Today I wanted to some of the hills I missed out on when choosing for the 108K instead of the 144K during yesterdays' ride. So I set out to Bierbeek where the distance split was and rode towards Opvelp and Beauvechain. I avoided the 3K long cobble section and then rode towards Hamme Mille and Nethen. When I left Hamme Mille the road was blocked by a police man. He made all cars make a turn and also blocked my way. I stopped and asked him why we couldn't continue along this road. His answer was pretty straightforward and non-revealing : "Parce que je suis ici" - "Because I am here". He told me I could make a detour over Les Claines and that was obviously my plan. When I reached the road again I saw the reason he blocked the road. There was a house on fire and the firemen were still working. Hmm, he might just have mentioned that instead of his cryptic answer.

03-07-2011, 15:18 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today I started for my first roadbike organised ride. Strange how things develop . There was a time when I wouldn't even give a roadbike a second look. But now, a victim of circumstances, my fear of going out mountainbiking and gettign bitten by horseflies is bigger than the joy I have in the actual mountainbiking. So as my avid readers know by now, the months of June to September are spent on a roadbike. And I actually quite like it as well, riding a roadbike.
So today I rode towards the start of the Bank of the Post - Decathlon Classic in Heverlee. There were different distances, 39, 83, 108 and 144K. Having had a look at the 144 I decided this might be too much for me at this point. Especially since the toughest bit is in the extra loop the 144 has over the 108. The Moskesberg and the Smeysberg are sure to hit hard after 120K, especially since the menu of the 108 is already well-filled with short steep climbs. So I decided to go for the 108.
The ride starts out easy towards Bierbeek and Lovenjoel, then crossing the N3 for the first climb towards Pellenberg, which ended with a steep bit on cobbles. There were a couple of photographers there. I wasn't officially inscribed so I didn't take the refreshment offered, I would provide my own food and drink. The ride then went towards Lubbeek where another steep hill was awaiting me. The Vortex went on its smallest gear and I made my way up, sitting down, letting the power in my legs do the talking. I felt quite good, keeping it on the small ring in front , just relaxing on the easy parts because I was weary of what was still lying in front of me, hill-wise. 
Arriving at the furthest point, near Molenbeek-Wersbeek, we encountered the next patch of cobblestones. And a little bit further a cobblestone hill, the Kerkstraat in Molenbeek-Wersbeek. It was showing that this organisation also does the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The hill wasn't that steep but with a maximum grade of 13.5% every cobble hit home. I stopped for a first picture.

02-07-2011, 19:58 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Yippee, last day at work for a month so from now on it's a holiday. Time to relax and recharge my batteries. Yesterday I went to Filip Sport to have the Litespeed headbadge fitted to my Vortex. He also had the bottom bracket checked and tightened the headset. Seems I had no re-tightened it suffciently after mounting the bell. I also got me a King Cage titanium bottle holder, which saves 13 grams over the Specialized alu one. It also grabs the bottle a whole lot firmer.

01-07-2011, 18:19 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

After yesterday brought us 34 degrees C and heavy and violent thunderstorms in the evening, today looked to be a normal day. Starting moist with mist and light rain , but gradually clearing out and temperatures reaching 20 degrees in the mid-afternoon. Time to head out and do an easy recovery ride. There was a cool wind blowing when I set out towards Heverlee and the Arenberg campus. From there I rode towards Egenhoven and then made my way on the small tarmac road up the crest towards Leefdaal. Down into Neerijse, with the wind in my back easily reaching 40kph. From Neerijse I followed the newly asphalted Sint Jansbergse steenweg into Huldenberg. From there onwards to Overijse and then up to Maleizen. That was far enough and I made a turn towards Tombeek, again with the wind mostly in my back. From Tombeek it went towards Terlanen and then upwards into Ottenburg. Ottenburg, Sint Agatha Rode and then Nethen towards Hamme Mille. I felt good and my heartrate was low so I decided to loop over Tourinnes and Beauvechain to Opvelp. Turning left towards Bierbeek and the wind was now blowing against me. Still I was not worried. I felt well-rested and my average heartrate of 110bpm over the entire ride can judge for that. Tomorrow I need to take the Vortex towards Filip Sport to attach - at last - the Litespeed headbadge and finally finishing the build.

Ride Stats : 70k and 435/470 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h35mins

5114/50305

29-06-2011, 20:18 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today it was 32 degrees C when I rode out and my average temperature during the ride would be 34 degrees C. A far cry from the 13 degrees from last saturday. I wanted to do an easy recovery ride but the hot weather and fohn-like wind made it not very easy to keep the heartrate low. Nevertheless I did not force anything and rode an easy 32K , just my little loop connecting Blanden to Bierbeek, Opvelp, Beauvechain, Tourinnes, Hamme Mille, Nethen and then through Sint JorisWeert and past the Zoete Waters back to Vaalbeek and Blanden. Lets hope this hot weather goes away, I do not mind a little sun but this is simply too much. Forecast calls for heavy thunderstorms tomorrow so we might get rid of the tropical temperatures very fast.

Ride Stats : 32K and 175/190 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h09mins

5044/49835 

27-06-2011, 17:25 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today the weather forecast called for warmth and sun. It was still overcast when I rode out around 11am but the sun would soon show its face. The temperature already was a balmy 20 degrees C and I set along the same path as I did yesterday to reach Hoegaarden. Bierbeek, Willebringen and Oorbeek passed along as I was checking out to feel how my legs were after yesterdays' ride. It looked like my easy approach had paid off, because they were feeling fine as I hopped on the Ravel 2 and followed that until I reached Eghezee. Exactly 45K into the ride I turned to the right on the bih N91. There was a market in Eghezee which looked very flash in the sun. Lots of colors and smells were greeting me when I passed all the stands with clothing, food and other delicatessen. Following the N91 until I reached Hamme Mille proved a lot easier than lasty wednesday when the rain and the wind were playing with me. Today the sun was out and the wind was shifting from the West to the East, a lot warmer and certainly not with the same strength as it had last wednesday or even yesterday. Turning towards Nethen upon reaching Hamme Mille I figured I would have to add another loop since my plan was to reach 90K, possibly 100, today. I only had 70 upon entering Hamme Mille so I looped over Nethen, Sint Joris Weert , the Zoete Waters and further onwards through Oud-Heverlee and then towards Heverlee. From Heverlee I rode towards the Heverlee Park and then took the Geldenaaksebaan until I reached the Expressweg, which I took towards Blanden. A couple of local loops then finished the job and took me above 100K. A good ride in warm weather and mild wind. My legs were tyring towards the end but given the average speed of 28kph they had every right to be tired.

26-06-2011, 15:54 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

It rained softly the entire morning and I was already beginning to think I would not be able to ride out when, around 1pm, things dried out and it looked like the last of the rain had passed. It was cold - 15 degrees C - and overcast when I left home. Following the Vlaanderen Fietsroute with a little detour to Willebringen and Oorbeek to reach Hoegaarden. From Hoegaarden again on the Lf2a until the little roads started to be blocked by big puddles of water. I rode around those by passing through Laar and Hemiksem and then picked up on the Lf2A again until I reached the Battle of Neerwinden Memorial . Pausing for a couple of pictures and then back until I came upon the markings of the Ludo Dierckxsens Classic, which incidently took place today. 

I decided to follow those yellow markers and with already 45K on my counter I was hoping to get out 80 or 90K. I was wrong, it would be a lot more kilometers. The LD rode towards Helecine, and then I passed through Noduwez, Marilles, Enines and Huppaye. I crossed the Ravel and for a moment was tempted to take that back to Jodoigne and Hoegaarden. But I decided to stick with the LD. The wind was again blowing today and it was full in my face when I reached Jauchelette and the track turned to the right towards Dongelberg and further on to Lathuy . I was on more familiar roads now and this gave me hope and strength. Passing along the trails of the 1W and Biz'On the Bike I reached Melin and here the trail turned left again towards the N240. It then turned right towards La Bruyere and onwards to Meldert and Willebringen. Here I decided to leave the LD and return home over Neervelp, Bierbeek and the Haasrode industrial terrain. Despite the clouded skies not a drop fell and towards the end of my ride the temperature had climbed to a feisty 17 degrees .
I was feeling tired in my legs but very satisfied with this ride, despite the adverse weather conditions. It had turned out into a solid 100K+ ride.

