To take my mind off from recent and serious PC problems - yes, my new desktop PC is having difficulties, it keeps rebooting itself for no obvious reason. Sometimes it's working for a couple of hours, before crashing and failing to start up, even in safe mode. Generally this is making me very angry at technology and computers. Hell I'm on holiday and holidays should be a time to relax right? Not cursing and swearing at technology that fails for no apparent reason.
Good thing I invested in a good laptop - a Hewlett Packard HDX 16 - initially to have a backup. But the way things are going, the backup is becoming fast my main PC. Only snag with the laptop is that I cannot read my Polar S710i data - not having the USB Polar interface and my Belkin USB/RS232 converter is not supported by Windows Vista 64 . Ah the intricacies of the computer world.

The weather was still uncertain, with big dark clouds and sunny periods alternating on the rhythm of a strong westerly breeze. The breeze has some advantages as well, it keeps the insects away and also provides clearer air. A couple of times during the ride I fell some droplets but in all I was lucky. I also was lucky in avoiding a head-on collision with two youths that were riding in the opposite direction on the bikepath. I was going downhill around a corner - at the Lindenboom in Bierbeek for those that know they area - with no visibility. I usually graze my brakes here and then all of a sudden they were before me, riding in my direction . Heavy braking followed from all of us , thank god they split each to one side of the bikepath and I managed to plant myself in between them, without touching either of them. They seemed pretty shaken and impressed so I spared them a thunderspeech, just letting them know they might consider riding on the right way of the street . I completed my ride along Opvelp, Beauvechain, Tourinnes and Hamme Mille. I risked riding around Nethen and Sint Joris Weert as well, even though a big dark cloud loomed over Sint Agatha Rode - and finished my ride over the Zoete Waters. Not a single drop fell.

Ride Stats : 33.5K and 195/240 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h32mins

4862/46555 

07-07-2009, 14:15 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

06-07-2009, 17:27 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Left home at 7am to ride the short distance to the start of the Meerdael Classic, 17th edition. This traditionally takes place at the Football terrain of the 'Zwarte Duivels' in Oud-Heverlee. The weather forecast for today called for initial sunshine but during the day clouds would gather with possible heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon. So there was no time to waste. 100K is never an easy task, and after forking over 9 Euros (10 Euros minus 1 Euro because I am licenced) I rode into the Meerdael Forest , eager to see how my legs would feel and if they would go the distance. 

The Ride:

The first couple of kilometers went easy, ondulating through Heverleebos, crossing over into Meerdael Forest and then crossing the Naamsesteenweg via the Ecoduct at the Weertsedreef crossing. No long after that I left the forest and was thrown into the fields near Tourinnes for a loop that took us towards Beauvechain. My legs didn't feel very strong and I found myself shifting on the small ring at each uphill, wanting to save the little strength I had. Hmm, was I really going for 100K when I already felt like stopping after 15K? The sun was slowly rising but temps were still in the lower 20ies. In the forest it was damp and during the day the atmosphere would become heavy with thunderstorm warmth.
The loop curved back towards Nodebais and was quite pleasant this year. Care had been taken to avoid tarmac as much as possible and the dry field roads were dust-ridden and allowed for easy pedalling. In Hamme Mille we crossed the Naamsesteenweg again for a loop towards Nethen. Here the 100K was going for an extra loop with a couple of steep hills and downhills. We also got our first rest stop around 20K into the ride. As usual, a lot of stuff to eat and drink and some lovely ladies manning the stop. There was also an Aquarius stand but I couldn't help wondering that this might be more useful a little later in the ride. From the rest stop we were lead back down towards Nethen and were joining the other distances for the famous 'lianenklim'. This was perfectly ride-able. Last week there was still one spot with a deep puddle, but the puddle was nearly gone today, which allowed me to ride the entire uphill. Great ! Some cobbles now as we made our way towards Bossut and then crossed the N252 for a long loop in the fields between Grez-Doiceau and Nodebais. A nice passage along the Beaumont forest and a tricky downhill, and then looping towards Gottechain and having to do a difficult and steep climb along a field. Bit of a classic this one, and obviously the Meerdael Classic couldn't leave it out. It struck me that the trackbuilders were very keen this year to incorporate all known difficulties into their track. Which is great but my legs were still not up to par. I was longing for the second rest stop but I would have to wait until 50K into the ride, after we first dropped into Archennes and looped towards Gastuche. From here, a great section with another tough climb brought us into Ottenburg. A fast descent in the Bois de Laurensart, following the red Overijse BLOSO route, and we were at the second rest stop. Again I took care to drink well and eat a lot of banana. Also some Mars because I needed an energy shot.

