Design Doodles

It was already in the plans for some time, and end of August 2025 it came to reality: a four-day bike trekking trip, together with Maarten, on the gravel bike.

We chose the Arbalète route as we are always in for a good challenge. We already cycled three 200+ km road-cycling trips together this year, and this off-road route in a very challenging environment sounded like just what we needed. It ended up being an amazing, tiresome, photogenic and heavy effort!

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Preparation

Personally, I find the preparation one of the best things of bike trekking. I love to nerd about what to bring, and especially what not to bring. Weighing t-shirts on my scale to save a few grams, contemplating about 2 or 3 spare tubes, bringing extra shoes (or not), and in general to think about the ‘system’ of packing.

My system is quite straightforward: I have three major ‘packs’. The pack on the top-tube is for all the stuff I need direct access to, some energy bars, my phone (more about that later), spare tires and such. Next in line is the handlebar pack, here goes all the stuff that I might need in case of ’emergency’. Think of bike repair tools, a first aid kit and not to forget half a roll of toilet paper 🙂 Finally, in the largest pack, behind my saddle, I put everything else and especially the stuff I need for the nights. By the way, this pack from Topeak is nothing short of genius, with the vacuum valve and the strong straps it is one of my best buys I ever did in my cycling career.

This is not my first bike packing trip, as such I have a Google Keep list that I use for every trip. Every new trip I uncheck all the checked items from the previous trip and start packing again. And every trip I learn something new and I’ll update the list, for example remember to bring an extra pair of dry shoes this time around 😉

To be clear, our trip is in fact ‘bike-trekking’ not ‘bike-packing’. I learned that online somewhere, where bike packing is similar to bag-packing, you bring everything with you. Bike trekking is more ‘luxurious’ and can include hotels instead of staying overnight in a tent. This time we chose for hotels as the circumstances in the Ardennes are pretty challenging, bringing all that extra gear like tents, sleeping gear etc. would have made cycling the route in available 4 days nearly impossible.

Three packs and the outfit for day 1. Ready to go!

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Day 1

105 km, 5h 50m, 1374 hm, 18,1 km/h av

We took the 7:59 train from Eindhoven to Maastricht and hopped over to the Belgium train ending in Liège. Train rides in the Netherlands with a bike are never easy and always bring some discomfort, but this ride was surprisingly easy.

The first km’s on the bike were also easy, but that changed abruptly as soon as we hit the first uphill off-road climb. On a dirt road with often gradients above 20% we gave up pretty soon and hiked the bike up the hill. We looked at each other and thought, if this is the same for the rest of the rides, we’ll be home in about 4 months… Luckily, that was not the case, though we did get 5 to 10 similar climbs during our adventure.

Over an old railway road (Ravel) and some beautiful forest roads we ended up in Dolhain for a lunch. We agreed we would compare and rate our lunches, dinners, and hotels over the next few days, and I can tell you this was the worst lunch of all. I’m not sure if it was my command of the French language, which is actually not that bad, but a chicken nugget on a sandwich with eggs and a lot, a lot of mayonnaise is not the best fuel for the rest of the ride.

After lunch we rode past the reservoir Lac de la Gileppe and had a beautiful on-road climb to the highest point of Belgium. The next part was even more stunning (pun intended); the Haute Fagnes, an awesome open area with heather, small ponds and sand. The real shock came when I realized I lost my phone there, only to figure out (after a frantic search along the dirt road) it had slipped inside my body-warmer and moved to the front of it. Big sigh, I aged at least 2 years those few minutes!

My relief lasted exactly 1 second, when I noticed I had a flat front tire… Fixing this is not an issue, however quickly I noticed I brought the wrong hand pump and CO2 cartridge holder. Luckily my bike companion is a part-time bike mechanic so without much hazzle we managed. But not before my mechanic realized he had a flat tire as well… Hopefully this was enough ‘mechanicals’ for one day, or preferably for the whole bike trip.

