Planning 3 Day bike trip from the Netherlands

[Cloggy]

In June I'll be going on a long weekend trip setting off from Alkmaar in the Netherlands and heading towards either Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg or France.

As most people know Holland has some nice twisty dike roads, but it’s pretty flat (apart from the very south of Limburg) so it would be great to ride to an area with a few more hills and windy roads :rockon:.

Why June, well it’s not the school summer hols yet, so it should be quiet enough and to be honest the need for a really good ride is beginning to get to me .

Firstly I would love to hear if anyone else would like to help make this a great trip and come along (and post dates when they can ride) , when we have picked a date then we can vote for the area’s we would like to ride around.

I was thinking about several area’s
Hartz, Germany
Sauerland, Germany
Eifel, Germany
Luxembourg
Ardennes, Belgium
Vosges (Vogezen), France

I would also appreciate any idea’s or information about rides in these areas. Of course if we could meet up with other forum members this would be an extra bonus :thumbup:.

In June I have a couple of free weekends, my preference is for the Fri 18,Sat 19 & Sun 20 June, I can also ride the weekend of Fri 4, Sat 5 and Sun 6 June, and at a push I can manage the weekend of Sat 12, Sun 13 & Mon 14 June (my eldest daughter is giving a performance with a group from her school in the local theatre on Friday 11th , which I don’t want to miss).

Hope to hear from anyone who wants to tag along, and looking forward to hearing any idea's, either about area's, routes or places to stay :thumbup:

 

[thulst]

Hey Martin,

Nice, a 3 day ride with a group people. I can join you in the weekend of the 19th. The weekend after will be the Dutch TT weekend, I'd like to go to.

I hope more people will join us. I know for sure the rides will be great.

Ton

 

[Cloggy]

Hey Martin,

Nice, a 3 day ride with a group of people. I can join you on the weekend of the 19th. The weekend after will be the Dutch TT weekend, I'd like to go too.

I hope more people will join us. I know for sure the rides will be great.

Ton

Thats great Ton :thumbup:

As you know I generally use other peoples rides, there are plenty of good ones to be found, here are just a few:
GPStracks - GPS tracks en routes voor de fiets, wandelaar, auto en motorrijder en mountainbike click on "auto & motorroutes" pull down menu & select "Duitsland" (for example), then click on the route you want to view/ download, firstly on the place and then on the route.
[url=http://www.routeyou.com]The nicest routes on RouteYou |*RouteYou[/URL] (select search & view, then click op motorbike button, then zoom into area you want to view, you can also use the search feature)
[URL="http://www.gps-tour.info/en/index.html"][url=http://www.gps-tour.info/]GPS Tracks, GPS Touren: Mountain Bike Touren - Wandern - Fahrrad - Alpintouren - Skitouren - Bergtouren mit GPS-Tour.info[/URL][/URL] (Select motorcycles from the category list)
BestBikingRoads Motorcycle Touring Motorcycle Routes Motorcycle select "find a route" Select "Europe 1281 rides" and then select the country you want.


I'm really looking forward to it, we'll see if anyone else is interested :thumbup:

 

[Astennu]

In exactly those day's you prefer i already have a tour of 2 day's. at my work there are quite a few that drive a bike. So every year they organize a tour. This year we are going to the Eiffel in Germany.

Maybe thats also a nice road for you guy's ? I think you have some more hills over there.

 

[Cloggy]

In exactly those day's you prefer i already have a tour of 2 day's. at my work there are quite a few that drive a bike. So every year they organize a tour. This year we are going to the Eiffel in Germany.

Maybe thats also a nice road for you guy's ? I think you have some more hills over there.

It's a shame you can't make it Frank, maybe another time. Thanks for the tip.

Maybe you can get hold of a GPS file (GPX,ITN or GDB) of the route you'll be taking, I always find it handy to have a few routes to choose from :thumbup:

 

[Astennu]

i will ask if someone had something like that. I will just be following the pack and enjoining the drive

 

[dobbeusaf]

I live in Speicher, Germany which is in the Eifel region of Germany. There are many roads all around here to ride. They are very twisty and have very pretty views. There are a few castles out here that many riders like to check out. Luxembourg is only 45 minutes away from here as well. I love riding around out here. The Nürburgring is located nearby and many people love going up there to ride on that track. I have yet to make it out there but have heard nothing but good things about it. I will unfortunately be working many of the weekends in June The Germans here are very big on riding. You will see a lot of them riding on the weekends. Bring some rain gear in case you get hit by the sudden rain storm. Hope your trip goes well!! Take a bunch of pics and post them up!!!

P.S. Enjoy that brown bottle heineken up there. I need to make a run up there an buy some!!

 

[Cloggy]

i will ask if someone had something like that. I will just be following the pack and enjoining the drive

Thanks Frank it would be great if you managed, anyway have a great ride yourself :thumbup:.

I live in Speicher, Germany which is in the Eifel region of Germany. There are many roads all around here to ride. They are very twisty and have very pretty views. There are a few castles out here that many riders like to check out. Luxembourg is only 45 minutes away from here as well. I love riding around out here. The Nürburgring is located nearby and many people love going up there to ride on that track. I have yet to make it out there but have heard nothing but good things about it. I will unfortunately be working many of the weekends in June The Germans here are very big on riding. You will see a lot of them riding on the weekends. Bring some rain gear in case you get hit by the sudden rain storm. Hope your trip goes well!! Take a bunch of pics and post them up!!!