Ottenburg, we rode the steps downhill upwards - or rather walked because the thing is steep and today it was also sandy, making it near to impossible to ride. Some nice loops in this region, with a few other climbs. I noticed my legs were feeling stronger and took confidence with every climb. In the Sint Agatha Rode Bos we tackled the 20% climb there and I had no problems to make it. Okay, things were looking up but I was still only 58K into the ride. Next the track converged with the BLOSO trails of Overijse again , making its way towards Huldenberg. We followed the river Yse for a while until we came at the third rest stop - 100K only - which was manned by 3 pretty women who gave me a lot to eat and drink. Pity I forgot to take their picture, but I'm sure someone else will. We were in the neighborhood of the Margijsbos and had to climb the ridge a couple of times. First on tarmac, later on forest tracks with between each ascent a fast and furious descent. Great section here. After this the track looped towards Sint Agatha Rode again for a bit of a breather along flatter roads. After having crossed the river Lasne, we rode towards the river Dyle - which forms the language border here - to arrive in Pecrot but not before having crossed the Petite Marbaise, another little river feeding the river Dyle.
Arriving at Florival, some 85k into the ride, we got our fourth and final rest stop. Only 15K to go. And all of them in forest areas. First we were treated to the famous Pecrot Singletrack, with one section too sandy to ride , and then we had to crawl our way up to the ridge. A lot of bikers were looking very tired by now. But I was feeling stronger than in the beginning and middle part of the ride, and instead of bikers passing me I began actually to pass a lot of bikers myself. Marathon man seemed awake. Into Beaumont forest by way of a steep climb on tarmac and then dropping into Nethen. We then made our entry into Meerdael forest again for a final stretch that incorporated a couple of nasty climbs in the Kluis area. When we arrived near Meerdaelhof, a very sandy trail forced me to walk again for a couple of meters. I then crossed from the Kouterbos into Heverleebos again before finishing - fist in the air in a gesture of joy and relief - a the Zwarte Duivels locale where I left a little more than 6 hours ago. Great ride, thanks to the Downhillbikers !


The Lowdown:

What I liked:
+ Great trails, with attention to lesser visited tracks
+ the region and the use they made of what is offered
+ emergency numbers provided and pickup points well marked
+ dangerous downhills and road crossings well marked
+ distance splits well marked, before and after the split
+ arrowing impeccable
+ 4 well-stocked rest zones - lots of choices
+ very friendly people at the rest stops
+ all this for only 9€ (10€ if you don't have a licence)


What I did not like:
- the weather was too hot. But that is not the organisers fault.
- spreading of rest stops wasn't optimal. Big gap between 1st and 2dn rest stop


Synopsis: 

As usual the Downhill Bikers didn't let us down. Very well thought out ride, with attention to detail and taking in some lesser-known tracks to enjoy the best this region has to offer during an organised ride. The rest stops were filled to the brim with food and drink - and the friendly staff put a smile on my face. Even though the first half of the ride was tougher for me than it should have been - due to my antibiotics cure from last week and also the warmth no doubt - I never forced the issue, kept eating and drinking and managed to find my better form by the end of the ride. The arrowing was impeccable - and I'm sure that at some points the arrowing teams had to frequently replace stolen arrows. This makes me extend a special thanks to them. Good job guys ! At the busiest crossings there were warning signs, the split panels were placed where they should be - before and after the split - and the rest stops were announced 1km beforehand, not a bad idea in this kind of weather. And all this for the humble price of 10 Euro for 100K of intense joy.  

The Bare Facts:

Map:


Profile:


GPS track on Motionbased : CLICK


Ride Stats:

Meerdael Classic: 
100K and 1440 heightmeters
total distance today :
109K and 1440 heightmeters (Garmin) in 5h50mins
Hill Factor of the Meerdael Classic:
14