We continued to the actual highest point of Belgium, the Signal de Botrange. After a short break and an unsuccessful search for a good bike pump, we descended on what I consider one of the most beautiful trails I have ever cycled off-road. The road winds around a little river which you cross multiple times, sometimes through the water, sometimes via make-shift bridges. The scenery is breathtaking and without much effort you are in Malmedy in no-time.

Malmedy was the last town before our hotel, and luckily we were just in time to buy some extra bike supplies in a Trek bike-shop. Overpriced as usual off course, but now I had a decent pump and some more spare tubes and C02 cartridges. The last 10 km were challenging again through forest roads. In the end we reached our hotel in Ligneuville around 7 PM which was very close to the prediction.

The big benefit of cycling in Belgium is that there are good beers waiting at the end of a long day on the road! The hotel was so-so, in the end it ‘earned’ the last spot of our Bike trip hotel rating, but the staff was super-friendly, the food was good and the bikes were safe in the ‘party-room’!

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Day 2

92 km, 5h 41m, 1451 hm, 16,2 km/h av

Day 2 started with a decent breakfast in the hotel, together with a junior cycling team who were in the region for some races. It is impressive to see these 16 – 20 year old guys who all dream to become the next Remco Evenepoel, but likely none will make it to that level. Not for lack of trying though, they all weigh their breakfast on a scale!

We started today’s ride in the rain which was something we prepared for, so full rain gear on and off we go. What also was to be expected; the first climb of every day is always impossible to conquer… The only difference being that this climb was actually on-road, but so steep we had to walk parts of it. The forest trail directly after was more than worth it, a beautiful road with a few deers roaming the dense forest, the Ardennes at its best.

The first goal of the day was coffee or lunch in Gouvy, depending on the time it took us to get there. It ended up to be none of the two, as this was the actual circuit where the road racing team from our hotel was competing. There were a lot of people on the side of the road, but all restaurants were closed. Just outside this small town was also the only time where we completely missed the route and ended up cycling along a railway track, but we blame Garmin for that. As a wise man once said: “It is never too late to start with a Garmin…”. 😉

After a brief outing into Luxembourg, we cycled into MTB country. The roads around Houffalize are well-known for the challenging off-road routes, and surely we had a few on our route. A collection of very steep climbs and descents, rock gardens, tree roots that make your teeth fall out, we had it all! To be honest, if possible we skipped a few of those roads. But in general that was not possible, and we just grinned our teeth and pushed ourselves on the bike or off the bike up a hill. Good thing it stopped raining and even the sun came out in the late afternoon.

We had a late lunch in Houffalize, across the place where I stayed with my son Milo in December last year. Our ride went along the same route of the hike we did back then, so I knew what to expect, always a benefit! After some more beautiful forest roads, WW2 tanks and an encounter with a snake, we ended up at our destination for the day; La Roche en Ardennes. The hotel was a simple but decent B&B (nr. 2 on our end-list) and the town is big enough for some good food choices. Above all, we had a few Lupulus beers (from Gouvy!) at the pizza place, for sure for me ranked as the best beer of the bike trip and well deserved after quite a tough day!

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Day 3

90 km, 5h 58m, 1674 hm, 15,1 km/h av

Day 3 – the Queen stage! In distance the shortest but by climbing and terrain the toughest. After fixing yet another flat front tube by Maarten we leave La Roche en Ardennes, knowing the first climb will be TOUGH. Our Garmin Climbpro shows a deep-red section coming up, and man it was deep-red… Even on a MTB without packs this would be impossible! By now we are used that the first climb of every day is a hike-a-bike, and this one is no exception… After walking up for quite some time I realize my Garmin pauses and does not restart if you walk so slowly. At least now we know the difference between the data of my ride and that from my companion.

