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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 16-07-2012 |
 Oorbeek and some rain |
This morning saw the sun out, so I was fast to get on my bike and try to get a ride in. Meteox.be forecast rain around noon so I had to be fast to keep it dry. Starting out along the Kroeme Toer from a couple of years ago, over Haasrode, Bierbeek, Willebringen and then riding towards Kumtich. I came upon Roger L, who was fiddling with his pedal cleats - he does this all the time, has a hard time finding the correct position on his bike - and we rode together for a while. I saw some menacing clouds over the western horizon but Roger assured me that there was too much wind and it would not rain. Yeah right. When he stopped again to fiddle with his shoes I bid him au revoir and rode on from Meldert towards La Bruyere , braving a strong headwind. In Beauvechain I took a left towards Tourinnes and Hamme Mille. Entering Nethen my luck ran out and it started to rain, softly at first but before long I had to stop and don my Assos windbreaker to keep myself dry. Obviously the road became wet and dangerous very fast. Riding over Sint Joris Weert and the Zoete Waters, barely able to see where I was riding with my glasses getting wet and dampy, I was glad to have the wind in my back for the last stretch towards Vaalbeek and Blanden. When I got home I took 15 minutes out to clean my bike. At least I got a 50K ride in, I hate to think about the distance I might have ridden when the weather would have been "normal" for a Belgian summer. I have the feeling I already lost 500K due to this rainy weather the last 2 weeks. Damn.
Endomondo track
Ride Stats : 50K and 335 heightmeters (Garmin) in 1h49mins
5751/56890
16-07-2012, 14:11 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 02-07-2012 |
| Ligny |
Wanting to ride some more in the region behind Wavre I was looking for tracks and I came upon a track starting in Ottenburg and heading all the way to Sambreville. Not sure wether I could complete the whole track I noticed there was the possibility of a shortcut in Ligny. Riding up to Ottenburg provided a nice warmup completed mostly on the 34 in front. When I wanted to ride down to Wavre along the Chaussee de Ottenbourg I had to turn back because of roadworks. Never mind, I would do the detour along the Noire Epine and then along the N4 and the Chaussee de l'Orangerie to arrive in Basse Wavre and continue along the track in my Edge 705. Wavre was - as usual - quite busy and dangerous with people having no attention at all for cyclists. But I survived and soon I was passing the Walibi parc and then onwards to Ottignies and Court St Etienne. Still very busy roads but some nice backtracks as well. Crossing the N25 things got serious with a steep climb out of Sart Messire Guillame. Once on the plains I was heading for a high broadcast tower. Mellery, Tilly and Marbisoux were the next villages on the list. The sun was coming out and it was quite pleasant weather with only a minimal amount of wind and temperatures around 22 degrees on average. Passing through Tilly I paused to take a picture. My sister will be pleased with that, her surname being Tilly.
From Marbisoux I was nearing the N93 where the Tour de France would pass in a couple of hours time. The police was already busy with roadblocks so I knew I did not have a lot of time to cross back, unless I wanted to wait for the circus to pass. I did not want to do that, so that gave me another incentive to cut the ride short at Ligny, some 52K out, and ride towards Sombreffe where I passed the N93 again, heading for Chastre. Nice rolling roads gently ondulating up and down but mostly staying on the plateau. What wind there was seemed to be blowing in my back as I headed north towards the N1. This is a very busy road with no real bikpaths so I decided to leave the N1 asap instead of following it all the way to Wavre. Through Corbais and Corroy Le Grand I came to Chaumont. I decided to add an extra loop following the N243 in the direction of Perwez. But I turned left and came through Maleves, Sainte Marie and Wastinnes. The church where VDB married was at last out of its scaffolding so I paused to take a picture.
Onwards I went and through Opprebais I reached Incourt where I crossed the N91 riding towards Dongelberg. No chance to visit the castle - the gate was closed - so I rode on, taking a left towards Lathuy. On the N240 I took another left and then a right to arrive at the 1st Wing Airbase and La Bruyere. Nearing 4 hours and with the sun gaining strength I felt it was time to close up so I rode to Beauvechain and Opvelp for a last loop bringing me to Bierbeek and Haasrode before entering Blanden with a very solid ride under my belt.
Endomondo track
Ride Stats : 120K and 830 heightmeters (Garmin) in 4h23mins
5184/52935
02-07-2012, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 23-06-2012 |
| Haasrode Huy Haasrode phase 2 |
After a couple of days of welcome rest and rain, today announced itself as being a better day. The sun was out, albeit sometimes obscured by small clouds, and it was dry and with temperatures around 20 degrees C it looked good.
I rode out around 10AM and set out towards Haasrode to pick in on the Haasrode Huy Haasrode track. The idea was to follow it for 100K, the first part I already did a couple of days ago, but this time I would continue past Wasseiges and only at Acosse would I turn to the right to pick up the return track. The wind was blowing from the Southwest and it would prove to be a mighty adversary throughout this ride. At first it was more or less coming from my right side, sometimes to my advantage, sometimes slightly against me. When I passed Autre-Eglise and turned to the right for a little detour I was on new territory. Passing Folx-les-caves, Jandrenouille and Barchon I came upon the big Route de la Hesbaye . Here the wind was blowing in my back and at a pace above 40kph I arrived in Wasseiges. Taking a right turn towards Meeffe and a little bit later I reached Acosse, where I took another right, off of the HHH track. I was in the province de Liege now and another right turn took me back towards Wasseiges. The wind was coming from the left now and it bothered me. It was quite strong and I was glad I could take another right on the N924. In Wasseiges I headed north and passed Jandrain and Orp-Le-Grand on my way to Noduwez. Here I turned towards the west and the wind was now more or less blowing straight into my face. Tough couple of kilometers to reach Pietrain. Another turn towards the north and I got a breather until I reached Saint-Jean-Geest. On the Ravel 2 for a while and into Hoegaarden. I was now on familiar territory but I would still face some tough kilometers riding towards Meldert and Bierbeek. I made a mental note that this is a ride better done when there is little or no wind. On the high plains there is not much protection and the passages into the valleys of Mehaigne and Grande Gette are too short to offer much recovery. Still, I was able to put in a good effort with an average heartrate of 128bpm and just over 27kph average. There were also quite some heightmeters in this ride, nothing spectacular but just mildly going up and down all the way. I also noticed I passed the 50.000 heightmeters mark during this ride.
Endomondo track
Ride Stats : 107K and 750 heightmeters (Garmin) in 3h55mins
4758/50100
23-06-2012, 15:15 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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