4800/46165

05-07-2009, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Contrary to all the predictions we didn't get a drop of rain yesterday. So today saw a sunny and dry morning. I wanted to do an easy LSD ride and chose to follow the LF6 - Vlaanderen Stedenroute - towards Goetsenhoven and back again. Just before Hoegaarden I strayed a bit from that route to follow a narrow road over cobbles and even dirtroads to arrive at last near the Hoegaarden centre. Sprayed in Deet40 I was pretty confident that the insects would keep away from me but riding over those narrow trails in my short pants was an unforeseen and unnecessary risk. The sun was getting hidden behind clouds during the ride and when I arrived near Goetsenhoven I saw some rallye cars on the narrow roads. Looks like there is going to be a race here tomorrow - probably the Haspengouw rallye. Saw a beautiful Subaru WRX and also a red Porsche GT2 (or GT3) with a very appropriate license number - 4 S 911.
I looped back over Goetsenhoven centre to follow the LF6 in the reverse difection back towards Hoegaarden. Here I followed the trails of the Ludo Dierckxens (LD) arrows which took me back through the fields towards Meldert. From there I looped upon the Haasrode tour to return towards Bierbeek, Haasrode und ultimately Blanden.
My legs felt tired and I fear that tomorrows Meerdael Classic might come a week to early. Obviously I am still coping with the side effects of the antibiotics I has to take for my horsefly bite. Even though I suffered no real side-effects - no rash, no bowel troubles, no temperature swings - I did hold up some fluid and felt tired thoughout the cure. The warm weather doesn't help either of course. I will ultimately decide tomorrow morning if I will do the Meerdael Classic or not. Another factor will be the weather. There are again thunderstorms predicted for the next 24 hours.

Ride Stats : 64K and 480/488 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h53mins

4691/44725

04-07-2009, 14:53 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Another hot day yesterday, with temperatures soaring into the 30 degrees C. And no breeze at all so I decided to stay in and have a break. Today however saw the return of a stiff breeze even though it was still sunny. But the heat was manageable. I took the Hilset out for a quick spin looping over Heverlee and Oud-Heverlee towards the Zoete Waters and on to Sint Joris Weert. From there I closed the loop riding through Nethen and Hamme Mille and then back into Meerdael Forest. Good legs and a good recovery ride.
On a sadder note yesterday saw my new desktop PC crashing, some registry issue. Good thing I got backups of everything that matters. I am not sure what caused it but Window won't start, even in Safe Mode. Big troubles but luckily I have a good backup PC so I can wait for the diagnosis on the other PC whilst I assume my online and offline business as usual.

Ride Stats : 26K and 185/214 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h07mins

4627/44245

03-07-2009, 17:47 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

01-07-2009, 20:39 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Last thursday when waiting for the other participants to arrive, I got bitten in the right calf. I am not sure what bit me but judging from the ensuing reaction it must have been a Horsefly (Taon in French) or quite possibly a grass spider . People who have been following this blog over the years know that I am allergic to the Horseflys' saliva. That is why I ride with 3/4 or full-length pants in the middle of the summer. Anyways, during the ride I did not experience more than a little red spot where the bit was, I couldn't even see where I had been bitten neither was there any blood running down my leg - which usually is a result of a horsefly bite. The next day however, my lower leg was swelling up and seeing red.

That same evening - friday - I visited my doctor who immediately prescribed me heavy antibiotics and had me start on Aerius antihistamines. The following days the swelling had spread towards my ankle and around my lower leg. But it also looks as if the medications are working, the swelling has subsided from Sunday on and as I am typing this only my ankle is filled with water

So, now you know why I haven't been biking during this sunny weekend. Looks like horsefly season has started and I will take all possible measures not to be stung again. This includes wearing long pants during offroad rides and liberally applying ant-insect spray containing DEET on my legs and arms.

29-06-2009, 12:58 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

I was bitten by some insect yesterday, or possibly a spider, and my right calf was swollen and showing signs of an allergic reaction. People who know me know that this is no laughing matter for me so I started treatment at once with anti-histamine pills and I am supposed to see my doctor later today. But I did decide to ride out since the swelling wasn't too bad - yet - this morning. I did an easy road-ride taking me over Egenhoven , Bertem, Leefdaal and Neerijse towards Sint-Agatha-Rode, Sint Joris Weert and Nethen. Over Hamme Mille I completed a short loop. The weather was hot, I already had an average temperature of 27 degrees around 1pm. But there are some clouds gathering and meteox.be is showing thunderstorms in the south-east of Belgium, and they are slowly making their way up north.

