The newly fledged cycling team at Mentmore Golf & Country Club are preparing for the challenge ahead.
We are taking part in this year’s “Extra Mile Challenge” which takes us through France, Belgium and Germany, with a scenic route taking in the peaks and dips of the Black Forest. Training is getting off to a wobbly start as we find bikes to fit the team members, and the reality of our commitment sets in – just 83 days to go and counting..........
 

Travel:
We cross the Channel by Eurotunnel on the afternoon of Thursday 23rd September and drive to our hotels in Namur, Belgium, approximately 3 hours by autoroute. The Challenge starts early on Friday 24th, continuing on the 25th and finishing on Sunday 26th when we will enjoy a special Gala Dinner to celebrate the end of the Challenge. The return home on the Monday takes approximately 6 hours to reach the Calais Eurotunnel terminal.

DAY 1: Namur to Nancy
 

We start from Namur, capital of Wallonia, the French speaking part of Belgium. The city is attractively located on the river Meuse, and ideally situated for our first day's cycling through the beautiful Ardennes forest area. We'll end the day in Nancy, in North-East France.

DAY 2: Nancy to Offenburg
Nancy is the chief city of the Lorraine region. It proudly remained French when Prussia annexed Alsace-Lorraine in 1871. Around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, it was home to the art nouveau movement in art and architecture through its École de Nancy founded by Émile Gallé, most famous as the designer of the decorated Paris Métro entranceways. The Place Stanislas at Nancy is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From Nancy we pedal through the rolling, wine-growing terrain of Alsace and across the German border to Offenburg.

DAY 3: Circular tour of the Black Forest
The people of Offenburg, on the edge of the Black Forest, led demands for political reform and human rights in the revolutions that convulsed the fractious German states in the mid-19th Century. A little more peaceful now, it is our base for two nights (no early-morning rush to pack!) as we tour the spectacular Black Forest on our third and final day's cycling. The region is justly famous for its breathtaking scenery, its Schwarzwälde Kirschtorte (Black Forest gâteau to you and me) and, in competition with the Swiss, its elaborate cuckoo clocks.

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