To get a taste of our foreign raids we organize some preparatory weekends in Belgium. The goal is to get to know El Camino Loco, our kind of tours, our guides, how to bike on GPS and what it is like to bike a couple of groovy laps over consecutive days.

On the program are stiff biking during the day, and viewing pictures of our foreign raids in the evening. Of course you get the opportunity to pick the brains of experienced bikers who biked our tours before and like to meet again during such weekends and plan their next adventures.

Louette – where ?!? True to form, we picked for this weekend a not so evident part of the Ardennes, i.e. the valleys around Namur. Don’t worry if this does not immediately ring a bell. We are certain that you will be very pleasantly surprised by the trails and the nature of this lost corner of the Ardennes.

The Ardennes of Namur are a much wooded and thinly populated area around the highest point of the province Namur (505m). Few people, dark forests, steep valleys, a lot of small rivers: what else do we need for a really cool biking weekend with stiff biking and a heavy ‘après’. The evenings are filled viewing pictures of past and scheduling new adventures.

Our base for the weekend is Louette-Saint-Pierre, a small village in the heart of the region. The basic gîte is located in the village center and holds a maximum of 25 participants spread over 3 open rooms on the top floor.

 

Friday 12th of March, 2010: arrival at Louette-Saint-Pierre, we ourselves will be present at 18:00hrs.

Because of varying times of arrival, there is no fixed moment for dinner as we will provide a self-service cold buffet. Give us a call if you would arrive unexpectedly later than 21:00hrs. Please take a light sleeping bag and a pillow.

Saturday 13th of March, 2010: a copious breakfast and similar to our foreign tours: a pick-nick buffet for everybody to help yourselves according to needs. Take a small backpack for your pick-nick, rain coat and tools for small repairs. Also allow for a small empty space on your handle bar to attach the GPS system (the size of a large mobile phone). We provide the GPS, spare batteries, handle bar mount and back-up chart with denivellation profile. These units are on loan, damage because of falls are “normal use” and won’t be charged. Loss or damage because of neglect are not covered, so handle with care. Losing a unit while biking is nearly impossible (back-up lanyard fixed to handle bar).

We make a tour of about 55 km. Just like on our foreign raids, you can bike on your own speed, using the GPS. A guide will bike as last person. At arrival we provide a hot snack. In the evening after dinner: discussion of raids with a lot of illustrations.

Sunday 14th of March, 2010: breakfast, pick-nick buffet and start of a tour of about 50 km. At arrival we provide a hot snack. Winding down with a wash, debriefing talks and departure for home on your own schedule.

Price: 120,- Euro pp

Included: two overnight stays in a gîte, all meals as described from Friday evening till snack at Sunday afternoon. Use of GPS, accessories and maps with denivellation profiles, technical assistance on the road (biking guides, 4WD vehicle on stand-by), VAT.

Not included:  biking gear, drinks at the bar.

Take with you: a light sleeping bag, pillow, towel, toiletry, biking gear, slippers (no muddy biking shoes allowed inside).

Booking: contact@mtb.be