Bike used

Electric city bike, because why not? My wife and two kids use normal city bikes and mountain bikes. Show offs.

Favourite Cycling route

Steinfort/Hagen-Kahler-Grass-Clemency and back

You know the feeling when you're zooming up a mountain on a hi-mod carbon frame, limited edition Trek bike? Sweat pouring down your face onto your snug Leopard Trek jersey and Speedos that would have looked good on you when you were a skinny child, but now just scream of desperation and endless hope. As you tear down the road, dangerously close to running over toddlers on balance bikes, do you feel like a long lost third Schleck brother?

Good. Me neither.

So, let’s talk about a cycling route for people who are not pretending to be training for the Tour de France.

My favourite cycling route, which I call The Lazy Boy International, starts outside my house in Hagen, Steinfort. It’s a fairly relaxing bike route, very close to the Belgian border, and you can easily find yourself near a Belgian Friterie if you're not careful, or if that’s exactly what you want. The bike routes are clearly signposted, so you should have no trouble finding them. 

There are many similarly flat villages around the country, with pretty good bike trails. Just go into any village, and there is a fair chance you will spot a cycling trail within 5 minutes. But if you want to try this one, get on the train from Luxembourg city, heading to Belgium, and get off at Kleinbettingen, the last stop in Luxembourg. Right next to the train station, you will see the grain silos where they store the wheat/flour used to make the pasta you recently got in your mail. The road in front of it goes into the fields and joins the bike route. 

If, at this point, you see that you've forgotten to take your bike with you, relax. There are a couple of good restaurants right there, and some very fancy ones in Steinfort. You'll need to have a reservation, so remember to forget your bike at least a few weeks in advance. Have some wine, eat some delicious food and take the train back home. 

You'll need to have a reservation, so remember to forget your bike at least a few weeks in advance

 Sundeep Bhardwaj

Almost the entire route winds through fields, bordering some forests, and it’s a scenic route. There are no hills in sight, but there are a couple of gentle slopes along the way that threaten to start using a few of those calories from that pain-au-chocolat you had with your coffee. But not really. And before you know it, you're in Kahler. 

Kahler/Koler is an idyllic village popular for its houses whose facades are covered with beautiful murals and graffiti. You'll see a bunch of friendly horses and cows as you get there. They also have the tiniest cinema in the known universe, called Kinoler. You can also grab a drink around here if the 15 minutes of cycling has got you knackered. Just across the street where you came in, the trail continues towards Grass/Garnich. That's basically Ikea's back garden, which means there's a McDonald’s right there. And it’s a lot better than the McDonald’s in Luxembourg for some strange reason. 

Same as before, cross the street and continue the trail towards Clemency. While the roads so far were farm roads that can sometimes have a tractor or a stray car on it, the road from here is a dedicated bicycle only road, covered by a thick forest canopy and flat as a warm glass of English beer. You will encounter some wildlife here, mostly people thinking they're Lance Armstrong, so keep to the right lane.

From Clemency, you can see the bike route continuing on southwards, and frankly, you can keep going as far as you want. But then, that's just exercise. Where's the fun in that?

Level of difficulty

Easy

Why I ride

It feels like a holiday every time. Listening to an old Pink Floyd or Led Zep album, the cool breeze on my face, it reminds me of what it was like to be a child.

What is missing from the cycle infrastructure in Luxembourg

Nothing. Its pretty good. However, it would be great if the police could stop and fine cyclists who don’t know how to ride in single file. Two cyclists riding next to each other on a busy road, should be...well, let me know what you think would be the best punishment!