Exploring the wide and easy gravel around Banholt and Sint Geertruid, finishing with heavy climbs around Wahlwiller and Schin op Geul.
Immediately checking off the coffee stop box because this route starts and finishes at Fixed Gear Coffee in Valkenburg. From there we take a little detour to get out of the city and the first gravel will be a climb up the Sint Jansbosweg. This one starts with a beautiful view and easy to ride, but more towards the end it gets a bit more trickier. After this first climb, the next 20km are relatively flat. Of course here in the South of Limburg, roads are never just flat, but you’ll have plenty of time to recover before the next real climb is the Voerenweg near Mesch.
When reaching the top of the Voerenweg and after crossing the main road, you’ll soon see the border post that tells you that we’ve just rode into Belgium. In the downhill corner to the left, there is an excellent photoshoot opportunity, giving you a view over Mesch, Berneau and ‘s-Gravenvoeren. After the bend to the left, you’ll ride a long wide gravel road with a stunning view on Sint-Martens-Voeren and Teuven.
Again a few easy kilometers from here until the section called “Gravel Elsebergweg”. Just before you dive down, watch out for all the gutters, have a look to the East and see the top of the hill far away, which you’ll be soon be riding on. Now dive down and be careful at the end because you’ll be crossing a main road.
After crossing the road, slowly take the last downhill part and try to decide wether you’re going to take the bridge to cross the small river or enjoy this river crossing to its fullest and just ride through it. No need to be afraid that you’ll cool down because of the water since the next 1 km is an 8% average climb.
We’re now heading for one of the most beautiful views in the South of Limburg, which is near Camping Oosterberg. Just when you see the camping on your left, the routes takes a deep dive to the right over a very rough and rocky road. In this downhill, when the road takes a right, you have one of the best views. Right in front of you the famous Camerig is visible, the longest climb in the Netherlands. A bit more to the right, you see the German border nears Vaals and even more to the right you’re looking into Belgium.
Now let your bike roll and enjoy the downhill into Epen. We’re now heading for Wahlwiller and crossing another little river.
After Wahlwiller you’ll face another long climb and end up in Limburg’s Toscany. An astonishing view on Eyserbosweg and Gulpen.
A long downhill into Wijlre that will lead you to the start of the famous “Dodeman” climb which is around 18%. But rest assured, just before the climb starts, we’re heading left onto gravel, for a long but not so steep climb. And most importantly, the last one for today.
You’ll be soon back to the starting point of the route. Hope you enjoyed this one and let me know in the comments what you think about this route.
Ik heb deze route vandaag gereden, nou mijn complimenten! Geweldige gravel stroken, goed te berijden, weinig verhard, kortom…. de mooiste off road rit die ik gereden heb.
Hartelijk dank hiervoor!???♀️