Ride Stats : 39k and 245/257 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h44mins

4577/43920

26-06-2009, 15:49 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Very hot today with temperatures reaching 30 degrees C but a stiff breeze kept it from getting tropical. Nevertheless it was still hot when we set out with the KBC MTB club for a ride along the base loop of the August 16th Haasrode organized ride. There were only 3 of us but this also meant we could keep an even pace throughout the ride. The base loop already is around 35K long and with nearly 400 heightmeters it is not for the meek either. Taking us through Meerdael forest towards Nethen and the famous "lianenklim" upwards towards Bossut . Then descending into Archennes and passing through some narrow overgrown track towards the N252. We crossed that and followed another trail into Gottechain. From here we made our way towards the outskirts of Grez Doiceau before looping back over Nodebais and Tourinnes. The Meerdael forest was entered again at the Forestry house and we passed next to the Dikke Eik on our way to Mollendaal. From here it was downhill towards the Bremberg and back into Haasrode. In all a very fine ride and certainly worth doing. Come and join us on August the 16th for this distance or perhaps one of the longer distances - up to 62K - of this organized ride. When I arrived home around 9pm it was still 25 degrees C but there were clouds, perhaps indicating some upcoming rain. 

Ride Stats : 42k and 405/457 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h9mins

4538/43675 

25-06-2009, 21:43 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

The weather was great today so I took the Moots out for a discovery ride into Brabant Walloon. On these rides I just let myself be guided by my instinct and my GPS. I take roads I would normally not take, and try out trails I didn't do before or I want to discover again. Sometimes this means turning back, sometimes you get an 'aha' moment when you can connect two roads you didn't know could be connected. Sometimes the trails are overgrown very badly and care has to be taken not to get caught in some undergrown rut . But that makes it even more fun. I made more or less a loop, starting out along Tourinnes-la-Grosse and then crossing over towards Pietrebais and Longueville. Here I discovered the Accro Bike trails which I followed briefly, opting instead for lesser-known alternatives to connect with Chaumont Gistoux. Following the river "Train" along a small track meandering above it into Bonlez. Here I had to walk a couple of meters because the track was wet. A steep and narrow path brought me to the bigger roads again. Next I had to do some funky stuff and even pass through someones' garden because the Golf Course of Bercuit cuts off some trails. Putting up 'Chemin Prive' signs everywhere but when you ride on the road does connect. Or sometimes it doesn't and you have to improvise. But I made it into Grez Doiceau and Biez just fine, adding a couple of steep heightmeters before making my way to Gottechain and crossing over towards Bossut. Some of the trails in Biez were pretty much overgrown and I was the first biker to pass here in quite a while. A real Big Bad Wolf trail and the way I like them. Riding towards Nethen I chose to do the 'lianen' downhill which was great but for one serious mudhole. Pity because here you really have to hold on to the trees to save yourself from a mudbath. I rode into Meerdael forest for a last couple of easy cooldown kilometers along bigger forest roads.

Ride Stats : 60k and 635/646 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h17mins

4496/43270

23-06-2009, 20:59 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Just when I was getting ready to ride out, a bit before noon, some kind of thunderstorm passed by with a lot of rain and even some hail. OK, no ride now, maybe later.
Around 6pm I went out into the forest for the complete BLOSO trails of Meerdael. In the beginning I had a bit of wet roads but when I rode further away from the Naamsesteenweg things got dryer. Then riding towards the Naamsesteenweg again - in Heverleebos that was - things got wetter again. Once I passed over towards Korbeek Dyle on the green trail the trails became dry. Great, and I made good speed. Upon crossing over towards the Red I neared the Naamsesteenweg again and indeed, things got wet again. Seems like there was a band some 500-750 metres east and west of the North-South axis the Naamsesteenweg forms though Meerdael Forest, where it had rained considerably more than in the rest of the forest. When I rode along the Hamme Mille plains all of a sudden the road was blocked by a broad puddle. Damn. Entering the forest again, the trails were wet and my bike got dirty. Oh well, I just put the hammer down and before long I was again on some dryer trails riding into Bierbeek and back into Mollendaal forest . But nearing the Naamsesteenweg again, on the last part of the red loop, things gor messy again. A bit further, after changing from red to blue, I was on dry trails again. The last bit in Heverlee forest upon reaching the green trail again, was a little wetter once more. But obviously the sun was out and even though it was quite chilly - with an average temperature throughout the ride of a mere 16 degrees C, I wasn't feeling cold, thanks to my Odlo windstopper underwear, very handy in these situations. I had an average of almost 21kph which - in view of the circumstances and the ride I did yesterday - was pretty good.

Ride Stats  : 55K and 480/551 (Polar/Garmin) in 2h39mins

4436/42635  

21-06-2009, 22:32 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today I had a rendez-vous with Frank, a friend who does provide me with everything that is PC-connected. He wanted to do a short ride in Meerdael and I agreed to take him along on what I call a perimeter ride. This is a ride along the edges of the forest. I had this ride as a course in my GPS from last winter and added a couple of tracks I normally don't do in winter to spice things up a bit. Frank is a very fast rider and I had to urge him to calm down quite a bit. He rides a beautiful Turner full suspension bike. One of the perks of being the guide is that the guidee has to wait at every turn, and it was good for me to up the pace a bit . When I ride alone I usually settle into a pace I can ride for hours. I look around a lot and stop frequently to take some pictures. Frank is quite a bit faster than me - he is also 18 years younger - and he always seems to ride in chrono-mode. Even though today was an easy ride for him, he made me stress my muscles more than I usually do. And it felt OK to do so. When we had completed the ride I went on for another hour to cool down and rode towards the edge of Hamme Mille , into the fields of Tourinnes and on towards Bierbeek and Haasrode, taking in a couple of K's of the "Engel" walking track, which I believe is sheduled for tomorrow.

Ride Stats : 55.5K and 555/603 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h50mins

4381/42155

20-06-2009, 16:01 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today the weather was nice and warm, ideal for a ride in the late afternoon. After last saturdays' ride I felt like I suffered from a heatstroke. The whole Sunday I had a headache and by Monday morning it was bad enough to keep me in bed. I had forgotten to apply sunscreen and even though the sun was veiled, the UV rays must have reached my skin because I saw red on my arms and legs. Stupid mistake.
So today, even though it was 5.30pm when I rode out, I did apply my usual factor 20 sunscreen. I rode through Meerdael forest and clambered up the Smeysberg with the Moots before dropping down into Huldenberg and riding up to Overijse where I had a meeting with Guna. She was fresh out of the Raid des Hautes Fagnes, where she completed the 90K. It was her toughest ride ever and I can understand that. I never rode the RDHF but I warned her it was a toughie. But she went on a rode it. Amazing, and my helmet goes off to her. Well done !
But today we were doing the Overijse BLOSO's and the pace was gentle but firm. I have done them azillion times but each time I am enjoying the succession of short climbs and descents, a great was to train some interval. Some of the climbs are quite tricky and one should never take the downhills for granted. They surprise you every time. After heavy rains gulleys are formed , branches are dropped on the trail and here and there a bit of mud spiced things up a bit more. But we managed all of them very well, and I was once more surprised by the progress Guna had made in both uphill speed and downhill prowess. And then she didn't even have her full suspension bike with her, but even with the hardtail with v-brakes she is fast . The trails were great, dry for the most part except for the downhill in the Bois de Laurensart which had a bit of mud in some of the hollow road sections.
When we split up I returned towards Huldenberg and did the offroad climb starting at the mill at Neerijse. A quick dash into Meerdael forest with the offroad climb out of Sint Joris Weert in the opposite direction of the BLOSO route, where I passed a couple of bikers. In all a good quality midweek ride.

Ride Stats : 61K and 701 heightmeters (Garmin) in 3h25mins

4326/41600

17-06-2009, 22:07 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

13-06-2009, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today the sun was back, at last. After 3 days of rain - sometimes heavy - I was keen to ride out again. I didn't want to go out too long though, just a quick dash to feel the legs. The wind was blowing fiercely from the west , so I chose my loop carefully to avoid it as much as possible. As was to be expected, my legs felt good after 3 days of rest. Good thing because last week was a big one with over 300K and 3650 heightmeters.
On the PC front I could at last begin to work with my new desktop PC, a Quad Core speed monster with 4Gigs of RAM and running XP Pro. I still need to get my Polar interface to work though. Since the new PC doesn't have any COM ports, only USB connections, I got a RS232-USB converter but the thing doesn't seem to work. Or at least my Polar software doesn't use it. A mans' work is never done it seems, and nothing in IT is easy.

Ride Stats : 21K and 120/139 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 51mins

4151/40340

11-06-2009, 19:52 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

The forecast for today was again talking of rain so I decided to stay close to home once more. Why not do the 65K organised ride of the Zoenk once more? Good idea, lets do that. I had the track from a friend so with the GPS there is no great difficulty in following it. For a more complete description of the track and a trail map I refer to my blog entry of the 22nd of March. You can find it by entering 'Zoenk' in the 'Zoeken in Blog' field on this page and then click on 'Zoeken'.
Today I added an extra climb in Nethen, dropping down from the fields into Nethen and then riding the famous lianenklim. I had expected it to be in almost perfect trail condition and indeed it was. There was only one spot where I needed to lift my bike over a mudhole made worse by quad and motorcycle violence. The skies were threatening with rain when I entered Gastuche, the farthest point of the ride, but except for a few scattered drops it stayed dry thoughout the entire ride. When I am typing this it has just started raining . So I can't complain , the gods were on my side today. I noticed I already passed the 40000 heightmeter mark this year, which illustrates my emphasis on mountainbike ride quality instead of quantity.
I only made a couple of pictures during todays' ride , which I will post here for you lot to enjoy. Thanks for reading this and see you on the trails.

Ride Stats : 65.5K and 830/875 heightmeters(Polar/Garmin) in 3h38mins

4130/40220

07-06-2009, 14:56 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

The weather was uncertain for the Ardennes, possibilities of rain, so I decided to stay home and do a bit of exploring along the Overijse '2 Valleys' BLOSO route. This route basically interconnects the valley of the river Lane to the valley of the river Ijse. A nice route as well, with some tecnical bits and a trail that keeps ondulating up and down, in and out of the valleys of the aformentioned rivers. Obviously, with a little bit of terrain knowledge and a good GPS it is not difficult to construct a more 'manly' version of this track. Adding a couple of loops to take in a couple of extra climbs, singletracks or descents quickly turns this ride into a real challenge. The bike performed well, flawless actually and my legs were good as well. So basically I had a great ride. The sun did come out every now and then but the average temperature was a measly 16 degrees C.

When I returned towards Meerdael forest I added another little loop into this forest, meeting two roedeer along the way. The tracks were dry and dusty and the wind was blowing quite noticeably from the north.

Ride Stats : 64K and 915/975 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h40mins

4065/39390

06-06-2009, 14:48 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Felt rested today so I decided to take the Moots out on a spin along my Meerdael Loop. I decided on the last part of it, riding it in the opposite direction. This makes for a completely different loop, turning all the climbs into descents and vice versa. Needless to say, the loop was pretty intense heightmeter-wise but I rode it very relaxed and with an easy pace. The tracks were very dry and it feels like a bit of rain wouldn't hurt the forest. Lets just hope it doesn't rain too much because when it rains in Belgium it usually tends to be overdone. I had a new rear shifter cable mounted by Filip Sport the other day and the shifting was flawless now. If the weather says relatively calm during the next few days I might venture towards the Ardennes again during the weekend.

Ride Stats: 27.5K and 435/445 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h50mins

4000/38475

04-06-2009, 19:26 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

It took the sun a little while before she broke through the clouds but around noon I took off for an easy recovery ride. My legs didn't feel too bad after last weekend but I chose not to overdo it, and enjoy the beautiful Brabant Walloon landscapes. An F16 from nearby 1St Wing Airbase was doing all kinds of movements in the sky - probably training for the upcoming show of the 21st of July, Belgian National Independence Day - and I stopped a while to look in awe to the grace and power of the aircraft. The sound was deafening at times .

02-06-2009, 22:10 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

I wanted to do a long ride today, so I chose to ride the Merlin to 7 Fontaines in Dworp, where I could start a roadbook I found on utagawa.com. This roadbook looked promising with 36K and 749 heightmeters in the Hallerbos and Braine-Le-Chateau area. From past experiences I knew the Hallerbos could provide a lot of heightmeters on a short distance but I was a bit sceptical on the total. Well, lets find out shall we?
Riding towards the Hallerbos from Meerdael can roughly be divided into 3 sections, the first being the ride towards Duisburg and the entry of the Sonian Forest, the second being the ride through the Sonian forest and the third part the ride through Sint Genesius Rode and Dworp towards the lakes of the 7 Fontaines area. When I arrived I switched my Edge 705 to course mode and set out along the roadbook. The first couple of K's were very familiar of earlier rides I've done here. Riding around the lake and then entering a small singletrack which leads along the edge of a field towards a long climb into the Hallerbos. Reaching the Hallerbos I had a bit of difficulty with the GPS not being able to follow the course anymore. The track passes twice at this area, perhaps that was the reason. Oh well, I could still see the track on my map so I continued following that. A nice ondulating passage in the forest and some steep descents and ascents before leaving the forest to cross the R0 highway. The track than follows a bit of tarmac before turning into a nice singletrack zooming down into the outskirts of Braine Le Chateau.
 

01-06-2009, 20:54 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf