Big Bad Log

This ride was a long time in the making. I had taken Julie (aka "Miss Piggy" at the B-M-B forum ) on a tour around my Nandrin trails in April, and she promised she would do the same for me at her home trails near Sart Tilman. But due to our busy shedules and some bad weather when we could make it both, I had to wait until now to have the pleasure of a first-class guided tour in the Sart-Tilman region. Julie asked her friend Roger (aka as "Tango" on the B-M-B forum ) to come along because of his intimate knowledge of the trails in the Seraing neighborhood. Roger was the guide for the O2 Bikers Seraing roadbook which appeared in the may 2007 edition of that magazine, so he knows that area like the back of his hand. Needless to say I was in capable hands.
At 1.35pm we were ready to go, starting from the carpark at 'Le Blanc Gravier' sportcentre all the way up the Sart Tilman ridge. Roger had brought his Cannondale Scalpel and Julie her Rothwild fully and I was there with my Litespeed hardtail. Mm, I did have the lightest bike which is always nice in the uphills. Immediately we disappeared in the forest on a fast winding singletrack, with roots to make the descent interesting. We more or less descended from a height of 240 metres to the Ourthe valley, at 70 metres , taking a short uphill along our way. In the valley we headed back up again along a stony ascent which took us past the "Chateau de Colonster" , a castle that is part of the ULG (Université de Liège) patrimonium. The tracks were great , not too wet but still offering good traction. You had to look out for sharp stones and the omnipresent roots. My guides took me along some marvelous trails and at times I thought I was in the Ardennes or the Hautes Fagnes. From time to time some menacing cloud dropped a few raindrops but in all we were very lucky with the weather. From Boncelles - where I once started for an LCMT - Roger took us towards Seraing, for an amazingly beautiful loop in the Bois de la Vecquee and Bois Neuville . The technical downhill dropping us through de Bois de Rognac above the Ruissau de Villencourt all the way down to the Val-Saint-Lambert Cristalleries is surely one of the highlights of this trip. The track - which was at times pretty muddy - takes you down in a secluded valley with the little river flowing deep to your left. Some nice technical bits with rocks, roots and gullies which demanded a good choice of trail and some good tyres as well. Dropping us down from 260 metres to a mere 70 this is one trail I wouldn't mind doing in the opposite direction as well. Great stuff.
The Cristalleries Val Saint Lambert, which have a rich past and a bright future, are certainly worth a visit when you are in the area. We looped back and a tough climb was waiting for us taking us up to the Swimming Pool where the O2 Biker route starts. Some 45K into our loop this climb made me feel my legs and I had to stop for some energy , delivered by Windose . Another highlight was just a few miles away, when we followed a little river going up and down along its banks, occasionally riding though it, which effectively cleaned our bikes from the mud we had accumulated. Another small track took us along some barbed wire on our way back to Boncelles and I managed to flatten my rear tyre on a thorn. No problem, put in a new one - actually a used and fixed one - and I was good to go again. Roger also had flattened twice, both times his front tyre. Miss Julie was spared from flats. I was quite impressed by her fitness level because we were going quite fast , averaging just under 17kph on the entire 60K loop. Another drop and some fine trails meandering in the forest around Sart Tilman and we were back at "le Blanc Gravier" .
Let me tell you, this was a great ride, with two major climbs, as you can see on the profile, lots of singletracks and some major downhills - rather technical at places but never dangerous, at least not in the dry conditions we had today. A little bit of tarmac to connect the Boncelles and Seraing forest was not to be avoided but it offers a good opportunity to recover before hitting the "real stuff" again. I really had a good time and I want to thank my two guides, "Miss Piggy" and "Tango" for taking me out today. This certainly is a region were I could ride all day.

Ride Stats : 60K and 900 heightmeters in 3h36mins
Ride Profile : CLICK

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