200 000 years ago! While MOTO PULSION, your favorite magazine, celebrates its 200th edition, we had to spoil you! Done! Looking back in the magazine history mirror, we happened to look much further: all the way to jurassic times, 200 000 years ago! And, why not, also 200 BC and 200 AD? This month, your bike will let you travel in time and negotiate numerous impressive twists.
Thirty six bends. Starting point of our route, rendez-vous is made at the prehistoric site of Ramioul. The place is easily accessible via the Flémalle exit on the E42, one has just to go down towards the Meuse river, jump over by the dam-bridge and follow the Ramioul « pre-histosite » sign posts. Once there, you may visit the site. Learn while having fun with the place philosophy ! If you prefer having a bite while waiting for fellow riders, the cafeteria is available to you. The road is waiting for us! After a few hundred meters, one leaves the Mosan valley to climb back on the plateau by the « Road of the 36 bends » (conveniently coined). Watch out, as the winter has affected the tar quality. The ridge is in the forest and the flavors of the rejuvenating nature are reaching our nostrils. We reach the plateau and relax a bit. The eyes are filled with the landscape spreading around. We leave Neuville-en-Condroz, to reach Ouffet. Before that, we shall resume wearing down our tyres flanks... The road to Bonsgnée is a marvel. We turn again to cross Hody without missing a glimpse to the nice 11th century chuch. After Ouffet, we plunge towards the Ourthe valley to touch Hamoir. A small detour by the lively Neblon valley. A paradise road for motorcycles. A good tar surface, plenty bends, a doubled safety rail in many places, one starts dreaming at every passing on this quality road. Climbing up towards Tohogne. We play rollercoaster and plunge back towards the Ourthe we rejoin in Barvaux. More than 5 000 years ago. There again, everything will be done on the edge, something for us. The Moto Pulsion road books season goes on with jingle and bells ! We climb the right hillside riding through the last acres of the Bois du Ban. Another marvel of history awaits us. The Megaliths of Wéris. We shall stop first along the most famous of the dolmens. Dol in primitive Britanny language meaning « table » and men « stone». It is an ancient tomb with a access path and a covered mortuary chamber. It is impressive to think that these boulders have been raised by our ancestors more than 5 000 years ago! After discovering the place, let's head for the village and its museum. A friendly welcome awaits us. We shall learn how to better know the neolithic period (going from 9 000 to 3 000 BC). Beyond this museum, the village of Wéris hosts an exhibition centre and the theme of 2008 is the Middle-Age and its V.I.P. (see detail in the MOTO PULSION # 200 magazine in bookshops).A tavern/brewery is also available to us. We « down » a first time before taking the road again to Erezée.
One-two, Marche We carry on until Dochamps. We speedily negotiate the N89. The road is wide with large curves negotiated ar fair speed to reach La Roche. We only touch « the pearl of the Ardennes » to tackle 20 km of great beauty. This section is customized to let us enjoy ! As soon as we arrive in Marche, we let our bikes rest in the courtyard of the Famenne Museum. Hosted in the Jadot House, a wealthy building on the register of the Walloon Region, we discover in the heart of the house an efficient mix about the Merovingiens, then Carolingiens history, gothic art displays or modern art. The nice scenery and presentation are made to please the public. The museum team regularly proposes meetings, animations and theme gatherings. A few hundred meters away from the museum on the left hand side, a delicious butchery will allow you to head back home with a full bag. After this new discovery, we leave Marche towards Rochefort. Ten kilometers without interest to reach the Gallo-Roman town of Malagne. From the the remnants of a gallo-roman farm this site offers you to (re-)discover for real the daily life during the antiquity. Another place where learning is pleasant. We « down » another one before heading towards Ciney. After a long straight surrounded by great landscapes, we take another shot of curves until Ciney. We go through town to tickle Spontin, always on the edge. We climb up the hill to reach Gesves before following the sweet valley of the Samson. Classic among the Classics, we shall leave the famous castle on the left hand side to carry on our descent towards the Meuse river. A short while before the river we shall push the throttle to climb towards Thon and reach Bonneville with a wink to the Triumph owners ;-)
Archeo-passion The way down towards Sclayn is another delicacy. We shall stop there for another marvel. The Scladina cave. Archeological excavations have unearthed hundreds of thousands of objects. Bones, teeth, tools, flintstones... For about thirty years the cave is carefully explored. And only 10% have been visited so far. In 1993, the jaw of an 8 year old child is discovered by the scientists. This child is neandertalian and is older than 100 000 years. One of the discovered teeth is sacrificed. Cut in two, scientists recover a black powder: the teeth pulp. Thanks to this pulp, they shall be in a position to reconstruct the child's DNA. The oldest genetical heritage is therefore granted to the world scientists for comparison and analysis in an attempt to better learn about our ancestors. The Scaldina cave allows you to visit this excavation works accompanied with an intersting archeologist. A marvel, we told you! That leaves us with the return trip to our last point of travel in the past. We reach the Meuse river banks to cross over and climb the left hand hillside until Vezin. Franc-Waret awaits us. Landscapes change. The hills are softer and the villages healthier until Leuze. The end of the ride is close. We meet the Namur road to cross Eghezée and reach Ramillies. We finish with the nice villages of Foix-les-Caves and Jauche. Our arrival is in front of the Orp-le-Grand archeological museum after 215 km of a nice rider pleasure. Our time machine is once again set to « 2008 » and let us imagine more nice discoveries at the next Moto Pulsion road books. Enjoy the ride, and drive carefully.
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