Was working down in Luxembourg at the end of last week, so with some proper forethought, I arranged
a place to stay for the weekend and packed the Bredtin.
The original plan had been to hit La Roche or Houffalize on the way back on the Sunday, but driving
through the Ardennes on the way down showed this wasn't going to be possible as the whole area was
under several inches of snow.
So Saturday, I chucked the bike in the car and started heading towards the city to ride some of my
old trails. But I only got a few kilometres when I noticed the large wooded hills to my left. They
looked entertaining so I unpacked and headed off in to the hills near Trintange.
It's been a while since I've done the exploring thing, and although it's fun, you're never quite
sure what you're going to get. I was relatively lucky - half fireroad, half singletrack and a nice
technical descent that got me to bail at low speed. Unfortunately, I couldn't link it all up and had
to do the last descent and final few km on road. Still, that's the beauty of exploring, you learn
for next time, and I think the areas got a lot of potential. Especially if it's as quiet as Saturday
- I saw two people in over two hours of riding.
ER: The new WTB Rocket V Stealth is a revelation - way more comfy than my Flite Trans-Am. I've been
using the Race Face Aquanot for a while now for both running and riding and it is just superb. Two
hours of pissing rain at the weekend and I stayed as dry as a bone. Hope Minis are great for
braking, but as soon as you get a small buckle in the disc they are possibly the most annoying
things ever. A 'zing' every rotation, and the tolerances are so small that trying to bend it back in
to line seems a futile task. If anyone has any suggestions...