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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 05-12-2006 |
 Rollers again |
Lousy weather and not really wanting to ride outside due to a flu injection I got today, found me on the rollers again. Just idling along really but good to keep the wheels in motion.
Ayumi kept me company again .
Ride Stats: 20K in 47mins
05-12-2006, 22:42 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 03-12-2006 |
| Pecrot |
The Ride:
This is a ride I always look forward to. It is called 'Just For your Pleasure' and this was its 10th edition already . I know from past years that the tracks laid out by Eric Anris, with a lot of organisational help of his father 'Papy' , are splendid. The weather forecast was not too good, predicting gale-force winds and rain in the afternoon. Yet, when I rode towards the start at 9.35am the sun was shining.
At the "guet-a-pintes", a small local barn-cantine, I met Erics' wife Nancy at the inscriptions and said my hellos to her and her father-in-law.
Distances of 12, 24, 35 and 47K where on offer, the inscription fees ranged from 1 to 4. It would have been nice if they had given me some little paper or sticker with the emergency number on, but either they were all gone (I was late at the start, around 10.15 am) or they were not foreseen.
There was also a chrono race over the longest distance but those guys already left at 8.30.
I did not feel too good at the start so decided to take it easy and see how my legs would evolve during the ride. The first few k's already brought a good climb into Beaumont forest and things were ondulating up and down relentlessly after that. Some nice slippery singletrack section in Nethen brought us quickly via a forest-edge passage into Meerdaelwoud and to the first rest stop in the centre of Nethen, only 7K into the ride. Bit of a surprise but this early stop was caused by the fact that they also wanted the people, mostly families, who did the 12K to have a rest stop. Lots of power drinks and some food but nothing I really fancied this early in the ride.
After the rest stop we had to go up one of those very steep trails that end up on the sandy hill overlooking Nethen. I only got up about 3/4 of the climb but had to bail out because some other biker had bike troubles and was blocking the track. Oh well, I don't think I would have made the climb anyway, or at least not the last couple of meters which were very steep with a step in them as well. Some nice singletrack followed and then a quick tarmac drop back into Nethen. We then had to ride some cobbles towards the famous 'jungle' climb that only was muddy at the very start but went without problem for the rest of the climb. It hadn't really rained for a couple of days so the trails were almost completely dry, not counting a single mudhole here and there.
The ride went over towards La Malaise , Hamme Mille and Bossut now, where we got the full force of the wind in our faces. I was following some other guys and failed to see the arrow pointing to the right. At the next crossroads , everyone of the group was looking around in every direction to see where we had to go.. bugger, no more arrows..damn.. But then a smart guy (no not me, another one ) saw some bikers taking the turn we had passed by , so we hurried back to rejoin the good path once more. It was rather crowded and I think they had a very good attendance for this ride.
The trails now took us over Archennes, Les Monts, La Motte and Gastuche towards the Bois de Laurensart and Ottenburg, still taking in about every climb there was, forcing me to strain my muscles.
But I was getting better with every kilometer. I've always been a good climber and I never had to leave the middle ring once during this ride. I made all the climbs except two; the steep and blocked one after the first rest stop and another one near the end, on the "railroad singletrack" in Florival. But we'll get to that later.
For now I was enjoying the tracks , the clouds were getting darker though and I was sure we would not keep it dry. I was not wrong. The second rest stop was just after a very steep climb in the Bois de Laurensart, up to "De Tomme" . I made this one without fault on the middle ring. I think my choice of tyres, the very grippy 2.1 inch WTB Weirwolf , was spot-on for this type of weather. Only bad thing about the Weirwolfs is that they shed off the mud very aggressively, making for a dirty face and bottom. But they find grip where other tyres don't , even on slippery off-camber stuff. Good tyre.
