The perfect song to give a title to our day out today with the friends from Holland.
MTBTravel.nl sent us 9 customers in search of single trails in the redrocks, and that's how I met the team this morning around 10am in Ellergronn.
After a short briefing in the car park and a little explanation of the day's program, we all got in the saddle for the short ride.
The first single-tracks are discovered! Amongst all the dead leaves, our tyres had difficulty in finding the best grip on the wet roots. So we started our first pedal strokes with caution. Once we had passed the Gaalgebierg, we headed towards the Neudorf, where we climbed towards the Schifflange stadium. This is where things start to get tough.
Our team is very fit and shows a high technical level, which allows me to integrate almost all the technical parts on our 22km loop. We finish with the bike park that everyone has been waiting for.
A short ride on the kennel ridge is necessary before returning to the starting point where we will have lunch at the Schmëdd restaurant.
1 hour later, with our stomachs full, we have to bite down on our teeth to climb the hill that awaits us. The climb takes us straight to Audun le Tiche in France. After 2km we can already see the next hill in the distance, which we will have to climb again to continue our journey. This is an impossible, steep and almost untamable climb. I had a lot of trouble with my e-MTB, I must admit.
Safe we get out of the tunnel and head towards Differdange where I promised them a nice little descent. The legs are starting to get tired, we are already close to 40km and some participants are already asking questions about the duration of the tour. I reassured them that every effort will be rewarded by a nice descent, and they continued with a smile.
In Differdange we start the DH part, still on a rather slippery ground and this is where the difference between good studded tyres or the less spoiled with more rolling tyres becomes clear. Some of us had a taste of the Luxembourg soil but without breaking anything and always with a smile on our faces.
On the way back to Esch we took the most direct route. It was getting late and we still wanted to go to Belvaux to ride on the local MTB track. This small but tough course has hundreds of obstacles to overcome and it cost us our last energy. We didn't want to miss the ridge and the descent with the switchbacks, which was our last part in the forest.
From here we start a return on a cycle track that takes us straight back to the start car park. In the end we did 56km and passed the 1000m mark!
Congratulations to the participants! It was a pleasure to guide you and I hope to be able to show you more, next time.