Today’s ride has quite a few nice forest roads along the fields in the middle of nowhere, but for some reason the only wildlife we see today is a squirrel. Besides that, we do see a lot of climbs on very difficult terrain. Just imagine you are cycling up a dirt road above 10% for a few kilometers, only to turn left into a small forest road leading up to 20%, ending up at a section with eroded patches with rocks, roots and overhanging trees…. But I made it to the top without walking!

After a terrible descent (the Arbalète almost never rewards you after a tough climb), we come up with the idea to classify the Ardennes off-roads into 5 categories, similar to the cobble-stone sections from Paris-Roubaix, where 1 star is easy and 5 stars is: ‘You’re gonna break things – either from you or your bike’

• 1 star – descent gravel, small pebbles – similar to what you’ll find in the Netherlands
• 2 stars – some larger rocks, a bit of discomfort but in general smooth rolling
• 3 stars – rocks and tree roots, but quite often easy to circumvent or roll over
• 4 stars – a lot of rocks and roots you have to take on, meanwhile wondering about the strength of your bike, and yourself…
• 5 stars – very tough, hoping every second it will end soon. Slipping and sliding and continuously thinking: ‘This can’t be good for my health…’

From my memory (for which I do realize you tend to forget the pain quite quickly – that is why you can continue to cycle), perhaps 15 roads during the 4 days were 5 stars. It hardly ever happened it was one star. This is not the Netherlands!

Around noon we lunch in the cute town of St. Hubert (lunch rating – best of the 4 days) at a nice ‘Sandwhicherie’ at the main square. Afterwards we have some more tough roads including a 5-star descent where I must have lost all my tooth fillings, but we push through. Via more forest dirt roads, small bridges, and country roads we come close to our destination for the day: Hotton. We encounter with the route a fence blocked private road where we decide to take the alternative asphalt road and stay on those comfortable roads till we reach our destination. You never realize how much you appreciate asphalt after such a day on the off-road!

Regarding the hotel, this was the best one of the three nights. We even have the opportunity to clean our bikes and hang our clothes to dry in the garden, where there is still some evening sun. I have only brought two bike outfits for 4 days, meaning I need to wash one every day at the end of a ride. However, drying them is a bit slower than I expected, making this usually the first priority when arriving at a destination and the last item to pack the next day. I have made some updates on my Google Keep list to be better prepared the next time.

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Day 4

119 km, 7h 30m, 1349 hm, 16,8 km/h av

The ride on Day 4 starts with a premiere, the first climb is actually ride-able! We are up for a nice day in the saddle, we think… Most of the forest roads are beautifully wandering along fields with cows and horses, and we skip one steep climb which is really too much for us in the early morning. Instead we find quickly a detour, which is still steep and off-road, but at least ride-able. After a few days we firmly believe sometimes we deserve something easier 🙂

We do think we have ‘played and completed all levels’ of the Ardennes, as we have seen all the landscape variations, terrain types and difficulties, but it still sometimes surprises us. At times, you think you will arrive at the top of a hill soon, only to discover it only gets steeper and runs for ‘just a bit more’. The benefit however is that in most cases you do see the end of your suffering, so there is always something to aim for.

After a pasta lunch in Ferrières (ranking 3 out of 4) we know we are nearing the end of the climbs. The Garmin Climbpro only gives one more deep-red climb before we hit the river Ourthe, which will guide us towards our start- and endpoint of Liège. This climb from the small village Comblain-au-Pont is for sure a hike-a-bike for the first part, but afterwards it gets better. We are happy that after a descent we will probably cycle on a riverside bike-path towards the train station in Liège. At least that is what we think…

Indeed, the first part is like that, but then we hit an off-road patch which in my humble opinion should be taken out of the route. It starts with a riverside single track where it is a challenge not to fall into the Ourthe river or into the bushes, but at least it is ride-able, we discover later. The next stretch has some fallen trees you have to climb over with your heavy bike, but still you think it will get better. It didn’t…. after some time you have climbed over so many fallen trees that it also does not make sense to go back again. You only hope it will end soon! Meanwhile on the other side of the Ourthe, between Esneux and Fechereux, there is a bike-path where you see people cycling happily and not having a clue about our demise. It seemed we did not ‘finish all levels’ just yet 😆

