After a four hour ride we arrived in the place we would stay for the weekend; Zweifelscheid, Germany. The weather was perfect; sunny, about 25 degrees celcius and no wind.
Because we arrived around noon we had made a somewhat shorter ride to start with; just over 60 kilometer.
We did add quite a lot of climbs in it making it maybe the hardest ride of the three days.
In the first few kilomteres we had some nasty climbs with part that were over 15%.

After 10 kilometers we crossed the river Our and with that also the border to Luxembourg.
We cycled around a water reservoir and through the village Bivels where we spent our cycling weekend a couple of years ago. It was nice to see the familiar environment.
After Bivels we headed to the lovely city Vianden. On our first passage we had a nice view on the beautiful castle of Vianden.

After a Vianden we headed to the north to cross the border with Germany again.
The climbing really began to take its toll that time, but then we came across the Hauptstraẞe in Obergeckler; a short but very steep climb with gradients of 20% and even above.

We could have taken the less steep detour outside the town, but we decided to give it a try.
My burning legs forced me to make a zig-zag pattern to the top. But I eventually made it.

After that we had just a few more meters of elevation before we had a short descent to the holiday home.
Not too long after dinner I went to bed to get a good nights rest. That was necessary because the 2nd day would be the longest and the one with the most elevation.

Day 2 (123.77 kilometers, 2,197 meters of elevation)

Before I went to sleep I was kind of scared how my legs would feel. The ride of the first day was very hard. Not in the last case because I wasn't prepared that well. I made a lot of longer rides in June and July. I even did a couple of climbs during my holiday in Italy and France in July.
But in August didn't make a lot of kilometers. It was raining quite a lot. I had quite busy weekends and my pedal broke just two weeks before our trip, so I had to get it repaired.
Nonetheless the legs felt quite fresh in the morning and after a hearty breakfast we were ready to go.

Compared to the first day there we had couple of hundred more meters more elevation, but because it was in double the distance the climbs were less steep. As you can see by the profile there were more shorter climbs. Especially in the middle of the route.

The route itself was wonderful. We predominantly cycled over car-free paths through the hills and the woods.
After 20 kilometers we came across the Georges Wagner Brücke which where three countries have their border; Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.

We moved on into Belgium, crossed the border into Luxembourg and went into Belgium again. I have never before cycled in three different countries during one ride.
Around noon we arrived in the beautiful city of Houffalize where we had a nice lunch. I really could use that after roughly 70 kilometers. I had a Croque Madame; a French version of the toastie, but then with eggs on top.

After lunch we continued our journey back into Luxembourg again. The first part had a few smaller climbs, but I really began to feel two days of cycling in a row. I was counting down the kilometers.
When we almost reached 90 kilometers we had a tough descent on quite a rocky road. When we arrived at the bottom of the descent we noticed there were some road works and we had to turn around.
This unpleasant surprise wasn't good for my motivation. I didn't want to make the extra kilometers, but we had to. In the end it weren't even that many extra kilometers.
Heading towards the German border again we had quite a long and nice descent. Perfect to give the legs some rest. But as they say; what goes down, must go up. So we had so make a last couple of climbs to reach the holiday home.
It was a tough day, but I was glad I made it.

Day 3 (94.38 kilometers, 1,761 meters of elevation)

When I woke up on day 3 the legs didn't feel very fresh anymore. I really felt my hamstrings from the first two days. The ride was slightly shorter and had less meters of elevation than the second day, but it was still a lot. Certainly in this condition.

The first 7 kilometers we followed a cycling path that was, how we name it, "false flat". It looked flat, but it had a 2-3% grade. This means you have pressure on your legs the entire time.
I was really worried how the first real climb would go and was even playing with the idea to turn around.
But arriving at the first climb my legs were surprisingly warmed up a bit. It wasn't one of my best climbs (I went up like a snail), but my legs weren't that bad. At least my hamstrings didn't hurt.

The third day was one of survivaling. I had given my best in the first two days and there wasn't a lot left. But I managed to continue the ride at my own speed (this is what you need to do when you go climbing). The guys needed to wait for me after every climb, but I did managed to finish the ride.

Despite the bad preparation I managed to complete all three rides which resulted in a grand total of 278.79 kilometers and 5,442 meters of elevation. I wouldn't have thought on forehand.

We ended the weekend with a BBQ and some nice beers.
Looking forward to next years edition!

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FriendlyMoose

Creating blogs about photography, cycling, gardening, craft beer and more...

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