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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 27-11-2007 |
 Nightride |
I changed the saddle on my Hilset yesterday. The Tune Speedneedle won't stay put, it keeps sliding backwards. Don't know what caused it, it has been fine for the last 3 years and now all of a sudden it starts moving? Weird, anyway, saddles that don't stay where they are supposed to stay cause muscles pains and therefore must go. I had an SLR lying around and I mounted that instead. It's a bit heavier than the Tune and also a bit more comfy although I love the Speedneedle. It doesn't look like much but it really is a great saddle, at least for my bottom.Went out again, put my light-helmet on to try out the position of the 20W Lumicycle torch. It was raining (felt like snow) ever so slightly but I wasn't feeling cold at all. It's always a bit weird when you are out in the night for the first time. Anyway, this is what the helmet looks like:
You have to adapt to the tunnel vision and especially to the lights of the cars coming your way, blinding you and causing a momentary lapse of vision. With the helmet light at least I can give them a good flash when they get too annoying. Ride Stats : 28.5K and 175 heightmeters in 1h13mins9857/87845
27-11-2007, 18:33 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 25-11-2007 |
| Compulsory biking |
The whole day I was telling myself I would not ride today. No need for it since I had a good ride yesterday and could rest today in order to be fresh tomorrow for another week. But after seeing the cyclocross guys riding through mire and muck I felt I had to ride myself. As if I had to earn the right to look at them by doing something myself. Strange ways I know.SO I grabbed my book and got on my rollers for an hours' easy recovery, legs feeling good and hardly stressed because I just tagged along at a low intensity, enjoying another chapter in what turns out to be a masterpiece in the already highly esteemed Thomas Covenant series by Stephen R.Donaldson : Fatal Revenant . I also prepared my bikes for the upcoming winter. Changed the chain and middle chainring of the Litespeed and attached the Lumicyle HID to the Hilset. I also put the 20Watt Halogen Lumicycle light on my helmet. I want to try this configuration out during the upcoming road nightrides.I also need to change the Dura Ace cassette in the rear because ever since I put on a new chain it keeps skipping teeth in some of the gears. Ride Stats : 23K in 1h01min9829/87670
25-11-2007, 21:09 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 24-11-2007 |
| Outside again |
When I woke up the world was white.. white from the frost , the temps were just
above 0 degrees C but there was no wind to speak of, so the dew froze over and
the land was covered in a layer of smog. Strangely enough you only notice this
layer when you are rising above and out of it. I decided to ride the 30K Bloso
road route going over St Joris Weert, St Agatha Rode and then towards Leefdaal
and Leuven again. On the heights overlooking Leuven I clearly saw the smog
hanging, stretching its tendrils towards Meerdael Forest as well. Near the
forest however the layer wasn't as high as it was over more densely populated
areas.
It felt good to be out again, even though the temps were low - I
started out with 3 degrees C and near the end noticed a climb towards a whopping
6 degrees C. Legs felt good and it took me awhile to get used to riding a bike
that moves beneath you instead of the steady ride you get on the rollers. Didn't
overdo the pace nor the distance, taking it easy all the way, only adding one
extra climb towards the Smeysberg plateau and then returning next to the river
Yse towards Neerijse where I found the BLOSO route again. My warm winter jacket still
bore the muddy traces of a fall from last winter so I decided to wash it out when I
got home, together with all the other stuff. The smaller roads were covered in
mud, thick but fluid enough to splash and leave traces on clothing and bike.
Looking forward towards more rides out soon, and that also means mounting my
Lumicycle HID light to be able to ride in the dark next week.
Ride Stats
: 34K and 260heightmeters in 1h31mins
9806/87670
24-11-2007, 16:20 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 18-11-2007 |
| Sven and Johnny |
It's
getting almost as boring writing about it , as it is riding .. on the
rollers again. Still, it's my only option for the time being and
luckily I can while away the time reading a good book. Seems like the
only time I get to read a book these days. In the evening I hardly find
the time or if I do I read 5 pages and doze off. Not because the book
is dull but because I need my sleep and I usually get up very early in
the morning so I want to close my eyes around 10pm - 10.30 at the
latest. I am still waiting for ABC bikes to get the replacement
bearings for my Hilsets' Tune bottom bracket. I thought they would
have managed this in the 2 weeks since I called them but Tune
replacement parts are not easily to come by it seems.
