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Hi all,
I'm off to Belgium for a week of drinking beer. Might be able to squeeze some riding in too though 🙂
We're staying in Vielsalm in the Ardennes.
From the research I've done so far it looks like there are some trails at Houffalize, and also a bike park at Malmedy.
Anyone know the area at all? any tips? Is the MTB riding actually any good or should I take the road bike?
Thanks
Look on the Dirty Boar website, they have the route available, but it's a gravel bike ride so maybe not what you're after. Hope you like hills if you take the road bike.
We stopped in Houffalize once as we were passing on our way to the Alps, purely because I wanted to see/ride the world cup track. It's a fairly short singletrack loop crisscrossing an overgrown hillside on the edge of town. No<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">t exactly amazing but not bad either and we had a fun hour or so doing a loop of the xc and messing about on the old 4x track. I'd not go out of my way to ride it but I'm glad we stopped, mainly for the history of the track. </span>
I did this ride in Malmedy with a friend when we driving from the Spa Classic to Stuttgart. It was just meant to fill an hour or two but it was actually a fun ride - the climb is severe enough that there's a bit of pushing and the descent is steep and twisty in places. I really enjoyed it and I'd hunt it out if I were in the area again.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1000381322
Brilliant, thanks both. Will check it out. I was in malmedy a couple of years back and rode some of the dh trails from the Apollinaire monument to the north of the town and they were great.
Houffalize trails are here http://www.mtbroutes.be/routedetail.php?id=31
It's not a bad idea to stick the gpx into a gps/phone as I find the route marking a bit random sometimes. Haven't ridden the trails there in ages though
Is the MTB riding actually any good or should I take the road bike?
Take both if you can. The road riding can be quite fun if you hunt for the steeper stuff. My memory is that the roads are quite wide so it isn't like riding in the UK but there can still be a fair amount of traffic down there so if you want quiet you might be better sticking off-road
Edit: I think saxonrider might stay somewhere down there more often than me so if you are lucky he will appear
I know the area well. There are lots of marked mtb trails - good maps are sold in the local tourist offices. Many of the trails are incredibly dull, with very long fire road climbs and descents, serious mud most of the year, and there's not much technical stuff around (at least on the marked trails).