After this final challenge we stay on the riverside bike-path all the way to Liège central station. During that part I remembered you cannot take your bike during rush hours in Dutch trains, and we arrive at the station around 17:15. Even though this is Belgium, the chance is very high they will kick us off the train in Maastricht. With some re-found energy we decide to continue along the Maas river towards the Netherlands. This will nicely bridge that rush hour time-gap from 17:00 till 19:00. And yes, after a relaxing ride, even though through some horrible industrial areas (such a stark contrast with the beauty of the Ardennes!) we arrive at Maastricht CS around 19:30. Just in time to take the 20:00 train arriving in Eindhoven around 21:00. Finally home after 4 fantastic days on the off-road!

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In the end

The Arbalète is a beautiful ride through challenging yet astonishing terrain. The promise of a beer around every corner is not exactly true, but I fully acknowledge the ‘great beer after every ride’ statement, especially for the Lupulus. Hotels are quite easy to find, only be careful to select those including breakfast, which otherwise can be hard to find in the middle of nowhere. What I liked about the route is that we could find decent sizes towns for dinner, drinks, and sleep when you cut the route in 4 equal parts, and you often enough pass through little towns for lunch or supplies during the day.

The website, where we found the route on, states it is a 6 out of 10 in terms of ‘difficulty’. I’m not sure how that is calculated but if 10 is nearly impossible to bike and 1 is biking in the Netherlands, I can agree with a 6. Some parts were close to a 10 but we also had enough asphalt roads (33% in total according to Strava) to recover.

In the end, we had 4 flats, 1 thorn in my front wheel and 3 times a slow puncture for Maarten (needs new tires?). I’m still amazed with only those mechanicals, if I look at the terrain, the sharp rocks, and the amount of punches and strikes the bike (and rider) suffered.

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Data for nerds

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Total
Distance	105,27 km	92,02 km	90,16 km	119,18 km	406,63 km
Cycling time	5h 50m	5h 41m	5h 58m	7h 30m	24h 59m
Average	18,1 km/h	16,2 km/h	15,1 km/h	16,8 km/h	16,6 km/h
Climb*	1374 hm	1451 hm	1674 hm	1349 hm	5848 hm
Max speed	46,9 km/h	50,0 km/h	53,7 km/h	56,3 km/h	–
Max HR*	167 BPM	153 BPM	158 BPM	157 BPM	–
Total time %*	147%	141%	129%	140%	139%

• Climb – my Garmin goes on pause if I stop and only starts again at a reasonable speed. That means when hiking a bike up a hill it is not recording. I only discovered this on day 3 at the first climb (walk) which means I do not record a couple of 100 altitude meters per ride, but believe me I did feel them… 🙂
• Max HR – I’m always intrigued by the HR ‘fatigue’, or in other words, getting more tired over the days when riding. Assuming that I push myself each day to the max on these steep hills, I would like to see what my regular heartrate drop is over the days. It is not clear from the data though, except day 1 shows more ‘freshness’ (duh)
• Total time % is a formula I use for all my long distance rides and bike packing trips. Over the years I track and calculate how much time we actually spend by taking photos, catching your breath at a hill-top, hike-a-bike, lunch, mechanicals etc. For long distance rides I always take +25% of the ride time, calculated by an estimate average km/h. For bike packing I take +50%, which means if we intend to ride 18 km/h (actually our goal was 20 km/h this trip!) we’ll take 12 km/h (+50%) as a rule and with a 105 km ride on the first day that equates roughly to 8h 45m in total. Handy to know if you need to be at your hotel in time, and it was surprisingly accurate during this trip!