P.S. Enjoy that brown bottle heineken up there. I need to make a run up there an buy some!!

Thanks for the info dobbeusaf :thumbup: I want to do the Nürburgring sometime, but not on a weekend (I hear it can get pretty busy).
It's a shame you'll be busy it would have been great to meet up with someone else from the forum, maybe another time.
If you know any specific routes or areas in the Eifel that you can recommend I would love to hear.
I'm really jealous that you live in such a great riding area, I have to ride at least a couple of hours to find any real hills.

 

[coffebean]

On your way to Germany, don't hesitate to use the Mergelland route. I've been riding the part between Vaals and Epen a few times last weekend: great roads for Dutch guys ;-)

I won't be able to join you, but I would very much like to find some good trips in western Germany.

Have fun!
Thomas

 

[Cloggy]

On your way to Germany, don't hesitate to use the Mergelland route. I've been riding the part between Vaals and Epen a few times last weekend: great roads for Dutch guys ;-)

I won't be able to join you, but I would very much like to find some good trips in western Germany.

Have fun!
Thomas

Thanks for the tip Thomas :thumbup: last year unseen (Andre) and I took this route starting at vaals and cutting up to Maastricht at sint Geertruid, along the border coming back from Aachen (here's the story), it was a great route but as it was a Sunday and the weather was very good it was also very busy.

Where do you live Thomas? as there are several routes running out of Limburg into the eifel, but Aachen en Vaals tend to be a bit of a bottleneck.

 

[dobbeusaf]

Coming from speicher going to Trier is a nice ride. Avoid the B51, it is too much like an autobahn. Trier is a really nice city to visit. A lot of history there. Going to Manderscheid castle from the A60 is really nice as well. A fun road that i liked to ride a lot was the B50 but right now it is all torn up for construction. The rides I just listed are only about 30-45 min rides. There are many nice roads all over here, riding between the small towns have many of the nice windy twisty roads. Hope this helps out a little.

 

[Cloggy]

Coming from speicher going to Trier is a nice ride. Avoid the B51, it is too much like an autobahn. Trier is a really nice city to visit. A lot of history there. Going to Manderscheid castle from the A60 is really nice as well. A fun road that i liked to ride a lot was the B50 but right now it is all torn up for construction. The rides I just listed are only about 30-45 min rides. There are many nice roads all over here, riding between the small towns have many of the nice windy twisty roads. Hope this helps out a little.

Thanks for the tips :thumbup: I stayed in Trier city center last year together with Andre (Unseen), really beautiful area and lots to see in the city on an evening. I'll definately look into the roads you mentioned. It's great when you can get some local information, when planning a route in unknown territories.

 

[coffebean]

Where do you live Thomas? as there are several routes running out of Limburg into the eifel, but Aachen en Vaals tend to be a bit of a bottleneck.

I'm mostly in Eindhoven, but the bike is safe and dry in Limburg. Can't get it inside here and she's just too pretty to sleep outside in a city like this. Had her in Zeeland at first, but Limburg seemed more fun :-D

Would like to hear from you if you know twisty roads just across the border (either Germany or Belgium ).

 

[Unseen]

My prefs are, Eiffel, Luxemburg or Ardennes.

Mergellandroute is nice, I've been cycling it many times. However it tends to be really busy in the weekends, especially with nice weather. I also like the routes in the Ardennes (although I know Martin is not really fond of the Belgian roads). Spa, La Roche, Houffalize, Bastogne is a really nice area.

ps. the new design of the Heineken bottles is green too now

 

[Cloggy]

I'm mostly in Eindhoven, but the bike is safe and dry in Limburg. Can't get it inside here and she's just too pretty to sleep outside in a city like this. Had her in Zeeland at first, but Limburg seemed more fun :-D

Would like to hear from you if you know twisty roads just across the border (either Germany or Belgium ).

you're right Thomas, Limburg is a great location to set off from, one of the few places in Holland with hills :thumbup:, it takes me about 2 hours to get there (and another 2 back again) so I've lost a half days ride before I start

Here's one of the routes from GPS-Tracks GPStracks - GPS motor en auto routes in Nederland

In 2008 I did a motorbike trip with my work, we stayed at a motorbike hostel/camping in Heerlen and did a round trip in the Eifel. If you PM me your e-mail address I'll send it to you. I can either send a GDB file (garmin specific) or gpx file (general GPS export), you can look at gpx files using (among others) this freeware program TYRE (which is made by a Dutch priest :thumbup.

 

[Unseen]

Date prefes are: weekend of 18th/19th of june.

Maybe somebody will join me, but that remains to be seen.

 

[Cloggy]

I think at this point it is fair to say that the trip will take place on the weekend of the 18th, 19th & 20th of June.

yeehaa :thumbup:
:wav:
and then there were 3

 

[Cloggy]

Now we have to decide where to go. :thumbup:

The promotor has recently published a complete trip to the south Ardennes, see here (scroll down to see the route).

Here is a cheaper hotel with motorbike parking in the area (recommended by other bikers)

This is just one of many posibilities, any one else other idea's

 

[Cloggy]

There is are also a couple of routes around the eifel on the promotor site.
Here is another hotel in the area recommended by other bikers.

Any other idea's?

 

[Unseen]

Oh no!!! This weekend I got invited to the wedding of a good friend of mine, on Saturday 19th So I'm out again. My cunning plan now is that I do a day trip on Sunday, and maybe meet up with your guys, let's say at the Nordschleife