From Fri 31 May – Sun 2 June we were in Mechelen for a cycling adventure in South Limburg. As real cyclists, we are fond of riding through the challenging hilly landscape with its green forests, the beautiful timbered houses and castles. Our ‘home-away-from-home’ was the cosy Pension Geuldal, right in the heart of South Limburg and an excellent starting point for our rides.
We had the entire pension to ourselves and were supplied with all the necessities. After a warm welcome on Friday afternoon by owners Saskia and Charles, we went out to restaurant Proeff! for a delicious dinner. It was obvious asparagus season and for most of us it wasn’t hard to choose what to eat:-)
We had a good night’s sleep and started Saturday with a solid breakfast. We were getting spoiled with freshly baked bread, home-made jam and fruits from the garden. Then it was high time to get on our bikes for our first day of cycling:-)
A beautiful and challenging route (122 kilometers + 1650 altitude meters) including all special requests of our members like the Schweibergerweg, Pannisberg, Plank and Bemelerberg. The biggest challenge probably was the rain … but no complaints at all. The post ride shower rarely felt so good!
We ended our day with dinner at De Geulhof. While enjoying the tasty local specialties and drinks, we replayed the day’s events and had some good conversations. Really nice to get to know each other a little bit better off the bike too:-)
On Sunday we cycled another beautiful route (120 kilometers + 1400 altitude meters). This route was made by PEAK-member Maarten who couldn’t join us this year. The Camerig, Kruisberg, Trintelerberg, Fromberg, we conquered them all. Halfway we had lunch on the terrace of Café Zuid in Maastricht.
Without any doubt, Joeri was our PEAKer of this weekend. Thank you for being so supportive to everyone during the rides, great! We hope you’ll be challenged off the bike too with your ‘Wielersport Puzzelboek’!
We finished the weekend with some well deserved ‘Limburgse vlaai’ and PEAK Beers, while listening to the heroic song of Alex Roeka: ‘De onbekende renner‘.
We look back on a wonderful cycling weekend. With 33 climbs, great views, amazing teamwork – on ánd off the bike (fixing six flat tires) -, delicious lunch + dinner breaks, good conversations and a lot of happy faces, we cannot wait to go again next year!