Ride Stats : 111K and 735/795 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 4h22mins

4911/49035

25-06-2011, 19:47 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Took a half day off from work to do some necessary chores. Like getting a new battery installed in my Polar S710. It had been displaying the low battery icon for 2 weeks now and I did not want to take any chances of it dying on me during a ride.
It had rained most of the AM and it only stopped around 2.30pm. The wind dried up the roads very quickly and I had spotted a dry spell on meteox.be. So I decided to take my chances and rode out at 3pm. The sun came peeping through but with 15 degrees it was still rather cold. During the first 20K of the ride I was fortunate to have the wind mostly from behind as I made my way through Bierbeek, Willebringen, Kumtich and Hoksem towards Hoegaarden. When I entered the Ravel I had the wind 3/4 from the right front. Luckily the small Ravel road is bordered most of the time by shrubs and trees. Only drawback is that the road dries out very slow. But this did not bother me and I set forth towards Jodoigne and onward in the direction of Eghezee. When I reached the tumulus of Hottomont I turned right, stopping to take a couple of pictures in the blazing sun.

22-06-2011, 20:56 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

After some showers during the night and the morning it stayed dry from noon on so when I got home around 5pm I decided to take the Moots out for a spin through Meerdael forest. First taking some small tracks making my way towards Mollendaal.  It was rather warm and moist in the forest and I was glad there was a bit of wind when I left the forest to enter the fields towards La Bruyere and l'Ecluse. The field tracks were dry with the occasional small puddle. Working my way towards Melin I turned more and more into the wind. Passing the big Wahenge farm near Sclimpre I stopped to take a picture with my Galaxy S II. I am quite pleased with the quality of its pictures. The Galaxy S I already had a fine camera which made super macro pictures. The new one has 8 megapixels (from 5 for the I) and also incorporates a flash.

21-06-2011, 21:39 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Looked like it would stay dry after a night full of showers. Offroad would be very wet so the Vortex came out again and I set off for an LSD ride starting out towards Bierbeek . I was thinking about friends and foes of a biker when the wind was blowing me up the hill out of Blanden. The wind can be a friend but it can also be a foe, as I was about to experience whilst my ride developed further. From Bierbeek I rode towards Opvelp and then took a right towards Beauvechain. The wind was blowing in my face now. Not straight on, more of 3/4th from the front. But it was blowing hard and gusty. So I had to take a firm hold of my handlebar. Downhill towards Beauvechain and then straight through towards La Bruyere. Little umleitung here taking me to the entrance of the 1st Wing Airbase. Stopping to take a picture with my new Samsung Galaxy S 2. It has a build-in GPS and when switched on you can add the GPS coordinates to the picture. Cool.

From La Bruyere I rode towards the big road to Eghezee. The cloud cover was menacing but I decided to take my chances and hope to avoid the other bikers' foe; rain. From Happeau I rode towards Longueville. On the road towards that little town I overtook 3 bikers. I decided to stay with them for a while, so they became my friends while we took turns in the front against the wind. In the downhill from Biez towards Grez I went too fast, or they decided they wanted to slow down. Anyways, I was on my own again riding through Grez and then taking the road towards Hamme Mille. Wind was blowing from my left side now and a little from behind so I was soon doing 45kph in the long downhill. Turning left at the lights and here was my foe again, blowing straight in my face while I battled to reach Nethen and the relative cover of houses next to the little river. From Nethen I took my usual stretch , taking me from Sint Joris Weert to the Zoete Waters. Another loop into Oud-Heverlee and then from Heverlee along the Naamsesteenweg into Blanden. Only a couple of stray drops so the forecast on meteox.be was proving to be correct. Lots of clouds but no rain to speak off. Another friend of the biker , that www site.

