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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 16-10-2007 |
 ..and ghouls will ride your nights.. |
As expected, my lower back was sore and stiff on monday morning and giving me a lot of pain at times. Warmth, rest and some biking on the rollers is all I can do to help it mend. The dramatic stiffness is gone but obviously care has to be taken to not aggravate it again . A lot of small kinetic movements and deep stretching are necessary to get and keep the tension on the muscles . I had a good warmup before I got up on the rollers today to complete an hours worth of recovery riding. In the meantime the reading of 'The Runes of the Earth' is coming on well, and I have already ordered 'Fatal Revenant', the next installment in the "Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever". Ride Stats : 23K in 1h02mins9156/84440
16-10-2007, 16:23 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 12-10-2007 |
| Pompompom |
Today the weather was even worse than yesterday. Not cold mind you, but overcast, misty and up until 2 or 3 in the PM it was raining ever so slightly. So in the AM I went over to Filip Sport to check out my Merlin. It was there alright, he hung it in the display area . I took a picture of it and delivered the Reba fork and Morati titanium M-bar so that he could begin with the buildup of the bike. We are still waiting for the delivery of the seatpost, a 31.6mm silver-colored Thomson Elite. The Belgian importer decided not to import anymore which had us looking elesewhere. It is bound for the end of october. No sweat, I have plenty of bikes to ride on until then.Around 4PM I went out for a little ride , the temps were up to a mellow 16 degrees C and the wind was blowing from southern directions, making it quite pleasing to be outside. My Tune crank was making a little crickety noise, must be the bearings playing up. Certainly not abnormal after 3 seasons of use. Ride Stats : 41K and 285 heightmeters in 1h45mins9044/83990
12-10-2007, 18:37 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 11-10-2007 |
| Forest Murmurs |
Mist and clouds were covering the earth when I disappeared under the thick foliage of the Meerdael Forest. The tracks were wet and slippery but I was in no hurry, just enjoying the ride and taking in the landscape. Today the sun would not appear at all which left the trails moist but not muddy. My Schwalbe Nobby Nics in 1.8 format offered more than enough grip, only having trouble with the wet roots under the fallen leaves. But I managed to keep the rubber side up.
The forest was very quiet but there were plenty of people walking, running or on horseback. When I zoomed from one singletrack onto another I spotted them on the bigger roads. Every now and then I stopped to take some photographs.
Meanwhile my Merlin Works 4.0 frame has been delivered to Filip Sport and now we are only waiting for the delivery of the Thomson seatpost to start the buildup.
Ride Stats : 30K and 305 heightmeters in 1h53mins
9003.5/83705
11-10-2007, 17:43 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 09-10-2007 |
| Have Moots, will climb |
The weather forecast calls for quite a bit of rain during the following night so I decided to make the most of the good offroad conditions and take the Moots out once more. I started out fairly flat in Heverleebos, quite a nice warmup, along the Green Meerdael Bloso and then gradually made my way into the Meerdaelbos where things began to ondulate a bit more. I made my way to Pecrot, taking in as much climbing as I deemed reasonable and zoomed down the nice descent towards the train passage.
Then to Ottenburg I went , with some nice long climbs over there, going down towards Wavre and back up again finishing off with a bit of the Red Overijse BLOSO. From St-Agatha-Rode I made my way back through the Meerdael Forest that was quite crowded with little children having a day out in the Forest during this Week of the Forest. Great initiative to get the youngsters to appreciate the forest and nature in general.Ride Stats : 51K and 635 heightmeters in 2h44mins8974/83400
09-10-2007, 20:32 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 07-10-2007 |
| Don't resist |
I wasn't going to ride my bike today. I was tired yesterday so why not take a day off, get into my car and drive, say, to the Oosterschelde and watch the divers get in and out of the water. For those who did not know, in a former life I was an avid deepsea diver until a back problem forced me to quit. Back problem is solved now but my other hobby has consumed me hook line and sinker, so there's no time left to pick up with the diving again. But I have been wanting to go back to the Oosterschelde, where I made a lot of dives , just to see if there are any of the old crowd left and to revisit places where I spent so many an happy hour.
But no, the sun shone in my face so god damn I got on my bike and did a long road drive. My Hilset is making a funny noise in the front wheel area.. it kind of puzzles me since it only makes the noise when I'm on the bike and when the wheel turns. But if I spin the wheel myself, holding the bike up, I don't hear a thing. So must be the front bearings I guess. Upon returning home I dismantled the front hub, put in some grease and re-assembled the thing. The bearings seem fine although I do feel some slight resistance when turning them.
