The Ardennes Forest

Hey, it's a few years since I've been but there is some surprisingly good riding there!

I've ridden in Malmedy and Vielsalm. A few Enduro/ light DH tracks here and there. I rode them on a 120mm transition smuggler. Seemed like a bigger bike would be worthwhile.

I've no idea how the trails have developed or deteriorated since I went though

We also went to Huffalieze and did a family ride. Seemed to be some decent technical trails there, but less elevation and more XC? I'm guessing a bit about this though.

this was fun on a loaded Vagabond with 2.1's.

https://bikepacking.com/routes/ardennes-arbalete/

There was some downhill competition going on in Houffalize but I think it was more Swinley on steroids than Whistler back country

Hi @el_boufador, that's good to hear.  I'll have a look into those places, cheers!

@jaminb - thanks for that website link - some of those pics in the gallery look amazing!

I've done a ride from Malmedy on a 160mm enduro bike and it was cracking - there was even some hike a bike! A trail bike would have been fine for what I rode.

anyone got a link for nice easy gravel routes in the Ardennes?

We're driving from Rotterdam to the Northern Vosges soon and stop off with a 40-50km ride would be nice

I find this website to be a very interesting resource (not ever having actually ridden in Belgium, yet...).

https://gritgravel.cc/tracks/grit-condroz-conquistador/

I rode Les Hautes de Rivieres last March after finding it on trail forks. Was excellent and def worth taking a long travel bike. Reminded me a bit of Staunton if you've ever ridden the there.

Drawing comparisons between the Ardennes and Swinley? I don’t recall seeing many XC ski tracks and chairlifts on the Crown Estates of Berkshire

Thanks @munrobiker, we'll be passing close by Malmedy so will look into that too

@ndthornton - love a bit of Staunton!

Must have missed the ski tracks and lifts in Houffalize.  Did see evidence of skiing elsewhere on my route and I remember some cows with bells on  - very alpine.

Thanks

I think the area around Malmedy and Stavelot look good for gravel/mixed rides

Has anyone done that?

Was there a few weeks ago but was on a Harley Davidson

which was awesome

probably doesn’t help. But hey !

If anyone is interested, the trails around Les Hautes Rivieres are superb!  Some pretty standard Euro gradings - mellow trail, nice gradient, then full on steeps with big features, to a nice gentle finish - absolutely loved it!  Fairly pleasant climbs back to the top too (I was on a 170mm 'normal' bike, MrsReady was on a Levo SL).  Beautiful area, and quiet too. @ndthornton I definitely got the Staunton feel too

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I loved it - highly recommend a visit!  Although from my house in Suffolk it is the same distance to travel to as Innerleithen - with more to ride in, around, and on the way to Inners - it could be a nice detour for a couple of days on the way back from a Morzine trip (for example)

This website might be useful .............

The best mountain-biking spots | Tourism in the Ardennes (visitardenne.com)

Haven't ridden there for many years, but there were some very good forest trails.

If you haven't seen the movie or heard of the Battle of the Bulge ... Malmedy was the scene of the massacre by the Waffen SS of 80 American prisoners as well as many civilians.

@ready Glad you liked it!

 from my house in Suffolk it is the same distance to travel to as Innerleithen

funnily enough this was exactly my thinking - Inners is slightly closer to Worcester maybe but its in the noise, and in March I decided to migrate South instead.

Boozy pedal around Brugge on the way back for the win 🙂

Gravelly update:

We spent the weekend in Stavelot a few weeks ago and there is lots of gravel/mixed riding to do around there. There are numerous greenways and lots of gravel routes on many local websites (e.g. https://www.lecoffeeride.cc/rides/gravel/). They had some pretty crap weather the week we arrived so it was all a bit wet but there are lots of options to avoid the worst of it

The cycling infrastructure is amazing to anyone from the UK. Lots of old railways converted to greenways and riding on the road is so much more pleasant there. Fab beer too