Had to sit back the whole week because of the bad road conditions. Snow and ice and not a lot of the biking lanes opened. But today - after another -14 degree night - the sun shone so brightly that I was unable to resist the lure of the roads. I decided to take the Litespeed with a Nokian NBX Lite tyre in the front and a Racing Ralph in the rear. That would give me some edge when the roads would not be 100% open. I started out over Bierbeek and Willebringen along the Haasrode road tour and soon enough I would venture on smaller roads that were still covered in snow. But the grip was good with my chosen tyres and I had no problems. Even on the smaller roads towards the chapel overlooking the Hoegaarden fields I made good progress. Only had to be careful in the descents but I never even fell like the bike was out of control. Looping towards l'Ecluse and La Bruyere the roads became wet with salt when the temps mounted towards -4 degrees and with the sun out there was some minor melting going on. I decided to do an extra loop over Hamme Mille, Nethen and Sint Joris Weert to pass next to the Zoete Waters. Here there were a lot of people who ventured on the ice - ignoring the warnings and 'forbidden to skate' signs. I made some pictures and moved on. I did a solid 53K today and I was very pleased to be out there again. Next week the temperatures are forecast to rise over the 0 degree mark so I guess we will be looking at a good messy offroad conditions but at the same time the onroad should be less dangerous, making it possible to venture out in the evenings again.
Ride Stats : 53.5K and 350 heightmeters in 2h30mins
Took a day off from work today in order to make a ride in the 15cm of snow that had fallen yesterday. In order to keep the rubber side down I mounted my very grippy Schwalbe Black Shark Mud tyres in 1.5 section. These offer tremendous traction in loose stuff, but have to be watched on tarmac and ice. I quickly learned that the best way to ride in the heavy snow was to point your tyres where the snow was still untouched. Easier said than done on the bigger roads - there have been a lot of jeeps going over them since yesterday - but on the smaller tracks that made for good progress. Obviously you had to watch the snow to see if there were no hidden pitfalls lurking beneath it. As there are : frozen gullies, branches and all kinds of frozen tracks, horses hooves being the most dangerous. If you ride in the tracks of jeeps care has to be taken because as long as you are on the track, its fine, but if your front wheels strays off of the track, traction conditions change immediately, making the wheel skid . So it was fun and demanded a lot of attention. I managed to take a lot of pictures. I hope you will enjoy looking at them, I certainly enjoyed being out there today and having my camera with me.
Yesterday evening a northerly wind blew away most of the fine dust and during the night the temperatures dropped to -8 degrees C and the wind settled to leave us with a frozen solid misty landscape. I left around noon and the temperature still was -4 degrees C. I wanted to do the Overijse Bloso's today so I rode along the Meerdael Blue route to make the interconnection with the Overijse Red in Sint Agatha Rode. I stopped a lot to take advantage of the special conditions to make some - hopefully - beautiful pictures. Even though it was cold the temperature didn't feel too bad. Possibly due to the lack of wind. But every time the fog got thicker it also got colder. When I joined the route I immediately went for an extra loop into the Sint Agatha Rode forest. This was very beautiful with the fog leaving the trees, grass and everything else covered in spike-like frosty bits. Check the pictures to understand what I mean.
A tricky descent later and I was back onto the track which I now followed towards Terlanen. Sometimes the trails were covered with fine powdersnow, sometimes they were very icy. Especially on one downhill leading into Huldenberg, a narrow hollow tarmac road coming out of the fields and passing by a few houses. All of a sudden the whole road was covered with ice.. iieeek.. don't hit the brakes, don't steer, oops, there is a corner - yiehaaa... you get the picture. Hair raising stuff. I was lucky the road was abandoned because I honestly wouldn't have known what to do if there was a car or something else coming up in the opposite direction. I guess my only option would have been to bail out on one of the sides of the road. After this commotion I was glad I could sit down for one of the steepest uphills - a narrow singletrack leading up to a track between the fields overlooking Huldenberg. No, I didn't ride it. It was steep, gully and today covered with fine snow which had my rear tyre spinning too much to hold traction. I made some pictures of the icing on the barbed wire and moved on. Into Overijse another steep descent, luckily this one was on soil, but it remained tricky. In these kind of conditions you don't want to have a flat tyre or - even worse - fall off your bike. SO I took it easy. There were some skaters on the Overijse ponds and I rode on towards Tombeek and Ottenburg. The steps downhill in Ottenburg was very tricky, the mist seemed to drop down , covering the track with what looked like snow but it felt more like ice. Very carefully controlling my speed and pointing my front wheel in the direction that seemed the safest to me, I completed the downhill unscathed. Warming up during the next uphill and then the great hollow road leading down into Eerken. I was nearly back where I had joined the track some 34K ago and I had had a great ride. When I rode back into the Meerdael forest I met my friend Roger who was also doing a short ride. He took a picture of me at the pond near the Kluis. This one was also frozen solid but we could hear the ice cracking when a few people ventured on it. Roger told me he had been skating in Holland a few times this week. I asked him about the Elfstedentocht but he believed it wouldn't take place since it wasn't freezing hard enough around Leewarden. It seemed to be colder here in Belgium than further up north in Friesland.. Giet et oan? It doesn't look so but keep an eye over here to be certain.
Ride Stats : 55K and 700/708 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h58mins
This morning saw a grey and dull start. It was freezing -3 degrees C and there was some light snow falling. The smog alert was still standing though but I hoped it would be less 'dusty' than yesterday. When I set out into Meerdael Forest I crossed a girl in a red goretex riding a bike pulled by two huskies.. Mmm, looks like a nice way to save some energy. She was friendly as well and merrily said 'Hi' when I passed. She must have been training for a sleddog race. I had pulled my buff in front of my mouth again to minimize the amount of fine dust entering my lungs. On this first day of 2009 there were to my surprise a lot of people walking/jogging/cycling in Meerdael Forest.
I looped towards the Doode Beemde reserve and did a small local loop over the frozen pathways. The snow and ice made the wooden paths and bridges very tricky. After that I rode towards Sint Joris Weert where I ventured into Meerdael Forest once again, more or less following the Blue Bloso route. More or less since I incorporated a couple of nice little tracks with some mean climbs and tricky descents. Pity I couldn't really ride fast due to the fine dust in the air.
Ride Stats : 22K and 230/236 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h23mins
Another day, another smog alert. Even though it was less cold than yesterday and the wind seemed to have picked up a little, the air is still very polluted with fine dust particles. At work I was counting down the hours so I could ride home - with a 90kph speed limit on the highways - to get on my bike and ride out of 2008. I chose to do another Meerdael ride, more or less following the perimeter. When I started out it was still light and the temps were around 0 degrees C but very quickly the waning light called for some lights. The tracks were still frozen solid and with the Crossmax SL/ Nokian NBX Lite 2.2 in front and Crossmax SL/ Schwalbe Racing Ralph in the back I was making good speed. Nevertheless care had to be taken not to bump into the solid walls of a frozen tractor trail. I used a buff to breathe through to keep most of the dust particles out of my lungs. Or at least thats what I hope.
At the end of the ride I could make my final counts to close off the year 2008. I have biked 10283 km and accumulated 96855 positive heightmeters during 220 rides which took me 516hrs to complete. Not bad but I always hope for more. Had it not been for my back injury in september I would have surely reached the 100000 heightmeters mark, a goal I always set myself. The same goes for the 1000K a month which was also seriously hampered by my forced time off and recovery period during the months of september and october. Still, I am quite pleased with my biking year and look forward to new challenges in 2009.
Ride Stats : 36K and 365/385 heightemeters in 1h58mins
Stats for 2008 : 10283Km and 96855hm in 516h23mins
So my dear reader, the time has come to say goodbye to another year. I hope all went well for you and I also hope you enjoyed reading my bike related little scribblings in this blog . Please continue to pay me a visit from time to time in 2009 and also don't hesitate to react to the articles if you feel you have something to say or to add.
I close off by wishing EACH and EVERY ONE of YOU - and all those you hold dearly - a SPLENDID, FRUITFUL and above all HEALTHY 2009 !
Smog alert today and even though the weather was still cold and calm, I was hesitant to ride out. I decided to go anyway but ride easy so as not to breather too deeply. I wanted this opportunity to test the Lupina Tesla 4 in some real offroad nightriding circumstances. The wind was completely gone and the light was fading quickly as I set out on the Green Meerdael BLOSO. Temperature was -3 degrees C and the trails were hard and clear. The Tesla 4 illuminated my path quite nicely on full power - 12W and 700 Lumen. There is a very bright center spot and a nice even halo which still allows good reading of the terrain and of the instruments. Needless to say, I used the helmet mount. Nightriding is always a bit tricky and with these freezing temps I was not taking any risks. The ruts and tracks of numerous motorbikes, cycles and quads were frozen solid, and one of the peculiarities of riding at night is that it is very difficult to judge depth. You only see two dimensions. Also , with the floor frozen it was brighter than usual, reflecting the bright spot of the tesla. I can imagine that this light might be too bright to ride in the snow. Obviously I could have switched it into a lesser wattage - I also have 4W and 1.5W positions - but after a bit of getting used to how the light presented itself before my eyes I got to grips with it. A lot also depends on how high you aim the beam. When the light is mounted on your bike, the beam is always positioned in the same direction as your front wheel, and also the height doesn't vary. With the beam on your head this is another thing. When you are riding uphill, the bright spot is closer to you, when you are riding downhill and standing up, the bright spot is positioned further away, making it imperative that you alternate between looking 10-20metres in front of you and looking 3-4 metres in front of you. The faster you go, the more you need to alternate where you are looking along the trail. Obviously, on well-known trails a single helmet-mounted light is sufficient but on technically challenging and unknown terrain you will need another beam mounted on you handlebar.
After 90 minutes the tesla switched into red mode - this means that the battery is well over half and the electronics switch to a lesser power setting to help you get further with what is left in the battery. The fact that the light goes out for a fraction is a bit freaky but I quickly understood what was happening. In all I think I rode 2h15 without recharging - I already used the low mode a week ago for 30 to 45 minutes - and when I got home I plugged it into the Wiesel charger to fully recharge the battery for the next nightride. I tried to make some pictures but they still are not doing justice to the strength of the light. The first pic is at 12W strength and the second is in the 4W setting. The pics make me think of the Blair Witch movie.
I could very well see the microscopic dust flying in the beam when I was out of the forest, also the temps dropped considerably when riding in the open field. I did not want to remain out too long so I settled for just the Green route.
Ride Stats : 25.5K and 220/214 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h19mins
Another great day for biking. It was -3 degrees C when I rode out and the sun was shining. Today I just wanted to do a relaxing ride in the forest so I chose to follow the Blue and Red Bloso routes in my home forest. The wind was still blowing from the same direction and I cut out the parts of the track that went outside the forest. I also included some extra trails to avoid some of the big forest roads and I included a parallel track in the Bierbeek area which had me avoid the cobble road at the start of the Red route. There was an organised ride which followed the Bloso tracks for a while but since I started out around 11am I didn't have too much bother of other bikers. These days the Bloso tracks is about all some organisers will get permission for. That is a good thing. That way the nicer routes are kept to those 'in the know' and that leaves them nice for a longer time. When I was making my way back towards the point where the Red meets the Blue again there were already bikers removing the yellow-black arrowing. This is another thing the forestry demands. All arrowing must be removed within 24hrs. From the small portion of the organised ride I followed I could see they did a good arrowing job. Plenty of time before the turn there was an arrow pointing into the new direction and then another one in the turn itself. Some useless arrows as well, but I guess they were just reminders you were on the right track, not a thing to be scoffed at in these meteorological conditions.
Ride Stats : 40K and 495/506 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h28mins
Another clear, crisp and cold day and I was eager to ride out. I had been contemplating doing the O2 Bikers Grez Doiceau roadbook for a while now and in these sub-zero conditions the trails would be ideal. No mud, at least I expected none, just dry hard trails. I know the region around Grez Doiceau intimately, it is one of my favorite training spots. I know the trails of the Accro Bike and the Belgian XC Marathon Championships by heart. My club - the Velo Club Grez Doiceau - organised those championships this year with start and finish in neighboring Pecrot. The Accro Bike is a ride that has been organised for many years and I frequently ride along its 42 and 55K versions. O2 Bikers had contacted me a while back to help with a roadbook but in the end they decided to take another guide. In the crucial period I was lying in my bed with a slipped disc. So I was curious what they had concocted. I downloaded the roadbook into my Garmin Edge 705 GPS and around noon I started out. The first 10K took me towards Grez Doiceau and they helped me warm up - the word is ill-chosen - and acclimatize to the sub-zero temperatures. A strong easterly wind made it feel a lot colder than it already was. It was this wind that I feared the most. From the town square the track immediately ascends towards the Bois de Bercuit. At the end it was too steep to ride, especially since a lot of horses hooves has made a fine mess of the trail , mess that was frozen solid and does not help you keeping things rolling when on a 20% incline. So I walked, no shame, it was winter and I would need all my strength to get me around these trails. The trail then descended towards Dion Valmont only to ascend again via a hollow road and a field track towards the N25 . From there I plunged back into Dion and gradually made my way towards Bonlez. The steep ascent towards Les Gottes had me walking again but the section that followed was quite nice. Into the Bois des Gottes they had found a nice track with some high grass next to it. This section was new to me. Into Bonlez then where the trail veered to the left between two houses to reach the river 'Le Train'. Obviously there was some ice and at places even mud here, so close to the river borders. Again, horses hooves had made a mess of an otherwise fine trail. But after a couple of hundred meters the track became dryer and I could follow the singletrail along the river all the way to Inchebroux. A great section into the Bois de Chaumont, with some familiar trails and also some opportunities for extra climbing they did not include. The tricky downhill towards the Rue du Try - or rather an extension of that road leading into the forest and consisting of nothing more than a little river which the trail follows - had me concentrating myself on negotiating the steps, gullies and debris. Down into the gulley - which was partly frozen so dryer than usual, thank God This gulley actually feeds the Glabais rivulet which merges into the Train in Bas Bonlez . I followed the forest road obviously and arrived at the Pink Fishery. Here the trail veered to the right along a singletrack between fields to plunge down into the forest de Glabais. A nice and well known section here with a lot of climbing and descending to arrive finally into downtown Hèze.
The trail then climbed up towards the road to Longueville. I would follow this road briefly before plunging into a field road again which led me towards a forest. Here the trail was nicely blocked by trees . I had to walk a couple of hundred meters which was a pity because it is a nice track plunging into and climbing out of this forest. A little later I was plunging into another forest, very steeply , to follow another singletrack which led me nicely into Pietrebais. Here I got a little surprise - an unknown track close to the river Pietrebais which led to the Rue de la Frene. Here I encountered a well know track which led me up towards the Ferme de la Sarte. I then descended into Cocrou, crossed the Chaussee de Jodoigne and began the last climb into the Bois de Beausart. Steep rooty downhill alongside the Bois de Linsmeau and a few fieldroads later I was back in Grez Doiceau. In all a very interesting trail and certainly a good alternative to the Accro 42 trail. With 34.8K and between 550 and 580 heightmeters its well worth checking it out. The last 10K which took me back home from Grez Doiceau had me exposed to the wind and I was glad I reached Hamme Mille where the shelter of Meerdael Forest protected me nicely until I was home.
Ride Stats : 56K and 725/726 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h37mins
O2 Roadbook Grez Doiceau Stats : 35K and 543/554 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h32mins
Great, it froze -4 degrees C last night so the mud and muck in the forest has been rendered in a more solid state. It was still freezing lightly when I left around 11am and a strong easterly wind made me happy to be able to ride in the forest. Or - at least - most of the time, since I was doing my Meerdael perimeter ride and every now and then this meant riding very close to the forests' edge, with as a result that the wind could reach me. I was riding it in the reverse direction today, starting out along the Heverleebos perimeter and moving on towards the Kouterbos and finishing off with the Meerdaelbos sections. The forest floor was frozen and I made good progress. It took me a while to adapt to the -1 degree temperature but after 15 minutes or so I was settling in. Stopping from time to time to take a picture I could feel the forest floor become softer and softer while the temps slowly rose over 0 degrees. This was a ride were I would have enjoyed the Moots YBB even more than the Litespeed, but the Moots was still at Filip Sport - waiting for a postmount to IS disc adapter that must surely be coming from the moon or something. I mean,when I need a Hope adapter, I can just order it and its at my place 2 or 3 days later. Why it takes more than 3 weeks for a dealer to take delivery of the same piece is beyond me and all reason. So I rode the Litespeed, which is of course a bit harsher due to the lack of suspension in the back.
Even then the mud was still too viscous to splatter on my bike. For the next days the temperatures will remain below zero during the day as well. Great ! Lets just hope that the wind settles a bit because the chill factor is more influential than the temperature these days.
On another note Took delivery of my Lumicycle LEDSYSTEM 3 lighthead today. It looks very smart and offers an amazing 850 lumen light output in the highest stand with its 3 LED lights. I plugged it into my NiMH battery - I have been using a Lumicycle HID Halide for 6 years now and after setting the LED system into NIMH mode I could make myself familiar with it. It has 4 power modes and one SOS mode . Switching between them is done by toggling the switch either upwards or down. Powering down is achieved by holding the toggle down for more than one second. I'm looking forward to ride out with this light. Its a 6 degree spot unit (Lumicycle also offers a 13 degree 'flood' lighthead which is unsuited for commuting because of its blinding white wide beam. Some pictures of the unit.
Here is an idea of the light
output at the different settings. I made these with the D2X and a 28-70
f2.8 lens set at f3.5. I stopped it down afterwards in Nikon Editor to
have the same intensity of background sky. This might not be optimal
but it gives an idea of the beam color and intensity. The different intensity stages are: Commute - Low - High and Boost. I also included a
comparison shot of the 40W HID Halide (which has a 13 degree beam as
compared to the LedSystem3 6 degree beam.
As you can see the Halide has a cooler lightcolor, I find the LedSystem3 light color more natural.
Ride Stats : 33.5K and 365/354 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h59mins
A nightride on Christmas Eve. After two days of rest I wanted to ride out tonight. I took along the Lupine Tesla 4 unit because I wanted to test that out as well. Starting out with the 20W Halogen Lumicycle I decided to ride until its battery would be nearly empty, and switch on the Lupine to continue the ride. I stopped in the beginning of the ride in a pitch black backroad to make some comparison pictures between the different light units. I ran the 20W Halogen, then added the Lupine at its 1.5, 4 and 12W setting. Unfortunately my Sony Ericsson k850i isn't the greatest camera in dark conditions but the pics might already give an idea of the difference in clarity between a halogen and a led light. In real life the Tesla provides an astounding beam of bright white light.
I started out towards the Zoete Waters , Korbeek Dyle and Leefdaal and then rode over Duisburg and Huldenberg to reach Overijse and Maleizen. From here I descended into Tombeek and then climbed out of Terlanen to reach Ottenburg. A few steep climbs and descents later I was in Archennes where - precisely after 2 hours - my Lumicycle light began to fade. I think its amazing that after 6 years this battery still delivers its claimed lifetime when using a 20W light. On came the Tesla and I switched it in its lowest mode - 1.5 Watts. Even then I needed no more light to ride along fast towards Pecrot, climb out of there towards Nethen and then further on to Hamme Mille. Its beam made some automobilists signal me they were blinded but with a light mounted on a helmet its easy - you just look the other way until the car has crossed you. When I got home the Lupines battery didn't even need charging. It can deliver a whopping 24 hrs to the light in its 1.5W mode. The lighthead is hardly noticed on your helmet - it weighs 105g - and the small battery tucks away nicely into my backpack. The weather was calm and with 6 degrees rather clement. I had no worries of any wind either. The roads were all but deserted - Christmas Eve remember - and in all I had a very nice quiet ride, accompanied by some good guiding lights.
Ride Stats : 58.5K and 515/538 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h41mins
A lot of drizzle yesterday and rain during the evening and most of the night took away any incentive I might have had to ride offroad. This morning saw a dry spell and I decided to take advantage of that to do a long LSD ride on the road. The roads were still wet when I started out but dried out as the K's moved along. I did the Haasrode tour, a marked route running over Bierbeek, Willebringen and Hoksem towards the outskirts of Hoegaarden. There was a lot of wind cutting in from the southwest and I was glad I could stop to make a picture of an exclusive Renault Megane RS Team F1 in Hoksem. When I set out again my heartrate monitor was behaving strangely. It seemed to be hanging at 135bpm. Strange, perhaps the receptor belt needs some cleaning or a new battery. I have to look at this because my heartrate is very important to me. I rode on and passed through l'Ecluse and La Bruyere and on my way to Pietrebais I crossed my friend Roger who was having a long ride as well on his Seven Sola. We briefly exchanged our ideas about the wind and other smalltalk and then we each went our own way again. Through Pietrebais and then into Cocrou, Grez-Doiceau and Archennes. In Nethen I cam across another exclusive car I couldn't leave without taking some pictures. A nice black Ferrari F430 Scuderia.
Only Sint Joris Weert and Vaalbeek were left before I was in Blanden again. This was a very important ride because I also passed the 10000K mark for this year. Congratulations to myself !
Ride Stats : 70.5K and 505/525 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h20mins
Yes, a clear and dry day. An opportunity I couldn't let pass so I set out for a quick nightride. I rode out with my 20W Halogen Lumicycle light but when things got dark I wanted to switch on my HID and - shock ! horror ! - it wouldn't come on. I guess the bulb has effectively reached its end now. I tried both leads but it doesn't fire up anymore. The flickering of the HID bulb I experienced during the last couple of nightrides was an indication and after 6 years I guess it has had its time. I still have to receive my HID replacement bulb but Lumicycle has only just started shipping their LedSystem3 lights - of which I also ordered a specimen - and I guess they don't want to send 2 packages. Anyway, I let them know my need has just become a little more urgent. The 20W halogen is nothing compared to the bright 10W HID light. It's bright enough to see where you are going but it doesn't inspire much confidence when going fast and I certainly wouldn't use it offroad. Of course, for the offroad nightrides I have my Lupine Tesla 4 system, another lesson in how bright a LED light can be.
Ride Stats : 34K and 300/355 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h34mins
Another dreary day , not much sense in biking in the polluted air so another spin on the rollers. I started reading a new book - Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Oeuvre - and listened to some heavy metal on my MP3 player. While outside it was misty, wet and drizzly I was enjoying a good read, some great music and letting my legs spinning on a very nice recovery rhythm.
Strange how hearing a certain song can make your thoughts spin back to certain moments in time. When I heard 'Holy Diver' by Dio on my MP3 I had to think back to the time when I still was a deepsea diver. At that time - must have been around 1996 - I had a friend and diving buddy whose name was Remi. He was a paratrooper soldier stationed in Heverlee and we did a lot of dives together. He was a bit reckless and I was mostly diving on the safe side. At that time I usually dived with the gentle people from "De Zeekat" , a diving club of Herentals. I had some friends there and Remi used to know one of the girls rather intimately. Due to me being an experienced diver I was very welcome to help the club out with the forming of new divers. Even though officially I was not a member of that club I was with them during most of the weekends in the diving season. They used to dive in the lesser crowded areas of the Oosterschelde, in Zeeland, and we had some really fabulous dives during that period of my career. I cannot remember exactly when I first met Remi, but we got to know each other and it kinda clicked. Frequenting the same crowd certainly helped. We did some brave dives together. I had all the trouble in the world making him stay attached and close to me during our dives in the Oosterschelde. This was an obligation, both divers are attached with a piece of rope - a buddyline - to avoid losing each other during the dive. With the reduced visibility and sometimes heavy underwater current, getting lost was not a thing to be joked about. Divers dive in pairs because that way, when there is something that goes wrong, you buddy can help you out. Remi had the uncanny habit of clicking out of the buddy line, adding some adrenaline to an already adventurous sport. But I managed to keep him in view and we never had any trouble. The reason I thought of Remi when hering that Dio song today was that before we went into the water - we had to change and get into our diving suit and kit up on the parking lots next to the inland sea - he played this particular song very loudly on his car stereo. It got him into the right mood. And most certainly it is a great song. I wonder what has happened with Remi. Is he still diving? Is he even alive ? Being in the Army, and the Paratroopers division, he will have been sent to some of the foreign missions. Sometimes I would like to catch up with some of the people from back then. It almost seemed a lifetime ago, strange and distant memories but with some very tangible moments that are written in my soul for ever.
Two days of gloomy murky weather, today even light drizzle and as a whole very unhealthy. There is a lot of fine dust in the mist - smog its called - so after a days' rest yesterday I decided to stay indoors today and do a quiet ride on the rollers. I was able to finish the book Sven Nys wrote about his career so far. Very interesting read , he is a real example for all and I'm glad he got the 'Sportman of the Year' award this year. My cold seems to be almost gone and I'm looking forward for the warmer weather they predicted this weekend. Lets hope it doesn't mean rain because I would like to do a long offroad ride on saturday or sunday.
With temps of 1 degree C it was not feasable to do a 4 to 5 hour ride so I decided to leave the Grez Doiceau O2 Bikers roadbook for another day and do a ride a bit closer to home. My friend Roger agreed to accompany me for a Meerdael perimeter ride. I had put my November 9th effort on my Garmin 705 GPS as a course and so we followed the exact same trail I rode back then. The forest was wet and cold but there was not that much mud. Except on some of the bigger roads were forestry tractors had made quite a mess. Furthermore, with temps close to freezing the mud was on the stiff side, not fluid. We had a good easy ride , wondering why we were almost alone in the forest. We only crossed one couple taking a walk near the Zoete Waters and saw two roedeer being scared off by a small truck that seemed to be a bit lost in Heverleebos. The 2-hour effort was just the right amount with this kind of conditions leaving me with the feeling that I had done a good workout without feeling overly tired or drawn.
Ride Stats : 33.5K and 335/361 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h03mins
Time for an easy road ride. I started out over Hamme Mille and then down into Pietrebais From there I made my way into Cocrou. Nice little quiet village with some cobbles in the direction of Biez. In Grez Doiceau I wanted to do an extra little climb towards the school in the Rue de la Ste Chêne but I took a right turn one street too early and ended up on a cobble road that soon made way for a real field track. Being too stubborn to turn back I continued through the fields on a relatively dry trail towards the Bois de Linsmeau. Here things got a little more muddy and on top of that I needed to negociate a very tricky downhill which was a good exercise in bike handling with my gripless Marathon Supreme tyres. Some deep mud as well next to the field on the Rue de Linsmeau but then I could make my way towards Gottechain and continue on paved roads once again. I stopped for a few pictures on the offroad climb towards Gottechain, looking out towards Grez Doiceau .
Ride Stats : 33K and 315/316 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h39mins
Full moon last night and the open skies made it very enjoyable to look at her. This morning temps were in the -2 degrees area so why not try and do a ride in the forest? Indeed, all the mud had nicely frozen solid so it was fun to ride again. The wind was making it very chilly though. I settled for a ride more or less following the Red Bloso route into Meerdael Forest. Yesterday I changed my v-brake pads, chain and jockey wheels . At last I could brake again and the entire gear changing mechanism also benefitted from the new chain and jockeys. All I need to replace now is the derailleur cables and obviously the SID SL fork.
I deviated from the Red route to take some pics at the Warande ponds and in Bierbeek I checked out a hollow road parallel to the one leading past the starting point. Its a nice alternative track if you want to avoid the tarmac and the cobbles. Near the end of my ride the temps were around 0 degrees and the forest floor began to become more muddy again. But still my bike was as good as clean when I arrived home.
Ride Stats : 26.5K and 275/292 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h34mins
The weather is drying out nicely but I'm sticking to my inside roller rides just a little longer. Even though my averages go up and I feel quite ready to ride out, I'm still waiting for a replacement bulb for my Lumicycle HID and a new Lumicycle LEDSYSTEM3 light. They should be shipping by the end of this week, possibly to arrive next week. This saturday there is a nightride organised by Filip Sport. A chance to put my Lupine Tesla to the test. A good two-hour forest ride by the full moon. I want to go.
Another easy ride to let my body fight the nose cold. Things are looking better than yesterday so I stayed on a full hour. Outside snow, sleet and rain were not making me very sorry to be inside on my bike. Hope that this wet weather leaves us and would love to see some frost and dry days instead. Nearly finished my VDB book and got the chance to listen to the first CD of the new Arch Enemy double CD record "Tyrants of the Rising Sun". Here is the official trailer for you.
