Cycling around Arlon (B)
On Saturday morning, 15 June 2024, a small group of eight Ad Pacem members met in the car park of Clairefontaine Abbey on the Belgian-Luxembourg border. This was the start of the second Bike for Future of the season, during which the team explored the cycle paths and stretches of national road around Arlon. It was a closed course (signposted loop) of 40 km, with the finish, at around 5 p.m., at the start car park.
After cycling through a number of villages and along country roads and tracks, taking in some lovely views, the group had their lunch break in a meadow with a packed lunch.
On the final stage, the group passed through Toenig and Sterpenich before a long descent, giving the legs a chance to relax, to the finish.
The sun, clouds and wind made for a pleasant cycling outing.
Everyone agreed that this outing was an opportunity to spend a good time together, discovering beautiful landscapes in good weather. Before loading up the bikes and setting off again, there was an hour-long visit to the Clairefontaine abbey site, including the ruins of the old structure dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, the medicinal garden redone in the old-fashioned way (as it was in those days), and the spring that (still) runs through the underground galleries which, in the Middle Ages, were a place of pilgrimage where believers sought healing for their ailments.