The second rest stop, hmm, not much left to eat and I grabbed some part of a banana and drank a well-tasting sports drink. The 35K distance split off from the 47K after this rest stop and all of a sudden I was riding practically alone. There was a fine loop coming up, dropping us down into Neerpoorten and there we followed the Overijse BLOSO track in reverse towards Sint Agatha Rode , through the Sint Agatha Rode bos. It had started to rain now and the fierce wind made me groan when I had it straight in the face climbing back up towards Ottenburg and later towards the Kouter. I knew Eric always leaves some of the toughest bits for the end, so I was still holding back on the power, riding on economy. I was not wrong. The last 9k of the ride were fingerlicking good . Some steep stuff after Florival going up the Verte Voie, back down again, following the railroad singletrack, where I had to dismount due to temporary blindness caused by the rain (yeah right, the hill was just too steep and the roots took me by surprise). After this nice track we once again faced a tough climb, starting out with a very muddy patch where I was enjoying my Weirwolfs once again while a lot of people had to walk. After that the track got steeper and steeper but yet again I made the climb, shouting my way past bikers who were walking , dazed and confused as they were by the toughness of the track and probably wishing they had chosen some shorter distance. Just a few more efforts now before I arrived back at the start, it was raining quite happily now and with some 9 more K to go to get back home, I didn't bother to stop and wash my bike.
Judging by the queue there were only two hoses anyway. The ride back had another 130 heightmeters on offer and by the time I was home, I was wet from the water spray caused by the tyres on the tarmac. Tired yes, but also very pleased I did not quit when the rain started and completed the ride.
Ride Stats : 49K and 776 heightmeters
The Lowdown:
What I liked:
+ great area
+ arrowing was sparse but without fault
+ distance splits were well marked.
+ 2 rest stops on the longer distances
+ danger markers at the really dangerous spots/downhills
+ plenty of drinks at the rest stops
What I did not like:
- Arrowing could have been better, was too sparse at places
- No emergency number leaflet/sticker was handed out (or they were out of them when I started )
- There could have been more food at the rest stops
Synopsis:
A
great ride, providing distances for each level from 12K to 47K. Tricky and well-thought circuit meant you had to push until the last meter. This is one ride to look forward to.
The Bare Facts:
Ride Profile : CLICK
Some pictures taken by Schijfrem :
Results of the Chrono : CLICK
03-12-2006, 17:24 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 30-11-2006 |
| Ludo and Plagiarism. |
Ludo
Another beautiful autumn day so I decided to stay home from work and do a nice long ride. I did part of the Ludo Dierckxsens Classic, a ride that starts at Laakdal, loops down towards Brabant Walloon, takes a big chunk out of it and then loops back up towards Leuven and further to Eindhout. I joined the route at Bierbeek and followed it to just before Sint-Joris Weert. It was sunny and the average temperature was 9 degrees, little or no wind. I stopped again at the Warande forestry house but there was , again, no-one home.
Plagiarism
Someone alerted me today to the fact that big parts of an article I wrote for 4Bikers, explaining the use of titanium in the bicycle industry, appear to be copied into an article Menno Grootjans wrote for the famous 'Fiets' magazine. I checked out the link and indeed, about 3/4 of the article is word-for-word plagiarism of my article.
Now they do say that "plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery" , but I would be even more flattered had my name been mentioned in their source list. They do mention my website in the article, which is great . Perhaps they thought it was enough?
I am not making too much of it - I have been copied before ( usually by the Dutch - coincidence ? ) - but the 4Bikers redaction are not too happy about it, and I can understand them.
I have written an mail to "Fiets" , curious how this will develop.
Ride Stats : 72.5k and 515 heightmeters in 3h10mins
30-11-2006, 17:56 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 29-11-2006 |
| Long slow distance |
Yippee, got off from work early today and I could leave a 3pm for my ride. I decided first to check out the 'arrow' situation on the red bloso route, because I have been contacting BLOSO and the Sports Office at Oud-Heverlee and while BLOSO still needs to respond(!) the guy at the Oud-Heverlee Sports office told me that the people at BLOSO told him that the situation was fixed.
I knew it was not, but I took my camera and went to the spot. Indeed, no BLOSO arrow in sight. There was an A4 format sheet with a Red Arrow that some concerned biker has probably put up, but this will only stay on until the first good winter storm.
Bloso NEEDS to fix this. I have also learned that I have to contact BLOSO directly and mail them the problem (with pics if possible) . BLOSO then contacts 'Waters en Bossen' , the Forestry guys , and they fix the routes.
Click on the picture next to this article to see the crossroads in question.
I rang the bell at the nearby Forestry home, but they were out.
So I set off for the rest of my ride. This took me to Hoeilaart where I chatted up with Filip of Filip Sport and after that, dusk had set in so it was a nightride home. Good ride, temperature was around 8° C and there was no wind to speak off.