Ride Stats : 61K and 445/445 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h14mins

4676/47340

19-06-2011, 14:31 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Great, it was cold, damp and wet in the forest. That meant I could risk riding in there and the frisky temperatures meant I did not sweat my ass off wearing protective layers of clothing. There was a fierce wind blowing which kept most insects out of the air as well. I was elated I could go offroad after 3 weeks of riding exclusively on the road with my Litespeed Vortex.
I decided to do the Meerdael Bloso routes, starting with the Blue, hopping onto the red and finishing off with a little bit of green. There was not much use riding the complete green because that meant leaving the protective shelter of the forest and being exposed to the wind, and to a lesser extent , to one of the rain showers.

18-06-2011, 14:33 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Felt good, weather was soft and dry so I went out for a long ride. Started out with 60 to 70K in mind but as I rode along and added more and more points to the loop it was getting bigger and bigger and I ended up with a solid 100K ride. Quite some hills as well, nothing really steep but some nice long ones I could take on high rpm and with relative ease. From time to time it got quite overcast but in the end it was only threatening, not a drop fell. Lucky me. Agreed, the 14% slope going up to the Bercuit golf course in Dion was hitting hard after 2h30 hours riding. But even then I was still feeling fresh enough to add another loop taking me to Longueville and Happeau.
I include the Garmin track for those who want to give it a go. It's a nice big oval loop with some opportunities to cut things short, as you can see from the map.



Ride Stats : 101K and 760/805 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h51mins

4569/46310

15-06-2011, 21:19 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Well rested and feeling recuperated I set forth for a quick ride around the block in the late afternoon. The sun was out but it wasn't too warm with some clouds obsuring it from time to time. There was a mild wind blowing from the west.
Once past the climb out of Bierbeek I put the chain on the big ring and it didn't come off that ring until I was back home. Maintaining speed wasn not easy on some of the hills, and with the wind in my face it became tougher still. Also the traffic was hampering my going from time to time, making me have to avoid stopping cars by jumping on the footpaths.
And cars are not expecting you to drive that fast as a cyclist either. On the flats I was pushing around 33kph, even up to 37kph with  the wind in my back. The loop taking me through Haasrode, Bierbeek, Opvelp, Beauvechain, Tourinnes, Hamme Mille and then towards Nethen and Sint Joris Weert to finish along the Zoete Waters and Vaalbeek was just 31K long, and finishing it in one hour made it easy to calculate my average speed. With an average heartrate of 123bpm I didn't even feel tired afterwards. Good supercompensation after a couple of days riding and a days' rest.

Ride Stats : 31K and 155/185 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h00mins

4468/45505

14-06-2011, 18:04 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today I felt good enough for another ride so I left home with the idea of doing 50-60K at an easy recovery pace. Starting out along the Haasrode Tour until I reached Hoegaarden where I decided to enter the Ravel 2 until I reached the crossing with the road to Saint Remi Geest. From here I rode on towards Melin. The sun was out a lot more than yesterday but with quite a bit of wind - again - it felt cold when a cloud obscured the blazing star. I was riding with the handbrake on most of the time, focussing on ralaxation and making lots of rpm instead of going on the big ring and power pedal.
From Melin I chose to avoid the wind and turned towards La Bruyere and Beauvechain, finishing off the ride over Bierbeek and Haasrode.
Another 400k+ week on the Vortex. And with more than 3000 heightmeters also a solid climbing week. I'm dreaming of riding a mountainbike again but I will have to chose time and place very carefully. Preferably on an overcast day . I am also thinking of taking the Vortex to the Ardennes to do some hilly road cycling over there. Plans and plans. In the nearer future I need to get the battery of my Polar replaced. It inidicates a low battery condition since yesterday. 

