Another evening I preferred to ride on the rollers. The roads have been sprayed with salt these last few days and now that the snow is gone and the freezing temps will dry out the roads, I'm guessing it will be a lot better from tomorrow on. So tonight I settled for an indoor ride, reading a book and listening to some music.
This morning saw a dry intermezzo between yesterdays snow flurries and the heavy snow predicted for later in the day. So I took advantage of this to ride into Meerdael Forest. The forest trails were wet and muddy after yesterdays snow and tonight freezing temperatures were not low enough to stiffen up the mud. I had mounted my WTB Weirwolf tyres - a very good tyre in wet conditions - but I should have mounted my fenders. I set out along the perimeter of the forest again, adding some singletrails were conditions were marginally better because they had not been mashed by other tyres - be they car, bike or motorcycle - and I had to watch out because the leaves were hiding all kinds of traps beneath them. I stopped for a couple of pictures near Mollendaal and also at the forests' biggest tree, the 'Dikken Eik' which loosely translates as Fat Oak.
Several times I needed lighning reflexes and good tyre to keep me from falling off. There was some snow here and there and near the end of my ride it began to snow again. Snow that would become more intense over the next couple of hours .
Ride Stats : 26.5K and 360/305 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h42mins
Well, they weren't wrong with the weather forecast. It was snowing in flurries this morning and it seems to that this will be the case the whole day long. So I quickly settled for an hour on the rollers. I am still reading the fascinating book Frank Vandenbroucke wrote. During the unfolding of his history I begin to understand why I was always a fan of his. He was very unconventional, arrogant and never followed the crowd. When everyone rode in a red Ferrari, he bought a yellow one, and he had a yellow Lamborghini long before Mr. Boonen copied him when he got his Murcielago. The book looks to be written very honestly. How he won everything when he was young, how he was always predicting where and when he would strike in his glory years, and how he made those predictions come true. But then the troubles begin when he meets Philippe Gaumont and gets addicted to Stilnoct. From there onwards things first look great - he wins La Doyenne in a majestic way - but then quickly he is questioned by the French police because he was involved with Dr. "Mabuse" Sainz and because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time - at Phillipe Gaumonts' home when the Gendarmerie raided the place. Truely fascinating stuff and a good insight into the ways of the peloton. I'm really looking forward to reading more about this. The hour passed quickly and I didn't even notice Candice Night singing softly in my ears about Paris Nights. Next up is a good crash into my fauteuil for the Hasselt cyclocross. I don't envy the racers having to battle it out in the current dire weather conditions.
During the day the wind turned from west to north and it got 5 degrees colder. Alson there were gusts and showers with hail and cold rain. So the sensible thing was to stay indoors and sweat a little on the rollers. Another chapter read, another CD listened to and 26K further down the road. The forecast for this weekend calls for snow and wind, so the chances of riding out are very slim.
Again the weather was wet and windy but when I arrived home it looked stable enough to risk an hour or two outside. SO I got on my bike and rode out. The wind was fierce but it was rather warm with 10 degrees average. I was trying out my new onroad tyres, Schwalbes Marathon Supremes in 2.0 version. They roll very easily and the reduced contact patch also makes for less spray than my Racing Ralphs. The slightly less diameter makes for a little decrease in comfort but they didn't pose too much problems with 3 bars in them. If need be I can go as low as 2.5 bars but I got a good feeling in corners with the present tension in them so I will leave them a t 3 bars for a while. The profile and the type of rubber used allow fast cornering speeds , even in wet conditions. I got a confident feeling from the tyres in the corners . With a little under 2 hours I got a good ride in. The clouds were menacing for a while but the streets dried out when I arrived near Sint Agatha Rode and they remained dry for the rest of the loop. Only the wind was a bit bothersome during the first 20K or so when I looped towards Heverlee, Egenhoven and Leefdaal. After Leefdaal I got the wind more or less in my back which made for a welcome change during the rest of the loop, which took me towards Pecrot and Nethen and further to Les Claines and then back home via an extra loop over Haasrode.
Ride Stats : 42K and 320/331 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h53mins
Damn, I was looking to ride outside today , trying out my new Schwalbe Marathon Supremes.. but it was wet and a light rain fell when I arrived home. So I wasn't keen of going out in the dark in those conditions. I also received a Lupine Tesla 4 helmet light I am eager to put to the test as well.. soon.. soon. So today I settled for an MP3 enhanced recovery ride on the rollers. I continued my read of Frank Vandenbrouckes' life story. It is aptly titled 'Ik ben God niet' - I am not God .It is obvious from the first pages he is cut out to be a winner. Very high ambition, no regard for others, highly talented but also with a frail body and a lagging left leg. Quite an interesting read.
