Horsing Around Rochefort

The Crown Jewels

Day #5 – Bastogne – Nassogne, France – Mochamps, Belgium – Rochefort
Number of Miles Cycled Today – 33.2
Number of Total Miles Cycled – 82.7
Number of Miles Traveled – 4,827

The first night, two massive nasal cavities prevent your sleep; then they sleep in a far away room, secluded and separated from the rest of the group. You bunk with Suva and have a great night of sleep. The next morning, you feel like yourself.

Day number five of our trip across southern Belgium would provide my ying to the yang. Immediately outside of Bastogne, our route gradually rolled downhill from paved roads into dirt paths through hidden farms. This would be the antithesis of the first day from Bomal to La Chouffe, this was easy. No need to dodge cars while hauling a trailer uphill, intermittently stopping to reattach your rear back tire to the ever important bike frame. But you could probably imagine our surprise as the ever-present Google mysteriously directed us off paved roads to farms.

Now this is the beauty of travel, some days it kicks your ass and you doubt your choices. Other points of the journey, you ponder why you’re not always roaming freely like this. Then you realize you’re not independently wealthy as a teacher, and you can’t afford to do this year round.

Isolated Paths Across the Belgium Countryside

Highlight of day. As the group rounded a corner out of the forest into an open field, a team of 15 plus horses dined lazily on hay and grass. We must have been the most excitement they had seen all day. As soon as we darted out of the foliage, they burst into a sprint and the race was on. They scampered alongside the fence line for 300 plus yards before a fence halted their progress, and we happily declared ourselves the victors. Their brays protested the untimely impasse. Plus, the added perk was that Pepper was ahead of us and didn’t see any of it.

Happy to Ride with Horses

Soon after we crossed the only major thoroughfare of the day. Scuba Steve met us in Mochamps with a newly rented van. Scuba Steve graciously volunteered to head back to Liège and rent the van and drive it the first day. The van would serve as the stead/carrier of extra shit to lighten the load of us overburdened, novice cyclists. Due to the fact that I am stick shift challenged, I rode my bike every day on the trip.

We finally approached our place of rest in Rochefort, La Martinette. We spotted a random, solitary building from the street, but on closer inspection, what initially appeared like the setting for a horror film was simply an affordable bed and breakfast on the environs of town that proved to be just as eccentric as its owner, Frédéric. This holiday cottage from the 1800’s stood over Rochefort providing panoramic views of city center and the sounds of the Rochefort Abbey bells ringing in the distance. Half the group wanted to relax at the B&B, but being in Rochefort, I wanted to visit the abbey. The two Pepper twins and I rode off in search of the hiking trail that led us to the origins of the fabled Rochefort beer.

La Martinette Overlooking Rochefort

Outside Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy

The Trappist Abbey of Notre Dame de Saint-Rémy in Rochefort produces one of my favorite Belgium beers and as our bikes approached, the bells of the abbey grew stronger. The orderly abbey appeared abandoned as we entered the entryway. After cycling around the abbey ready to plunder their delectable beer, we returned via a busy road to downtown Rochefort to stroll around Notre Dame de la Visitation before sitting down to conversation and “degustation” of the Rochefort 6, 8, and 10 beers with cheese and meats less than a mile from its origin. The combination of the atmosphere of cycling across Belgium, enjoying the potent Rochefort beer, and buzzed conversation about life, college, and kids made even the worst Pepper joke seem remotely funny. The only obstacle of living in that moment would have been to leave that moment. With that, Pepper became worried about the other grown men relaxing back at the castle and made his own personal executive decision to return. With the prospect of only Jeremy’s company, we rode back to La Martinette, collected the team and returned to enjoy a two-hour carbo loading dinner of pizza and more beer at La Diva (if you actually click on the link, the first scene of the video is where we all sat). After La Diva, we tried to renew the earlier magic of La Gourmandise by returning there and trying another round of Rochefort 6, 8, and 10 in hopes of purely helping the local economy, along with some ice cream.

At this moment, life was not just good, it was remarkable. The plans we had made years ago had come to fruition and it was satisfying. Next stop, Dinant.

Previous Stop: Day #4 – Mont – Houffalize – Bastogne – Wiltz, Luxembourg – Bastogne, Belgium

Next Stop: Day #6 – Rochefort – Falmignoul – Dinant

Tant à voir, tant à faire - So much to see, so much to do

Downtown Rochefort at Dusk

The Bells of Trappist Abbey of Rochefort Ringing in the Distance

Happy to Ride with Horses

Arrival to Nassogne - Not Fast Enough to Pull a Speed

The Crown Jewels

Outside Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy

Five Fingers - Pepper, Four Fingers - Jeremy

Église de Notre-Dame de la Visitation

Rochefort 6, 8, and 10 at La Gourmandise

Isolated Paths Across the Belgium Countryside

From Pavement to Dirt

La Martinette Overlooking Rochefort

Rolling up to Nassogne