By Planty and Neil
Liege-Bastogne-Liege, a cycle race, has been competed since 1892 and is known as La Doyenne, the ‘distinguished lady’.
Today, after a 5 minute stretching session expertly led by Farny, the green goddess, 10 less distinguished men took on half of this route, leaving Liege under cloudy skies and light drizzle at 9.30am.
After 2 days of mainly flat riding, we’re now in The Ardennes, with rolling forested hills and from Liege (Seriang) we started with a rapid descent into Esneux before embarking on some slow steady climbs culminating in a fabulous pasta lunch stop at ‘restaurant Le Patton’ in Manhay.
Manhay is known for its connection to the Battle of the Bulge, a major event of World War II. The town was the site of fierce fighting in December 1944 and January 1945.
After Farny took offence to the artwork at the restaurant, ultimately removing it and with a cool breeze persisting all afternoon we ploughed on through fantastic and undulating scenery, steady climbs and fantastic sweeping descents, especially one to the very pretty town on La Roche de Ardennes.
We were then into Battle of the Bulge territory, passing by war memorials and a military cemetery before rolling into Bastogne for an evening in the town and a meal at the local brasserie.