Oh well , I made a fine loop nevertheless. Caught up with a 64-year old guy on a road bike who told me he used to race with/against Eddy Merckx. He was just idling along at 32kph and I had a lot of trouble keeping up with him while we sped together along the Ravel in the direction of Hoegaarden. Our ways parted there and I looped back towards home over Hoksem and Willebringen. Great day and a great ride out. The Oosterschelde will have to wait until another weekend, resistance to the bike-bug is futile.
Ride Stats : 54.5K and 380 heightmeters in 2h19mins
8854/82635
07-10-2007, 15:24 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 04-10-2007 |
| Sun |
Had a days rest because I did not feel exceptionally strong. Yesterday was also another misty and rainy day, so the urge to ride was not there as well. Today however saw some nice temps and the skies were less cloudy. I rode out towards Hoeilaart to check some details concerning my new bike with Filip Sport. Especially the wheels were undecided but today I decided to go for Stans Notubes ZTR Olympic rims coupled to DT Swiss 240s hubs and DT Swiss Aero Lite Spokes. The hubs would be centerlocks obviously. Another item was the seatpost. I want a silver Thomson Elite which is kinda hard to find in 31.6/367mm but Filip says he will find me one.
The rest of the ride saw me meandering over Overijse and Huldenberg, with the occasional climb to get some tension on my legs. During the ride the sun actually came out to greet me and warm me up. What a good feeling.
Ride Stats : 62.5K and 470 heightmeters in 2h42mins
8709/81230
04-10-2007, 16:31 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 30-09-2007 |
| Eucharist |
At last, some sun and bright skies which lured me out and had me do an easy ride along Korbeek Dyle, Neerijse and Huldenberg. Coming back throught the Weertse Dreef I thoroughly enjoyed the forest with its smell of autumn and the sun shining through the trees, causing the wet floor to disappear in a misty haze.
September has been another month where I was not able to get a 1000 km , mainly due to a nasal infection in the beginning of the month causing me to take a few days off. These last few days haven't been easy as well since I had another cold that had me stay on the rollers instead of going out. The rainy weather hasn't helped either. With only 889 km I am not pleased and a bit frustrated as well. The only worse month this year has been last June where I only managed 618 km due to an insect bite and the resulting infection and allergic reaction. I hope the last 3 months of 2007 are a bit more favorable to me.
Ride Stats : 34k and 280 heightmeters in 1h29mins
8614/80595
30-09-2007, 13:46 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 29-09-2007 |
| Marta |
This morning saw me follow an exciting race for the World Championship jersey with the Elite Women in Stutgart. Italian Marta Bastianelli put in a brave effort and made a run for it about 3/4th of a lap before the end. She stayed away from the pack to clinch the World Title. Pre-race hot favorite and 2006 World Champion, Dutch girl Marianne Vos could do nothing but win the sprint for the Silver with another Italian girl taking the Bronze medal. I also saw a very hard working 2007 Time Trial World Champion Hanka Kupfernagel who saw her efforts for the German team unrewarded since Germany fell out of the medals.Marianne Vos was obviously very disappointed but might do well to wonder why there was only Chantal Beltman to help her in the finale. Belgian Lieselot Decroix was 12th which was a very hopeful prestation for Belgian Women Cycling. Lieselot is only 19 years old and clearly ready for future grandeur.
Me I just finished another round on the rollers, contemplating the race, reading another chapter of the Covenant saga and hoping for better weather during the coming days.Ride Stats : 32K in 1h30mins8581/80315
29-09-2007, 15:38 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 28-09-2007 |
| Indoor again |
Still not feeling up to riding outside, the temps are low and the rain makes it all even worse. So I again turned to my rollers for an hour and a half of easy recovery riding, reading a book and enjoying Michael Schenkers' latest album on the MP3 player.
Ride Stats : 33.5k in 1h30mins
8549/80315
28-09-2007, 14:36 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 27-09-2007 |
| Inside |
Had a running nose yesterday evening so I decided not to go out today , instead doing an easy ride on the rollers, catching up with my reading. I am reading the first book of last chronicles of Thomas Covenant at the moment, the Runes of the Earth , in which Linden Avery has to find her son who was abducted by the Despiser. The next installment in this series is to be released soon. Thrilling stuff, thats for sure.
Ride Stats : 30k in 1h21mins
8515/80315
27-09-2007, 14:27 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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