Big Bad Log

This afternoon I had an appointment with Miss Julie in the little village of Deigné. Deigné is situated about halfway between Banneux and Aywaille and not very far from Theux either. Names that ring like bells in every mountainbikers head. Julie knows the trails here pretty much by heart and she set out more or less following the trails the annual organised ride in Deigné offers. We set out on a nice little climb from the start , rocky rooty and rather steep. This was the maiden trip of my Merlin in the Ardennes and it turned out to be quite a trip. We climbed into the fagnes area leading towards Hautregard and Vert Buisson, the tracks were very technical at places with roots, ruts and some rocks protruding and making me very happy to be on a fully and not on a hardtail. At more than one occasion I know I would have come to a full stop using a hardtail, but the Merlin carried me merrily over all the pitfalls the terrain threw at us. Past Vert Buisson we were to descent into what I like to call Wonderland. The slope leading down into the Ambleve valley and where a couple of little rivers cut their way down through some very pittoresque scenery. We first descended along a very rock strewn section and made our way back up on a trail parallel to the river Chefna along some pretty technical trails. At times the track was just too technical and we had to walk. But these were exceptions, most of the time there was a little trail you could - just- ride.

The tracks Julie chose were among the best the region has to offer, mostly singletrails or rock-strewn trails leading upwards with the little river on our right flowing through crevasses and making for quite a wonderful view. But I had to keep my eye on the trail . I hadn't been here before, although I seemed to recognize some trails from the Banneux rides I did a few years ago.
The Merlin Works 4.0 climbs like a goat, the Nobby Nics run at 2.0 bar (I have NoTubes installed) and they found always some traction The suspension did its best to smoothen out the ride over cobble-like rocks. Things shifted under my wheels all the time but this amazing bike just kept on rolling. The XTR drivetrain made it easy to shift up and down, even at low speeds and full tension when the trail suddenly became a LOT steeper and I needed the chain to drop onto the smallest cog in the front. Not one mis-shift. Amazing stuff. Up on the Porallee plateau again and now we were making the descent along the Ninglinspo, with a very nice technical singletrail at the beginning and a full-blast downhill dropping some 250 heightmeters and crossing the little stream a couple of times. Before we arrived at the bottom Julie turned to the right and we were set for another long climb over a difficult and steep trail. Julie is a very good climber and her bike - a Liteville 301 - is particularly well-suited for this kind of terrain. We both own titanium hardtails as well but between you and me, a hardtail is not the bike for this kind of terrain. It would kick like a mule on all the rocks, roots and ruts we had to continually clear. After a long and difficult climb a great downhill followed, taking us around Mainire with a great view over the Valley of the Ambleve. Another climb followed before we dropped down, more or less into Deigné. Just another tricky track with a little rivulet running through it. The weather was great by the way, temps of 26 degrees C and the sun in full blaze made me very happy we did long stretches in the forest. At places where there was no shade many a drop of sweat was shed.
Wow, what a great ride this was, even though Julie cut out one loop we nearly had 40K and a whopping 925 heightmeters, yeah, this is one hilly region. And such beautiful scenery , with very technical trails and a real challenge for bikers and bikes around every twist in the trail. I had a great time and I want to thank Julie for making this ride happen. I'm sure we will we back here for some more rides in this wonderful area.

Ride Stats : 38.6K and 925 heightmeters in 2h44mins
Hill Factor : 24

3082/27090