Ride Stats: 60K and 435 heightmeters in 2h43mins
29-11-2006, 19:08 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 28-11-2006 |
| Damn , topfit and miserable |
Aargh, I just had to ride my bike today , I just had to. Left home for work at 9am this morning, got back from work at 7pm, cleaned one of my bikes then got on the rollers and rode for half an hour, just enough to get the juices flowing .
Only then did I go to the little party my dad had for his birthday.
No, I just couldn't wait for another hour, go to the party first and ride afterwards, stupid stupid me.
When I arrived at the party my two sisters got up and left the room , letting me know exactly what they thought of my priorities. I feel very bad right now. I could kick myself. I have to get control of this.
Damn, I'm topfit but as miserable as can be . I had a good talk with my dad afterwards but I still feel like shit, I need to get my priorities straight.
I love you dad, Happy Birthday !!
Ride Stats : 12.5K on the rollers in 30mins
28-11-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 26-11-2006 |
| DreckSau |
Since it had rained quite a bit during the past week, I was prepared for muddy conditions. I had cleaned my bike, put some IceWax on my chain and mounted my WTB Weirwolf tyres. I decided to stay home and do the Meerdael BLOSO loops, not the toughest of rides but certainly a beautiful ride in any season. With the windy conditions of the last few days most of the leaves had fallen down . This made some of the downhills pretty tricky. But I was confident in my bike, my tyres and my riding abilities. I was not let down by either of them.
What has been bugging me about the Meerdael trails is that there has been a crucial arrow missing for more than 6 months now. I have contacted the Oud-Heverlee Sports Office by mail several times , but other than read my mails, nothing has been done. The way I see it the fault can lie at 3 places.
1st there are the route 'godfathers', 2 people that have been appointed by the community and BLOSO, and those 2 must ride the routes AT LEAST once a month and report all missing arrows and other problems to the community (Sports Office). I have had my doubts about the godfathers from the beginning, neither of them can be contacted or bothers to read, let alone answer, any mails I sent to them.
Then there is the Community of course , they have to report the problems the godfathers report to them, to BLOSO.
And then of course there is BLOSO itself, which must fix the problem.
Next week, I will put in a few phone calls, starting with BLOSO and the Sports Office and work my way down from there. I've just about had it with this situation.
The ride, oh yes, it was great, lovely weather and yes it was muddy at places. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, speeding along and avoiding all the walkers/hikers/bikers/horses and other wildlife. It's sunday and everyone seems to be out enjoying the good weather and the call of the forest is great.
Ride Stats : 56.5K and 490 heightmeters in 2h47mins
Oh, and I cleaned my bike afterwards. Click on the pic next to the article to check its state when I arrived and click HERE to look at it after I had cleaned it.
26-11-2006, 16:04 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 23-11-2006 |
| Rolling |
Rain, wind, autumn..
So I stayed indoor, wanting to do a little bit of exercise I got on the rollers and idle pootled along for an hour, reading some more Conan stories and listening to Roxette and Alanis on the MP3 player. I passed the 11000K mark for this year with still more than a month to go.
Ride Stats : 21.5K and 1h
23-11-2006, 20:37 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 21-11-2006 |
| Little Nail and Big Flash |
Little Nail was not happy.
He had been happy before, but one day he fell out of the hard substance he had been hammered into. He fell on some hard black slab and had been moved around several times since then , being hit, bouncing up and down, unable to grab whatever moved him from his resting place . He was eager to grab something and penetrate it. His luck decided otherwise. he would have to be patient and wait.
Little Nail was not happy.
Night had fallen for the umpteenth time, Little Nail had no notion of time really but could distinguish between light and darkness. He was prepared for another jolting around when suddenly he was grabbed by something . He bit and penetrated some soft mushy tissue, screaming with excitement when he felt he was tightly attached to something substantial again. He had found a new purpose, whilst he sensed some air escaping next to him he gently settled once more into a state of wholeness, his life's purpose once more was fullfilled.
Little Nail was happy.
The Big Bad Wolf grumbled.
I could feel something was wrong immediately , my bike began to handle differently and I realized I had a flat. Not quite flat yet but air was leaving my rear tyre fast and I was looking for a spot to stop and fix it.
I was in complete darkness on a back road . Luckily I was in the neighborhood of the Beauvechain Military complex, and I gently let my bike roll towards the light at the entrance.
Yip, my rear tyre was flat allright. No worries, get it out, get a new one in , pump it up and move along. The guards had seen me and one of them walked towards me and invited me to the guardhouse, where I could fix my wheel in full light. Thanks dudes !