Ride Stats : 60.5K and 400/440 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h20mins

4438/45320

12-06-2011, 13:50 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Time for a long road ride so I set forth towards Meldert and Hoegaarden to pick in on the Ravel 2 . This goes over Jodoigne and Eghezee until it reaches Saint Servais near Namur. The weather was less pleasant than it had been these last couple of weeks. It was cold enough to make me wear a long-sleeced shirt and there were dark clouds threatening with rain from time to time. The wind was blowing from my right front so I took an easy pace trying not to spend too much energy on this part of my ride.
Around Eghezee a dark cloud looked like it was about to burst but it didn't and it stayed dry. I turned with 57K on my counter in Namur. Riding back over Eghezee and towards Jodoigne I saw a dark cloud with veils of rain hanging beneath it straight ahead of me. So I decided to avoid the certain rain and took a left turn off of the Ravel just before Huppaye, taking the road towards Glimes. Upon reaching the N29 coming from Jodoigne I followed this a little while until I reached the N91. I had felt some raindrops near Glimes and the roads were still wet from the shower that I had avoided.
Taking the N91 towards Incourt and Hamme Mille I could make good speed. The wind which had been blowing in my back upon turning in Namur, was now strongly blowing from my left, trying to tip me and my bike over to the right. The N91 is a broad road so I could stay away half a metre from its side and the cars could still pass me by without problems. Arriving at Hamme Mille I took a left towards Nethen and then came in over Sint Joris Weert, the Zoete Waters and Vaalbeek. The last bit was easy with the wind in my back again. The sun was out more now than it had been a couple odf hours ago, but I could still see dark clouds. With 126K this was my longest ride this year and I am glad I could finish it with a relatively high pace despite the wind making it very difficult for me during the first half of the ride and between Huppaye and Hamme Mille.

Ride Stats : 126K and 720/755 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 4h42mins

4377/44880

11-06-2011, 18:57 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

After two days of relatively flat rides - I say relatively because no ride involving Brabant Walloon is ever to be considered flat - I wanted to do some hills today. So I concentrated on that, finding some 10 major hills along a ride that took me from Heverlee to Bertem, Leefdaal, Duisburg, Hoeilaart and then into Brabant Walloon in Rixensart and Rosieres. Wavre and Dion Valmont brought me to the 14% slope of the Golf de Bercuit which led me to Grez and from there I added Bossut, Pecrot and Ottenburg to the list. From Ottenburg down to Terlanen and then to Sint Joris Weert and the Zoete Waters. Already relaxing now and cruising home over Vaalbeek and Blanden.
Good ride in relatively sunny conditions. When the sun hid behind the clouds it was a bit chilly but as the ride went on the skies opened up and the wind subsided. Average heartrate of 118bpm which means I took the hills at a relaxed pace and high revs , not on strength. Only way to go if you want your knees to last.

Ride Stats : 85K and 705/745 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h19mins

4251/44125

09-06-2011, 20:11 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Leaving around 4pm again, this time I had chosen to do a ride along bigger roads. Roughly todays track took me first to Hoegaarden, over Bierbeek and Meldert, then I took the Ravel 2 until I reached Jodoigne. Here I followed the busy road towards Thorembais-St Trond. This was tricky because the bikepath was only about 30cm in width for most of the time. With the heavy traffic this looks like a road you better avoid. I was glad I could turn right towards Dongelberg after about 5K . From Dongelberg I connected to the big road again leading me into Hamme Mille.
From Hamme Mille I chose the typical loop over Nethen, Sint Joris Weert and the Zoete Waters, finishing off today lap over Oud-Heverlee and Heverlee, following the Geldenaaksebaan towards the Expressweg. When I reached that I followed it towards Blanden.
Had a good recovery ride even though the wind was noticeably blowing from the west today.