Didn't want to ride today but settled for an hour on the rollers to finish reading 2010 Odyssey 2 by Arthur C.Clarke (for the umpteenth time) and get a chance to listen to the new Blackmore's Night album - Secret Voyage. This is another great marriage between Ritchie Blackmore's sublime guitar skills and Candice Nights' elfin voice. I just love their work. I already knew Richie from Deep Purple and Rainbow but it looks like he added another dimension to his music when he met Candice. Seems they tied the marital knot not long ago as well.. so the lyrics of "Locked Within The Crystal Ball"surely get an extra dimension.
Here In the Spotlight, This Moment Is Ours.. No One Can Stop Us, We're One With The Stars
Well, if they continue to produce such marvelous music, I won't stop them. If you have the chance , check out their music. Even the hardiest Deep Purple fan might enjoy Richie's current work. As for me, I completed my book and had a relaxing ride.
The forecast called for cloudy skies but mostly dry weather. Yeah, right. When I started out around 11am there already was a slight drizzle falling - scale 2 on a rain-scale of 10, scale 1 being mist - but after a couple of K's things proceeded to the next level. A good steady drizzle and with the streets now becoming exceedingly wetter I halted to get into my Gore-Tex raincoat and pull the raincover over my backpack. Not long afterwards things moved into the "light steady rain" degree . This was going about as high on the precipitation scale as I will tolerate. Even though my raincoat kept me nicely warm and cosy, it was the wash of the splattering water my tyres launched upwards that began to make my buttocks, lower legs and feet feel wetter than what I assess as 'comfortable'. So I looped back a bit sooner than I had intended and just before arriving home the rain moved up another notch.
Ride Stats : 21.5K and 120/161 heightmeters in 59minutes
I took the Big Bad Wolf out today for a ride that was centered more or less around the Ludo Dierckxens trail. I started out over Hamme Mille and then back to Beauvechain and La Bruyere, from there I rode towards Happeau and further onwards until I reached Chaumont. Here I left the LD trail to cut short towards Bonlez and Grez Doiceau. A quick climb into Bossut and I was back in Hamme Mille and almost home. Weather was dry but gray and the backroads were still a bit wet . Had to hurry home because I had to work this afternoon as well.
Ride Stats : 54k and 410/514 heightmeters in 2h32mins
When I checked my bike out before leaving it turned out that my rear tyre was flat.. oh well, I replaced it before I took off and this time I wanted to do a longer ride than yesterday. And I did. I saw the full moon rising over the fields and took a picture before it got too dark.
The legs felt good and I made a mental reminder to get my winter gloves out because near the end of the ride I began to feel the cold biting at my fingers. A solid 2 hour nightride and I'm glad I didn't have another flat or other issue.
Ride Stats : 50K and 330/388 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h10mins
Left for an easy road ride around dusk. Not far into the ride I felt that wobbly feeling again coming from my back tyre.. damn, not again ! Oh yes, another flat. I examined the outer tyre and this time I found a little chard of glass embedded into it.. just sticking out long enough to be able to puncture the inner tyre when this squeezed against the outer. I memded the inner again , put in some air and was on my way. But because the rim is a tubeless xtr, the outer tyre didn't 'settle' in well, leaving it to feel as if it had a bump in it. This in turn made it harder to get a good pedalling rhythm and I decided to cut the loop a little shorter than I had imagined. When I got home I immediately ordered two new outer tyres. My Racing Ralphs are worn to the thread and have become very soft . I think this must be the 6th year I have been using them. I ordered two Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 2.0x26 tyres at Chain Reaction Cycles. In view of the biking I do with this bike, I believe they are more suited than the new Racing Ralphs anyway. And they have inbuild flat protection which is always a plus, especially on evening rides. After all, mending a flat in the dark is not the easiest of things, even in the light of a 40W bulb.