Ride Stats : 25K in 1h04mins
9665/87410
Two things caught my attention today. The first was the amazing World Record time Dutch youngster Sven Kramer set on the 5000m speedskating World Cup in Calgary. I believe skating to be a very pure sport. Not pure in the sense of it being dope-free but pure in it being a sport where the athlete has to pit himself against himself, finding his or her limits and then exceed them. Sven did just that. He was angry because at a former World Cup he had lost his World Record and he was determined to get it back again. In fact, he was so determined that he also broke the 3000m record time on the way to his 5000m record time. This in itself is an extraordinary feat. Think about that for a minute. Its a bit like a 400m runner track runner breaking the 200m World Record whilst setting a new World Record on that 400m as well. Amazing stuff no less !The other thing is just a shard of a song Bad Company sang and which happened to be on my MP3 player whilst riding the rollers this afternoon..
"Johnny's life passed him
by like a warm summer day
If you listen to the wind
You can still hear him play"
from the song "Shooting Star" taken from their "Straight Shooter" album.
Hearing those words made me feel a bit sad. Life does indeed seem to pass like those warm summer days.. if you are young, you don't seem to realise that and you tend to become complacent and either postpone or put things off alltogether when you are getting older. So, as a good friend used to say.. "Carpe Diem" before its too late.
18-11-2007, 19:34 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 17-11-2007 |
| Roller Boy |
Again I did
not dare ride outside. So I settled for another hour on the rollers.
Average heartrate keeps going down which I believe to be a good sign.
Weather is crisp and cold but I will wait a few days more before
venturing out.
Ride Stats : 25K in 1h06mins
9639.5/87410
17-11-2007, 18:42 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 16-11-2007 |
| Melenkurion abatha |
Another trip on the rollers. A little bit faster than yesterday, heartrate is still too high but legs feel good. A good opportunity to catch up with my reading as well. Fatal Revenant is slowly unfolding its secrets to me. What a great book it is turning out to be, as were the 7 books that preceded it. I can hardly wait for the next installment in the Thomas Covenant Chronicles. Got my flu injection today so for the next few days I have got to wait and see how my body reacts. Hope to ride out at least once this weekend but we'll see.Ride Stats : 26K in 1h01mins9614/87410
16-11-2007, 22:42 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 11-11-2007 |
| For all those who were wondering |
I
have not been riding my bike lately since I am recovering from a cold..
I hope to be out and about soon. I think my body needed some time to
rest.Meanwhile I took possession of a new bike, a Merlin Works 4.0 full suspension bike. I ordered it at the end of August and the frame was delivered by ABG to Filip Sport at the end of September. Filip Sport started the buildup of the bike but I was still lacking one piece of the puzzle, a Thomson Elite 31.6/370mm silver seatpost.This choice of seatpost turned out to be a difficult one. There was no silver seatpost to be found in the Benelux and at long last Filip had to contact Thomson USA directly. They promptly delivered the seatpost within the week. Thanks to Thomson for this service and to Filip for not giving up.Now I am eager to get on the bike, sort out the seating position and brake in the disc pads. But my cold and the rainy weather will delay that moment for a while. But I already took some pictures, you can check them out here
11-11-2007, 16:57 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 30-10-2007 |
| Interval a la Tacx |
Didn't feel much like biking outside today. The Hilset still needs to get new BB bearings - ABC Fietsen in Wilrijk is taking care of that - and furthermore I wanted to do something a little tougher than usual. So I chose one of the Tacx interval training sheets and got on my rollers. Pretty tough training it was but I felt good doing it.
Got a call from Filip Sport this morning. He got a Thomson Elite silver 367mm saddlepost delivered from the US of A. but it sadly turned out to be the wrong diameter (30.9 instead of 31.6mm). Thomson aknowledged their mistake and will send the right size a.s.a.p..
Good thing I already got 4 bikes or I might start to feel just a little bit annoyed and impatient. But as it stands I really feel no pressure at all to have the Merlin built up. I am confident everything will turn out allright and with the winter coming up I will probably only ride it a few times on the road to get the seating position right and then put it under wraps until next spring.
"L'embarras du choix" the French call that. As it stands, this is the only pic I have so far of the "nearly finished" bike.
Ride Stats : 35k in 1h28mins
9420/86150
30-10-2007, 19:24 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 28-10-2007 |
| Bierbeek Meerdael 2000 TT 2007 |
6.57 am. The moon is
my only companion as I leave my home to ride towards Bierbeek and the
start of the Meerdael 2000 organized ride. It's a lush 7 degrees C and
I'm feeling fine. Only my fingers are a bit cold when I arrive at the
venue some 15 minutes later. As usual I help the organisation . My role
is to ride the big loop of 55K to check the arrowing. The sun is just
about to appear above the horizon as I start out on the loop around
7.25am. At first I ride together with some of the other guys but at
the split between the 25/35K and 45/55K distances I continue on my own
in the awakening forest. I love riding alone like this, and I am only
passed by 2 riders before I reach the first rest stop some 20K
into the ride.
They are still building up the rest stop so I only
report I had to add 2 arrows at some dodgy points and then continue on my
way. I have been riding into the ethereal and absolutely dry-trailed Meerdael forest for quite a while now and
only after hooking up with the shorter distance the trail slowly leads us out
of the forest and into the fields of Hamme Mille and beyond. It is still early but the
sun is out and a little wind becomes noticeable from westerly directions. I
pass some more riders now - official start is from 8.30 onwards so the early
starters are already well onto the loop - and get passed by one or two
pocket rockets. I am tempted to up the speed and follow them but I
decide to wait until after the 2nd rest stop to go a little faster. I have to keep concentrating on checking the arrows instead of just following the well-known trails. At the 2nd rest stop, which is about 37K into the ride, I have something to drink (some very yummie banana-mango-fruit yogo drink offered by Chiquita )
and a little snack. Sadly there is no more sponsoring from Red Bull - I
miss the Red Bull girls and their gentle smiles... Red Bull come back !!
After this rest stop I stay more or less in
the fields with only a small section into Meerdael Forest again before
splitting off from the main loop for another extra loop only the 35K
and 55K riders can enjoy. My speed is well up now and on the flat
sections I enjoy the occasional push from the wind, which seems to be
gaining speed as well. Every now and then I enjoy the comfort of the Moots as a section of cobbles is thrown our way.. Nothing beats titanium in riding over cobbles. At the end of the ride I have 57.5K and just shy of 580
heightmeters. Average speed of nearly 21kph is fine for me.
I'm in
just before the last riders are allowed on the trails and I hear that
there have been at least 1500 inscriptions, which is a great success
for the organisation. This is largely due to the great weather
conditions but also to the grapevine buzz this ride has enjoyed and
which has been very positive throughout the years.
Upon returning home I make some
extra loops to enjoy the really beautiful weather conditions, leaving
me with almost 71K and a nice 665 heightmeter total.
Check out the map :
Ride's profile :
Ride Stats : 71K and 665 heightmeters in 3h25mins
9385/86150
28-10-2007, 12:37 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 27-10-2007 |
| Have singletrack - will ride |
This
morning I met up with some bikers from BigM to have a singletrack ride
in the Meerdael Forest. The guide knew his way around and we had a
great ride, taking in a lot of little trails, nasty climb and tricky
downhills. In all, the distance wasn't that overwhelming but that was
more due to the twisty nature of the tracks. The trail conditions are
still excellent, moist at most but usually dry and fast. Temps were in
the 8 degrees C region and the overcast weather rendered the Forest a
bit gloomy but with all the autumn colors it was actually a feast for
the eyes. Days like these are among the finest to be in the forest and
we really made the best of it today.
Ride Stats : 31K and 365 heightmeters in 1h57mins
9314/85485
27-10-2007, 13:35 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 25-10-2007 |
| Blue Route |
An overcast day but not too cold, some 10 degrees C when I started around 4.30pm. Today I did the Blue Meerdael loop, which is the most challenging of the loops. Add to that a few climbs I always include and some alternative bits to spice up things and you get a nice lttle ride. I stopped in the neighborhood of the Kluis to take some photographs - flash was already necessary.
The trails were excellent, dry and with lots of leaves to hide the meanies. Around 6 I was back home, just before dusk set in.
Ride Stats : 26K and 290 heightmeters in 1h17mins
9283/85120
25-10-2007, 19:05 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 23-10-2007 |
| Dry roast |
Zero degrees this morning but dry and sunny weather throughout the day. Decided to go offroad today and take the Moots for a spin. I felt good and did the Green Meerdael BLOSO at a quick pace. The tracks were covered with leaves, making some turns pretty hazardous because of the hidden nasties that tried to pull the bike to the ground. But the clean and crisp forest air made blasting around through it a fine experience. Only my hands felt a bit cold near the end when the sun began to set , clear skies holding the promise of another cold night. My back felt fine during the ride, giving me an optimistic feeling for next weekend.
Went looking for some winter wheels and tyres for the Mazda MPS 3 today. Not an easy task since the wheel has to be 17 or 18 inches high to allow for the big 320mm discbrakes and the tyres have to be at least V rated (up to 240kph) which is not that easy to find in Winter Tyres. Normally I need W rated tyres (up to 270kph) but these are not available in Winter trim. My garage had some 17 inch rims lying around and gave me a very good price for them . As for the tyres they will be Vredesteins Wintrac Xtreme in 205/50 R 17 93 V XL. The winter wheels allow for my summer set to last a lot longer whilst not being harmed by salt and other assailants while I'm using tyres that are more adapted to the colder temperatures. I have been using them for 4 years now on my former car and can only tell positive things about the concept.
Ride Stats : 27.5K and 190 heightmeters in 1h15mins
9257/84830
23-10-2007, 18:54 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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