RIDING ABROAD AND DEALING WITH A BREAKDOWN IN THE HEART OF THE BELGIAN ARDENNES

Story and Photos by ITN European Reporter Herve’ Rebollo.

Salut à toi American rider,

The roadbook was soooo great!!!

Imagine a little: leaving Paris straight to the East, crossing the Belgian border, join Luxemburg, make an intrusion in Germany and back home after 3 days of amazing road in the great Ardennes forest across 4 different European countries.

It took a little time to my road mate Thierry, the Spyder Porsche gentleman driver, to produce this roadbook. But it really worthed it.

On this Saturday morning, the planets were best aligned as we use to say in French: sunny day, no rain announced before several days, no one on the roads and we would have for sure some Champagne …

The idea was to first make a stop at our basecamp, Le Bistro du circuit. Good surprise, the parking was still well attended by interesting guyz … cool encounter!

 

After lunch, it was time to spend a little time on the ghost circuit of GUEUX/REIMS (read: NOVEMBER RIDE TO THE GHOST CIRCUIT – Iron Trader News) to see if we could make some interesting photos … and haven’t been disappointed!!

Ok, it’s 3pm, it’s time to really take the road now: go East!!

 

 

Of course, we made a stop to pay our tribute to the world biggest hog, WOINIC. Remember, I told you its incredible story some months ago: OCTOBER RIDE TO THE WILD HOG – Iron Trader News. A mythical animal, it is part and parcel of the culture of the Ardennes. It symbolizes the French Ardennes’ identifying values: strength, courage and solidarity.

 

And then, we entered Belgium, still under a magnificent sunny (it was really hot, about 88 degrees Fahrenheit, the good time to wear leather pants for sure!).

 

The all Ardennes region is absolutely magnificent. Also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium, and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Much of the Ardennes is covered in dense forests, with the hills averaging around 350–400 m (1,150–1,310 ft) in height but rising to over 694 m (2,277 ft) in the boggy moors of the High Fens region of south-eastern Belgium. The region is typified by steep-sided valleys carved by swift-flowing rivers, the most prominent of which is the Meuse. The Ardennes is otherwise relatively sparsely populated, with few of the cities exceeding 10,000 inhabitants.

It’s clearly a land for bikers and automotive enthusiasts.

With a rich and interesting architectural heritage.

 

But, maybe, as American citizen you still know that many of your Vet’ of the WWII have bad memories in this part of Europe?!? In our both military history this region is very particular.

Allied generals in WWII believed that the region was impenetrable to massed vehicular traffic and especially armor, so the area was effectively “all but undefended” during the war. The German Army twice used this region to invade northern France and southern Belgium, via Luxembourg in two famous battles: the Battle of France and the later Battle of the Bulge.

The military strategists of Nazi Germany in 1939 and 1940 selected the forest as the primary route of their mechanized forces in the invasion of France. The forest’s great size could conceal the armored divisions, and because the French did not suspect that the Germans would make such a risky move, they did not consider a breakthrough there, or considered that it would take at least 15 days for an army to pass through the forest. German forces carried out the plan in two days, and managed to slip numerous divisions past the Maginot Line to attack France from the north, and rout the French forces. At the other end of the war, the Ardennes area came to prominence again during the Battle of the Bulge. The German Army, which had been forced to retreat for some time, launched a surprise attack in December 1944 in an attempt to recapture Antwerp and to drive a wedge between the advancing British and American forces in northern France. After a fierce battle the Allied forces blocked the German advance on the river Meuse at Dinant.

This is why you can see US and Briton flags almost everywhere in the region.

And on the road, we have been really lucky to pass, totally by chance (we didn’t’ know that place) exactly at one the points where the US army made its junction the British one in January 1945.

There is a little memorial …

 

With a plate with the symbol of the 2nd US Armored Division (“Hell on Wheels”).

And then ranging from beautiful landscapes …

… to pretty little villages …

 

… we finally arrived at our charming old hotel, totally lost in a campaign which makes stupid GPS even more stupid.

 

The place is very nice and uses to welcome bikers from all over Europe (these guys were Dutch).

 

Just enough the time to ring the vintage doorbell of the hotel …

…and unload our luggage …

… and my brand new motorcycle with only 5600km/3500 miles decides to stop working. The counter transformed into a blinking Xmas tree … and no, it was not the battery, which is at the top. I suspect a made in China low cost alternator of my ass to be responsible. Thanx to the MoCo’s purchasing department.

It was clear that the ride was definitively over for me, stuck in beautiful 19^th castle courtyard in the middle of nowhere, abroad. Cool, it’s gonna be such a pleasure to deal with it tomorrow, on a Sunday morning. Have a good night my boy!! Keep calm they say …

And the next day, after having said bye bye to my road mates … (no Luxemburg, no Germany for me).

… began a (very) long day made of dozen phone call, to my insurance company, waiting for the tow truck, for different taxis to join the central railway station in Brussel.  What a wonderful time!! It took me about twelves hour to come back home.

At least, the Belgian technician/truck driver was very knowledgeable and friendly (he has a great experience in repairing and towing HD motorcycles, he confided to me laughing. Note that Belgian people from Wallony (south and center Belgian) are really smart and cool.

My motorcycle ended up in his storge room while waiting to be sent to a HD dealership …

 

… and me, after two hours of taxi to join Brussels, I finished my ride in a train … (I have had a certain success when I took this selfie).

I don’t’ like to end up I, a failure, so I have already planned to go back the Ardennes region to finish this trip. Let me know if you want to join me.

Hervé, your French biker friend.