Ride Stats : 31K and 220/246 heightmeters in 1h23mins
Very stormy weather last night with lots of rain and heavy wind gusts. This morning I couldn't be coaxed to go offroad, not did I want to really with all the mud and debris that was sure to make the going very tough. Instead I settled on what I hoped to be a long slow distance ride along the Red BLOSO route that starts in Heverlee and loops over Sint Joris Weert, Sint Agatha Rode, Terlanen, Neerijse and back over Egenhoven to Heverlee. The wind was still fierce and I was taking it easy, not wanting to burn to much calories. In Ottenburg I saw the participants of the yearly organised ride enter , their bikes a very muddy brown and their clothing painted along the same lines. For the 3rd year in succession the organisers of this fine ride have not been blessed by good weather. Either it rained heavily on the 11th itself, or, like this year, it rained heavily the night before turning the parcours into a difficult succession of climbs and mudpatches. A bit further, whilst tackling the Keyberg, disaster struck for me. I felt my rear tyre lose air and had to switch tyres. I had a suspicious inner tyre with me that I mounted instead of the punctured one, and 10 minutes later I was back on my way. Not for long because during the fast descent of the Smeysberg I could already feel that the tyre was not holding air properly. I tried to inflate it a bit more but upon exiting Neerijse I had to change tyres again. I looked for, and found, the hole in my first inner tyre and after fixing that I could finish my ride without any more troubles.
Ride Stats : 51.5K and 495/468 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h20mins
I had rained quite a lot last night - as I was about to find out. I had slept like a log and didn't even hear the rain nor wind last night. I decided on a simple perimeter ride, which means that I follow the edges of Meerdael Forest , Kouterbos and Heverlee Bos as close as possible. I deciced quickly to avoid the smaller tracks as much as possible because they were swamped and very wet. Instead I concentrated on the bigger tracks, which was also not a bad idea in view of my muscle tiredness from yesterdays' ride. I let out a bit of pressure from my tyres, partly because they felt too hard yesterday and partly to have more grip today. My legs didn't feel too bad but I didn't ride very fast and stayed off of the big ring. Near Nethen I couldn't but take some steepish hills but I managed them all very well.
Ride Stats : 33K and 320/358 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h04mins Ride Map :
The weather has been quiet these last days. Not a lot of wind and so the leaves are not falling as quickly as during other years. This means that the dying leaves give the trees very beautiful colors. Today I set out for a long offroad ride. I took off towards Heverleebos first and then looped around Oud-Heverlee towards Korbeek Dyle where I first met the river Dyle. I stopped frequently to take some pictures. I wanted to go more or less into the direction of Ottenburg so I chose my trails accordingly. My GPS gave me the opportunity to check out some unknown roads without fear of getting lost. On one occasion - just west of Loonbeek I had to loop back because the road ended all of a sudden into a field. The trails were heavy with some mud in the lower areas but with good traction everywhere. My grippy green Michelin front tyre saved me from washing out on more than one occasion. I headed for the Smeysberg region next, and then made my way through the beautiful Lane valley and into the Rode Bos.
When I finally reached Ottenburg I followed the Overijse BLOSO trails for a while, intermittently adding some extra sections. I dropped down towards Gastuche where I found the road next to the railroad to be blocked by road works. Bummer but no problem, I decided to add a bit of Accro Bike region to my ride and set towards the outskirts of Wavre and looped over Dion Valmont. I then followed a bit of the 2008 MX marathon track up to the N25 again and through a singletrack descending back towards Dion Valmont. I then followed the last kilometers of the Accro Bike towards Grez Doiceau. All the time obviously the climbs and descents were following each other mercilessly and I wasn't surprised I had quite a lot of heightmeters at the end. From Grez I headed towards Archennes where a steep climb took me up the Bossut plateau. I then headed for Les Claines and into the Meerdael Forest. The trails here were completely covered with leaves, making it very tricky in the descents because you didn't see what was lurking beneath the multicolored tapestry. I didn't look for any more challenges - my stamina was seriously waning at this point and settled for a straight path through the forest and back home. I hope the pictures I took bring a bit of autumn to all those who didn't have the chance to go out today. I provide a map so you are able to follow my tracks.
On a bike note, I am less and less pleased with the behaviour of my 2001 SID SL. It performs harsh and leaves with me with sore arms and neck. I have had it serviced a while back but that didn't improve it a lot. Furthermore its sloppy stiffness bothers me more and more - as compared to my other bikes that have much stiffer forks . To top it off, the fork arms are starting to wear out and are scratched. I think I will have to dig into my pocket for a new fork. At this point I think I will get my Moots YBB a 2009 SID WC and transfer the Moots' Fox RLT80 to my Litespeed. This because the 2009 SID WC range doesn't come with v-brake studs. The Moots will lose a few 100 grams and the Litespeed will gain a few, but will also gain some stability because of the stiffer fork.
