Day 9 - Stavelot to Vianden

I was thinking at breakfast this morning that I am amazed by how much I can eat. For breakfast I had 6 slices of bread, ham, loads of cheese a boiled egg, orange juice and a whole jug of coffee, and this is about average. And what is more amazing after cycling for about an hour I will be starving again. I`m not sure if this is all down to cycling everyday or whether it`s becauase I`m not using energy drinks. I`m only drinking water from my bottles as I cant wash them, and also dont want to drink energy drinks all day every day. However sugary drinks is what the body wants so I normally have a bottle of coke in my pannier, and as a result (certainly in the flat Flanders days) I would finish the ride with at least one bottle of water completly un touched. Not sure what the solution is.

Still back to the ride. The start of which was very hilly, several climbs of 14 & 16% this was due to following the route of  `La Doyenne`. But after about 10k I dropped into a river valley at Vialsalm, and from then on the ride was undulating but quite easy. Once I crossed into Luxembourg the roads got even better and the last 20k to Vianden along side the river Our was beautiful. It was a coolish day, but sunny with another strong tailwind.

Vianden is a touristy town mainly due to the impressive Chateau perched on top of a hill. It is quite classy and not all that expensive. My hotel costs 50Euros a night which includes a buffet breakfast (that will teach them) which is about average for the trip. Gent & Leuven were the most expensive and the cheapest were the most interesting - the Talbot House (museum in Poperinge) and my Botel in Maastrict.

Back to food - For lunch I often just snack on bannans, biscuits and my Coke.  The standard evening meal for me is a salad followed by a pasta or pizza (about 15Euros), and a couple of beers (normally a bit cheaper than UK prices). I think the only day I have more than a couple of pints of beer was the Robert Bloody Green day and in that case it was medicinal.

Today Stats
Distance 86.25k
Climb 1246m (hilly)
Riding Time 3.50.25
Average speed 22.4kph
Total Time 4.45.06

Day 8 - Maastricht to Stavelot

For once I got an early start, I was away by 9.30 on a lovely sunny morning. said goodbye to my boat - I got quite attached to it in the last 2days - and headed east to Valkenbourg. it didn't take long before I got lost and ended up cycling an extra 10k to get there. My main reason to cycle to Valkenbourg was to cycle up the Cauberg which is the final climb on the Amstel Gold cycle race - one of the spring classic one day races. Well it took me 3mins 50 secs to climb it. The total ascent was a mere 60m with a max gradient of 12% - hardly Alpe d'Huez. Next i headed towards Vaals via Margratton & Slenaken this road was very undulating similar to roads over the South Downs. At Vaals I headed to Drielandenpunt via the highest point in Holland (321m). This point is also the border between Germany, Holland and Belgium. You can stand in all 3 countries at one time. Tim wants to know how you can do this with only 2 legs. Well...... 

After this was back into Belgium, I was in south Belgium or Wallonia. This is the French speaking side. There are no cycle paths (helmet back on) and in every way seemed just like France, a completly different country to Flanders ( and after Sundays elections they may be different countries soon, as Flanders has voted in favour of independence. The only 2 issues are Brussels - which is bilingual - and the monachy). Anyhow it also marked a change of direction for me after 6 and a bit days heading East, I was now heading South, and the wind was still following me :-)

 I was heading for Spa, the roads were lovely but hilly, and I got to Spa at mid afternoon. To me Spa reminded me of a British Sea-Side resort that has seen better days. I found out where the 3 open natural springs were (the 4th spring in the town centre was shut) and biked to them sampling the water, which was awful, tasting of iron and smelling of Sulphur, still if you believe the info I am now cured of all respiritory problems and cured from my sterilty.

Finally on to Stavelot via the climbs of the Leige-Bastogne-Leige (La Doyonne - I think this means that it is the most important one day classic ride). The climb of of Spa rises to 545m (and is also the last cat 3 climb on stage 2 of this yers TDF). After that climb a great desent and one last drag climb and I got there. Probably my hardest days ride so far, but I felt good after my day off.

Todays Stats
Distance 135.02k
Climb 1837m (pretty hilly)
Riding Time 6.19.54
Average Speed 21.3kph
Total Time 8.51.56