Ride Stats : 70.5K and 480/540 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h38mins

4166/43380

08-06-2011, 19:16 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Do the Ludo, that was my plan for this afternoon. Starting around 4pm the weather was overcast but warm and there was no rain forecast for the next couple of hours. Yesterday we got - at last - a good amount of rain that will do a world of good for the thirsty nature and the crops on the fields. It rained for most of the day which was sweet.
But today the rain stayed away so I decided to ride out with the Vortex. The Ludo, for those who are new to his blog, is a version of the Ludo Dierckxsens ride that goes into Brabant Walloon. I usually pick it up in Bierbeek and I did so again today. Passing Opvelp, Beauvechain, La Bruyere and the outskirts of Pietrebais before turning towards Risbart and Incourt. I chose the big road instead of the smaller tarmac connections. There was no wind and that road is wide and good-running. In Dongelberg I took a left and then rode to Chaumont. From Chaumont a climb up to the chaussee de Wavre , a quick dip into Dion Valmont and then riding towards Dion Le Mont and ultimately Archennes. Then the track veers towards Ottenburg but turns right again towards Sint Agatha Rode. Not much longer I was in Sint Joris Weert riding towards the Zoete Waters. Adding another loop into Oud-Heverlee and Heverlee, passinge the Caserne and then taking the Expressway towards Blanden. Had a good ride with a good average speed and a low overall heartrate.
I also got my Samsung Galaxy S back from Proximus today. They put the lastest software releases on it so it is now running smoothly on Android 2.2 (froyo). The Galaxy  S II is running on Android 2.3 (gingerbread) and has a 1.2 Gigaherz dual core processor, making it as fast as an average PC.
The Galaxy S is for sale, if you need more info, send me an email .

Ride Stats : 75K and 510/605 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h40mins

4096/42840

07-06-2011, 19:42 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Since it looked sunny again this morning - after a night full of wet promise but no rainfall to speak of - I decided to ride out yet again on the Vortex. Starting with a leisurely pace and this time avoiding the hills as much as possible. But obviously, since I chose to ride towards Brabant Walloon that is not always easy. But I felt surprisingly good for this 4th road-ride in as many days. So good that I added more distance to the ride finishing with almost 60K on the counter. Had a very good week, all done on-road, with 430K and 3400 heightmeters. I will keep the mountainbiking to an absolute minimum in the following months to avoid being bitten by horseflies or other critters. In september the chances of that will diminish and the mountainbike will become my major bike once more.

Ride Stats : 60K and 400/405 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h6mins

4021/42235

05-06-2011, 14:37 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

While my first plan was to take a days' rest today, the fact that this might very well be the last of the fine "summer" spring days for a while made me decide to ride out anyway. I decided to connect to the trail of the Philippe Van Coningsloo Memorial ride and try following it completely. Picking in on the Wolfshagen riding in the direction of Terlanen I was speeding along in the hot weather with the wind in my back. The PVC went up the Smeysberg, then down into Huldenberg and up again over the Ganspoel towards Duisburg. From Duisburg it dropped into Vossem and then followed the big road towards Leuven for a while until it turned right towards Leefdaal. There it climbed out and rode straight into Neerijse. From Neerijse it then connected to the Wolfshagen again. This was one lap.
When turning off the Tervuursesteenweg I saw a familiar biker standing by the side of the road. I recognized her as Christine Vardaros. One of the friendliest Cyclocross Pro's out there. It had been quite a while since we last met and I am pleased she recognized me too. We rode together for a short while so we could chat up a little about what had happened in the 4 years since we last met. She told me she had also been mountainbiking - racing a mountainbike that is - but she was not too thrilled by the "good brakes" and the "wobbly" suspension bits. Well, compared to a cyclocross bike I believe she is absolutely right when she describes the sensations aboard a mountainbike. I have the same sensation when I switch from my roadbike to my mountainbikes. It takes a little while to get used to the different handling and comfort level. She was on an interval training so our roads split way too soon.
I continued and did the whole PVC lap one more time. Then I returned whence I came, over Sint Joris Weert, the Zoete Waters and Vaalbeek. I had a good ride and a pleasant meeting with someone I hadn't seen in a long time. So in short, I had a good day.

Ride Stats : 67K and 575/590 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h30mins

3961/41830

04-06-2011, 18:39 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf