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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 04-02-2009 |
 Dirty and wet |
A dry day today, but it was misty, cold and damp when I rode out into the dusk. There was still snow in the fields and the main roads were glistening with salt and very dirty. I set out for a long slow distance ride along Heverlee, Oud-Heverlee and Korbeek Dyle. From there I climbed into the snow-covered fields steaming with wisps of fog. Over Bertem and Leefdaal my path brought me towards Neerijse and further on into Sint Agatha Rode. Darkness had fallen completely now as I rode towards Pecrot and Nethen to finish off my loop riding into Hamme Mille and back through Meerdael forest. The average temperature was a frisky zero degrees C and the damp conditions made it feel colder than normal. Good thing I went out though because the rest of the week should see the return of rain before the temperatures should drop below zero again towards sunday. Ride Stats : 40K and 335/347 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h55mins597/5035
04-02-2009, 19:30 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 03-02-2009 |
| tacx bike strenght/power workout |
Today the weather was miserable, slight snow and rain provided a lot of wetness and my planned road ride had to make way for something else. I remembered that on the Tacx website they provide some good workouts for the rollers and I looked up a nice one to keep me busy for about an hour. It was their Bike Strenght/Power workout and you can find it by clicking HERE.Check out the rest of their workouts on their website. I had a good feeling in my legs upon completing this program and after a good hot bath and some elaborate stretching everything felt right. I provide the Polar graph for you to check out. You can see the intervals as numbered red squares. The red line is my heartrate and the blue line is the bike speed. Ride Stats : 23K in 1h01min
557/4700
03-02-2009, 19:34 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 01-02-2009 |
| Magura Durin SL first ride |
After seeing the women and the men elite race in Hoogerheide I wanted to ride out myself. Today saw less sun than yesterday, with clouds setting in from the east, promising snow during the night and next morning. A good hard track was to be expected and I took this opportunity to have a first ride with the Moots and its new fork. A shiny Magura Durin SL 80. I rode into Meerdael looking for some climbs and descents to see how this fork would make the bike behave. From the onset I noticed that the ride would be firmer than with the Fox. A good thing since I found the Fox to be a bit soft. The Magura offers a relatively stiff ride, not bouncing or bobbing when climbing yet offering enough dampening to take the big hits with ease. Obviously the front wheel has the same or even slightly more lateral stiffness and the bike is a real ace on twisty and and turning singletracks. I had to look out for the frozen ruts which had my wheel jump unexpectedly during a couple of descents but I was never in trouble, always in control. I did feel the tyres getting harder during the ride, especially in the back. With an average temperature of -1 degree C it is clear that the workings of the suspension are a tad more stiff than in normal temperatures but I still managed to get nearly 7cms out of the 8 available in the front fork. Overall the Magura performs as expected, but I will have to ride it some more in normal temperatures before I can begin to fine-tune the air pressure. I had been warned that the Magura fork would run a bit wet - meaning that there is some oil on the inner tubes after a ride - so I wasn't worried or surprised when I notice a light oily film on the tubes after the ride. The 200grams gained in the fork also makes for a noticeably lighter front end. The Moots has always been an excellent climber but now it has become even more nimble and vivid making it living up to its name - whYBeBeat. I managed to take some pictures even though the light was fading fast due to the approaching dusk. Ride Stats : 20K and 395 heightmeters (Garmin) in 1h19mins534/4700
01-02-2009, 18:54 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 31-01-2009 |
| Grez Again |
Another cold and dry night made way to a sunny day. I decided to ride to Grez-Doiceau again to do the O2 Bikers roadbook one more time. I already rode it at the end of last year but this time I would add a couple of extra loops (mostly climbs) and cu out the long passage through the water in Longueville. When I left it was minus 2 degrees C but the sun quickly made it feel a bit warmer. There was a very noticeable easterly wind but on the whole the temperature was very nice. Before long I was in Grez and once again on the roadbook O2 Bikers magazine published a few months ago. The trails were very tricky today. Reason for that was that all the sections where the sun could get through - mostly in the fields and on the sunny side of the forest rim - the track became unfrozen, muddy and very slippery. Also, the mud would cling to my WTB Weirwolf tyres and the got thrown off on the bike when the pace picked up again. Before long I was glad I was in the forest and a bit sad that it didn't freeze a bit harder. Especially the section near Longueville where I also struggled the last time - with fallen timber and deep ruts from the excavators - was a muddy hell. The forest lies in a valley and riding down towards it in a doubletrack over a field already gave me a little taste of what was going to come. In the forest itself I only had to walk a few sections, the falling trees where gone but the heavy machinery used to haul them out left the track hopelessly difficult. At the other side of the valley I came to a field road which was basking in the sun. For about 5 to 600 meters my bike turned into a mud collection. But before plunging into another forest and onto a singletrack which would lead me to Pietrebais, I took a little time to scrape off the worst of the mud, lightening my bike at the same time. I noticed 3 roe-deer in the forest - elegantly skipping up a steep slope. They didn't pause long enough to make a picture. By now I began to feel the remorseless succession of climbs and descents which typefies the first 2/3 of the roadbook. Only upon reaching Pietrebais does the trail mellow out a bit. But it still remains quite challenging, don't think its an easy track all of a sudden. I added and extra climb in the Chaumont Gistoux area and another after dropping down towards the river-track in the Longueville valley. There, instead of follwing the track through the - partly frozen - rivulet, I decided to climb out towards Longueville, follow the tarmac towards the Bois de Glabais. There I took the steep sandy downhill to meet the track again at the bottom. After Cocrou and the long climb into the Bois de Linsmeau I also decided to add an extra climb up to Gottechain. Only to drop down again towards the field track leading into Grez Doiceau and the end of the roadbook . In all the track was a little longer in this version and also with some more heightmeters. When returning home I did an extra climb into Bossut to beat the wind. Ride Stats : 59.5K and 825/835 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h44minsO2 Bikers Roadbook (including extra sections) : 38.5K and 645 heightmetersPS: for the original map and gps track check my 27th december 2008 blog entry 514/4305
31-01-2009, 17:47 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 26-01-2009 |
| Eghezee |
Wanted to do a longer road ride today so I set out towards the Ravel 2 that starts in Hoegaarden and goes all the way to Mariembourg. Making my way over Bierbeek and Meldert to Hoegaarden, I enjoyed the sunny and near-to-windless conditions, with temps of around 4 degrees Celcius. A good day for an long easy ride. Over Jodoigne and on to Eghezee. In the summer I ride all the way to Namur but with temps like these I prefer not to ride too far. In Eghezee I turned my bike around and rode back to Jodoigne. A particularity of this Ravel - which is an old railroad track turned into bike track - is that the slope of the hills never is more than 4 degrees. This was the maximum slope the locomotives in the time the track was still used for railway traffic, could handle. As a rul one can say that the track gently climbs from Hoegaarden to 7km from Namur , with a few little dips in between and then makes a long drop into Namur. One of these dips is just before Eghezee where the track descents from 150 to 135 meters and then climbs back up to 150 meters in Eghezee.Just past Jodoigne I left the Ravel to head towards Saint Jean Geest and Melin. Melin was the place where it froze -23.1 degrees C a couple of weeks ago. The coldest spot in Belgium or at least in Brabant Walloon. From there I rode on towards Hamme Mille and into Meerdael forest to complete a very satisfying ride that left me with a tired feeling in my legs.Ride Stats : 80.5K and 445/465 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h35mins412/3210
26-01-2009, 19:32 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 24-01-2009 |
| Urban Antics |
Yesterday saw a real downpour with lots of wind as well. So riding offroad was out of the question today. Instead I decided to go for a ride along the Leuvense Vaart. To get there I have to ride through Leuven passing the Tervuursepoort and then towards Leuven Yacht Harbour. The weather was good with not a lot of wind, a shy sun and the streets all but dried up. Riding along the Leuvense Vaart is a bit boring but it gives you the opportunity to ride a lot of distance with relatively low strain levels. Only hte wind can play a part but today it only blew mildly on the outgoing leg of my ride. When I reached Kampenhout Sas I rode over the viaduct and came back along the other side of the Vaart. Here the first stretch is offroad but it is a well-maintained dirtroad with only a few puddles . In fact, it was drier than the tarmac on the other side of the water, because the tarmac was less exposed to the sun and the wind than the dirttrack. Coming nack near Leuven I followed the R23 circular road back to the Tervuursepoort. Coming back into Blanden I crossed my friend Roger who looked like he just started his ride. 
24-01-2009, 14:36 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 21-01-2009 |
| Dark again |
Another dry day and even though my bowels have been making funny noises since last sunday I was eager to go out into the forest this evening. I had mounted the Schwalbe Mud Shark 1.5 tyres, a very grippy but also very dangerous tyre on tarmac or anything harder than a muddy track. The forest proved to be rather dry, considering that it had been raining on saturday, sunday and monday and with temperatures of 3 degrees C average I was pretty comfy in that area as well. I selected a couple of nice climbs and not-too dangerous downhills - bearing in mind the very small profile of my tyres which offers a lot less traction for braking. I saw 4 roe-deer and when night fell a lot of illuminated eyes, probably rabbits. My Lupine tesla shone brightly for about one and a half hour and provided me with good vision on the tricky trails of Meerdael Forest. I had mounted my mud fenders but they proved to be all but obsolete. I got a good workout and even managed to make a good photograph of the bike illuminated by my Tesla helmet light. 
21-01-2009, 21:08 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 10-01-2009 |
| The Halls of the Mountain King |
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 2h30mins149/1470
10-01-2009, 17:26 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 06-01-2009 |
| Snow Ride |
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.Ride Stats : 19K and 190 heightmeters in 1h43mins95/1120
06-01-2009, 14:50 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 03-01-2009 |
| Giet et oan? |
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 2h58mins77/730
03-01-2009, 17:56 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 01-01-2009 |
| Doode Beemde and Meerdael New Years Ride |
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 1h23mins22/230
01-01-2009, 17:21 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 30-12-2008 |
| The darker the better |
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 1h19mins10247/96490
30-12-2008, 20:39 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 28-12-2008 |
| Blue and Red Meerdael Bloso routes |
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 2h28mins10221/96270
28-12-2008, 14:56 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 27-12-2008 |
| O2 Bikers Roadbook Grez Doiceau |
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 3h37minsO2 Roadbook Grez Doiceau Stats : 35K and 543/554 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h32minsO2 Roadbook Grez Doiceau Profile: O2 Roadbook Grez Doiceau Map: 10181/95775
27-12-2008, 18:18 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 26-12-2008 |
| Reverse Perimeter |
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 1h59mins10125/95050
26-12-2008, 19:16 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 24-12-2008 |
| Silent Night |
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 2h41mins10091/94685
24-12-2008, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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