Ride Stats : 65K and 840/858 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h59mins Ride Map:
When I left around dusk it was cloudy and the forecast was calling for a slim chance of some light rain. Temps were nice with 11 degrees C and I quite enjoyed the sun setting . There was a faint hint of rain droplets in the air when I looped over Heverlee and Oud-Heverlee towards the Zoete Waters and Sint Joris Weert. I then proceeded towards Nethen and Hamme Mille. The hameau Les Claines had a new road going through it and after crossing the N25 in downtown Hamme Mille I went for an offroad loop along the fields. Was nearly surprised by a deep gully running all of a sudden across the track but I made it in one piece. I rode towards Tourinnes la Grosse and was contemplating doing an extra loop over Beauvechain and Bierbeek when it started to rain and I declined the idea of adding another 20K to my ride. I rode back towards Hamme Mille instead and when I was making my way along the N25 in Meerdael Forest the rain lessened to a trickle. Nevertheless I was satisfied with my ride which was refreshing and just stressing my muscles enough to make me feel them. The stretching session afterwards also felt good. I hope it doesn't rain too much tonight so that I can go for an offroad ride tomorrow.
Ride Stats : 35K and 245/281 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h32mins
Another nightride . I started around 4.30pm on this dark day and pretty soon the black was engulfing me. The backroads I was taking were rather smudged with mud. Farmers are harvesting and plowing and the mud doesn't dry out anymore. My bike was looking pretty bad when I arrived home after the ride. It looked as though I had been riding offroad. The temps were fine with around 9 degrees C. and there was a light drizzle at times. I wore my lightblue shades this time which are great for nightriding with the bright white light my HID front light produces. All the time I was humming on the sound of Metal Church's 1984 song "Beyond the Black".
"... We are off the beaten track
All the masses are rebelling
To withstand the dark attack
Will we make it back beyond the black?
.."
I did make it back beyond the black and when I got back home I had a long hot tub and did some of the stretches my kinesitherapist has shown me. They focus on the front lower torso muscles, iliopsoas and the muscles at the back of the legs. Holding these stretches for at least 2 minutes gives the muscles and tendons the time to properly stretch. I wasn't surprised I felt the result the day afterwards when I first did them. I also stretch my calves for a few minutes.
Ride Stats: 50K and 385/449 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h11mins 8759/86015
Had a good stretching session at the kinesitherapist this evening and I decided to ride out a bit later as well. Got my trusty Lumicycle Halide out - which is going into its 6th winter season now ! - and I took advantage of this ride to get acquainted once again with the peculiarities of riding in the dark. First off - wear sunglasses with blue or clear glass. I forgot and even though my Specialized is fotosensitive, it still was a bit dark, even with the bright white 40W HID beam. You also need to re-adjust your angle of view, or rather, you need to constantly shift your attention from the bright white column in front of your wheel to a point some 30-40 metres away. Things arrive very quickly in the darkness and you have to be on the lookout for all eventualities. Parked cars, roadsigns , fallen branches, potholes... you name it, they are there lurking and one thing you cannot afford during nightrides is a fall. There was a crescent moon - which looked a bit red because of my sunglasses - and some whisps of mist were hanging around the little streams and rivulets I crossed. Near the end the mist was also gliding through the trees of the Meerdael forest as I took the Weertsedreef back towards Blanden. Temps were great with an average of 8 degrees C throughout the ride.
Ride Stats : 26.5K and 170/219 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h11mins
No rain this morning and with temps climbing up to 11 degrees C a good opportunity to ride out. I took the Hilset which is already fitted with my Lumicycle HID light and thus ready for the coming evening rides.
I decided to do the Haasrode Tour which starts in Haasrode and loops over Bierbeek, Willebringen, Hoksem, Oorbeek and L'Ecluse towards La Bruyere and Pietrebais. Here I decided to leave the loop and return directly towards Hamme Mille and Meerdael Forest. The small roads were covered with mud which left my bike nicely specced in brown.
Ride Stats : 54K and 420/418 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h22mins
Typical All Hallows Day weather - misty, wet and gloomy - and raining as well so I settled for a ride on the rollers. Good recovery ride after thursdays' difficult kinesitherapy session where we stretched my leg muscles to the point where I almost fitted into a box. With my knees against my nose and heels on buttocks. I'm sure you get the picture.
Just an easy hour on the rollers today. My muscles were aching pretty bad this morning so I only had 2 options. Do nothing or go for an easy recovery ride. Doing nothing is not my thing so I settled for option #2. That brings my total to 200K this week, a far cry from what I usually do but considering the circumstances I am very pleased with it. I have been building up the K's since last months' back injury and with the onset of the Winter time the rest of the year will be spent in darkness or on the rollers. Except for the weekends where I hope to get some offroad action in.
