Ride Report: The fabulous ‘Le Fabuleux’
Posted By Gravel Union
On 8 July 2021
Erwin Sikkens from the Shimano Gravel Alliance was starting to get cabin fever from not being allowed to escape from his home country of Holland. Recently though, with restrictions loosening, he grabbed his chance to escape and hopped over the border to Belgium.
With borders slowly opening up and the possibility now available of getting together in groups again on the European mainland, I recently found myself driving from the Netherlands to Belgium to the ‘Le Fabuleux’ gravel event. A drive to Belgium is something I would do, in a normal year, a couple of times per year, but this time it had been many months since I last set foot in this lovely, cycling-worshipping nation. Getting my car across the border, driving their bumpy concrete roads and cobbled corners, felt like a holiday and homecoming at the same time.
Le Fabuleux is a small gravel event put on by the organizers of both the Flemish ‘Smugglers’ Path’ and Walloon ‘Gravelride13’ gravel events, making Le Fabuleux the perfect ride through different types of Belgian landscape. It’s set up as a multi-day bikepacking event. I, as a bikepacker, however chose to let my luggage be carried by the organisation's van. I know I know - not really bikepacky of me, but I feel like I already earned my bikepacking stripes in the past and felt no need to carry my stuff when there is no real need for it. My choice basically turned the event into a two day gravel ride with camping along the way. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one to make this choice.
The event starts in the Flemish town of Ham, on a local sports ground turned into an occasional campsite. The first day took us on a 175 km long ride to the Ardennes, an area known as the venue of the ‘Liege - Bastogne - Liege’ cycling race. Although the first couple of dozen kilometers were quite flat, we knew from the start that we would have our work cut out for us - the Ardennes are never to be taken lightly. The first few kilometers weren’t exactly easy going either, but were super fun. The route took us on many local trails, bumpy paths and cut throughs. The route had clearly been created by a local with knowledge of the nicest paths out there… and I loved every bit of it!
The second part of the first day’s route, was, as expected, a lot tougher on the legs. With the hills getting bigger as we rode along, the Ardennes were getting closer and closer. As soon as we hit the town of Liege, we knew exactly what was coming - rough climbing and even rougher descending was what was waiting for us in the final kilometers to the finish line of Stage 1. The feeling of ‘true’ climbing was something I had missed for so long. But even more I had missed riding together with others - this was what made me truly happy. The day ended on a campsite in the Walloon town of Sy, where the campfire and barbeque were lit, beers were opened and stories were shared.
The second day would bring us back from Sy to Ham, but via other paths, trails and climbs. The start, climbing some archetypal-Ardennes gradients straight from the get go, was harsh but lovely. Although my legs started hurting about 20 seconds from the start, I enjoyed every minute of it. The ride took us back north via again a lot of perfectly selected local trails and backroads. The climbs became less demanding as we were riding along and at a certain point we found ourselves near Maastricht in ‘Amstel Gold Race’ land. The hills there are fun and gravelly, but the incoming rain storm did worry us a bit.
When – less than 10 minutes later - it started raining cats and dogs and all paths quickly turned into mud streams, we decided on cutting the ride short. A quick komoot app route took us back to the original start, where a warm shower and some post ride beers were waiting for us. Even with the shortcut and the rain, the ride had been an absolute blast! It felt so great to be among like-minded gravel lovers again, taking on a challenge and loving every minute of it. Le Fabuleux turned out to be the perfect example of what a small gravel event should look like. A crew of nice people, a beautiful local route and post-ride beers to celebrate the ride and share stories. Le Fabuleux is one of those ‘definitely can recommend’ rides that you should put on your 2022 bucket list. Probably see you there next year!