Amay-Huy-Namèche-Amay 92 km

This trip for the racing bike includes the infamous 'Mur de Huy', a well-known climb from La Flèche Wallonne (Waalse Pijl) cycle road race, and the even more difficult Thier de Huy. The tour takes you through the Meuse valley and the hills surrounding it. The hills close to the river are quite steep, but the hills further south-east are rolling, and not very steep. The Condroz region here is quite deserted and less wooded than the Ardennes to the east.
The tour starts in Amay (which is closest to the E42 highway and the Netherlands, if you come by car from the Netherlands as I did). There is a small parking and sandwich shop at the start. From here you follow the railway towards the bridge across the Meuse river at Tihange, where the nuclear power plant is. From here you cycle on to Huy so you are warm once you arrive to the foot of the Mur de Huy (see waypoint). The Mur (wall) is steepest towards the end. From the top you make an inland loop via Strée and back to the Le Hoyoux valley. Here you follow the Ravel cycle path back to Huy where the Thier de Huy is the next steep climb. This climb is actually more demanding than the Mur, according to www.klimtijd.nl (see waypoint). The road is much worse for sure. From the top of the Thier you make your way back to the Meuse river at Andenne where you follow the river to Sclayn (see waypoint). The river is quite ugly here, contained in concrete. There is a cycle path next to it, and at the weir at Seilles you pass the river (see waypoint). At Sclayn you climb an easy hill on the west side and directly descend to Namèche (see waypoint) where you cross the river again. From here, you go inland, at first via the Samson river valley, and then the Strouvia stream valley to Stru. Until Stru, the climb is smooth. Directly after Stru you find the Côte de Haut-Bois nordouest (see waypoint), a steeper climb (but much easier than the Huy climbs). From the top of the hill you follow the route through the Condroz region through quiet and deserted countryside (apart from a stretch of N983 road) until you get back to the Le Hoyoux valley at Pont de Bonne. After a small climb you continue to Strée and then descend through wooden valleys to the Meuse river at Amay.
You can find something to eat and drink at the start (small kiosk), in Huy, and in and around Namèche and at Pont de Bonne. Route Amay/ Tihange/ Huy/ La Sarte À Huy/ Strée/ Vierset-Barse/ Mâlâwé/ Solières/ Andenne/ Seilles/ Sclayn/ Vezin/ Namèche/ Strud/ Haut-Bois/ Ohey/ Evelette/ Libois/ Vyle-Et-Tharoul/ Pont de Bonne/ Limet/ Strée/ Outrelouxhe/ Ombret-Rawsa/ Amay.