Castles and Celts (well alright Gaulles and Romans and Franks but Celts sounds better.)

Have I mentioned Luxembourg is a stunning place to be a cyclist? Have I mentioned that it has history in abundance? Have I said that if you own a CX or Gravel Grinder or Adventure bike you owe it to yourself to visit this tiny country?

Luxembourg has km after km of forest road, of farm road and quiet roads to link them. So I set off to see what it would be like to be a gravel grinding cx riding tourist. My bike of course my trusted Pickenflick and my route choice had to be accessible from the city with the minimum of black top road. Luckily Luxemboug is well served in almost any direction in that regard. The Piste Cyclable 1 is a wonderful track, but best taken with an adventure bike of some sort or at very least a rugged tourer. It is a wonderful resource and my usual commute route. It is easy to use it to link to many other forest roads and farm tracks and in this case enjoy some beautiful autumn scenery.

Not all the forests in Luxembourg are beech.

From the PC1 I crossed one valley and headed up to a fascinating archeological site where buildings have been unearthed from as far back as Asterix's time - through Roman and beyond. If my French were better I would be able to explain more but suffice to say a great deal of ancient activity was to be had in these parts.

It is a pretty ride on good forest surfaces.

From there I explored new trails to me and ventured from forest to field and back again before eventually finding my way into Septfontaines.

This may look like clear fell at first glance but this is storm damage from a couple of years ago.

Some more beautiful riding in stunning woods took me to a cycle path which should have led me to Hollenfels and my second castle of the day but there were warning signs, not that I really understood anything other than it was a warning, but the men standing on platforms in bright orange camouflage and waving guns seemed to imply an other way might be a wiser option. It did involve a wonderful road descent through the trees to the main road and of course the climb back on the other side.
Which led to one of the most magical climbs, on broken cobbles, not disimilar to a scaled down version of Paris Roubaix but of course unlike Paris Roubaix there was a significant incline. This road led me upwards into mixed woodland that so captivated me that I completely missed my turn and climbed on to a crossroads where the sun beamed down through the trees and the ground glowed. Sadly the picture does not do the moment or the memory justice.

Hollenfels castle is a centre for many activities, and right beside it is a youth hostel. The castle was actually in use at the time I visited and youth groups swarmed around so I did not linger.

Instead I headed down the hill beside the castle for the briefest of time on tarmac and passed the very impressive SNJ buildings with the equally impressive gates.

From there a couple of extra climbs took me past Schoenfels castle and back to my familiar routes amongst the white roads above Steinsel.

50km 900m climbing and just a brilliant day out. Some country to cycle this is!

https://www.strava.com/activities/753598581