7 minutes later I was back on my way, I had found and removed the rusty little nail that had worked its way into my tyre, the small little devil. I chucked it into the grass . I always carry a spare inner tyre and I have a good pump. Nevertheless I was not looking forward to a second flat, because that would mean finding the hole and fix it. Luckily I was spared from more trouble and could finish the ride without any more stops.
The nightride had something special since it had been flashing in the northeast for quite a while now. A distant thunderstorm probably and the lightning producing big eerie flashes in the cloudless sky.
Little Nail screamed when he fell he was being grabbed and pulled out of the substance he had so eagerly bitten himself into. He was being examined and then thrown away, this time falling into some soft wet substance. Hey, this was good, he touched the soft earth and came to rest, protected by some green foliage; hidden , safe , happy . This was not so bad after all. He felt secure and vaguely noticed some big flash before nodding off into happy oblivion.
Ride Stats: 40.5K and 245 heightmeters in 1h43.
Average temperature : 5° C.
21-11-2006, 21:52 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 19-11-2006 |
| Sunday drivers |
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Had to wait a long time for the rain to subside today. Then I wanted to watch the cyclocross and around 4.30pm I could go out for a ride at last. I am not used to riding that late on a sunday and I noted there were a lot of stupid car drivers out. Not the same crowd I am used to seeing during the week but a different lot. Not used to bikers in the night I would say.
Around the rivers there was some fog forming making it creepier still to be out with lights. Luckily I managed to avoid all pitfalls and had a nice easy ride after all.
Ride Stats : 43K and 325 heightmeters in 1h56mins
19-11-2006, 18:56 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 18-11-2006 |
| Some bad, some good |
I had been asked to lead a group on a ride today going from Theux towards the Signal de Botrange (highest point of Belgium) and back again. Something that is known as 'The Longest Downhill' and a ride I have been refining for a few years now to yield some 65K and 1000 heightmeters .
The weather looked bad and I wasn't too eager to go out. So I tried contacting the organisers but got no reply. I drove to Theux (one-hour drive) to check out who would show up, and possibly propose a shorter ride to them, only to find NO-ONE at all at the rendez-vous point.
Pretty pissed off I was, it was raining and with about 5 degrees at the start I didn't even want to contemplate doing a ride over there all alone. Back home I drove (another hour lost). I got a call from one of the organisors saying 'the other guy' was handling the mountainbike event , but up till now the 'other guy' hasn't returned my SMS'es. If he worked for me he would be surely fired !
So, since I was all geared up and upon reaching Leuven came into dryer weather, I decided to ride into the Meerdaelwoud and do the first and third part of my Secret Meerdael Loop. I got my little Sony camera with me to take some piccies and set off. And what a great ride I had. Sure, it was muddy but my waterproof socks and pants stopped all wetness and cold from bothering me. The sun was shining now and I got some great shots of toadstools and some nice forest colors too. The ride was very tiring physically and that added to the mental strain from the debacle this morning has me now rather tired. And I still have to wash my bike, but that is something I will not forget.
I'm still waiting for a call from Mr.Organisor and I figure he owes me 2 hours of my life and some 16 litres of fuel.
The Ride Stats : 42K and 550 heightmeters in 2h50 minutes
18-11-2006, 15:58 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 14-11-2006 |
| RollerBoy |
Yep, another wet and windy evening, autumn really is settling in now. Only good thing is that the temperature is amazingly high, 13 degrees C this evening. Still I decided to stay in and ride an hour on the rollers. Hopefully tomorrow it will stay dry and I will be able to ride out.
Ride Stats : 25K in 1h01 minutes
14-11-2006, 18:35 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 12-11-2006 |
| Archennes |
The Ride:Yesterday was measly and rainy so the planned ride in Ottenburg fell into the water for me. I heard today only 250 bikers turned up . This must have been a disaster for the organisers but that is one of the risks you face when organizing an outdoor activity in November.
Today then, and I was keen to get on my bike, the weather looked good, it had only rained sparsely since yesterday afternoon and the start at Archennes was only 12k from my home. Let's GOStarted very late (11.30am) so no crowd at all. The organisation, "la 2ieme Boucle des 5 Rivieres" , was in the hands of a local school, helped by some members of my club, the Blancs Gilets. No discount for licensees so I had to fork over 4 for the 40K distance. Prices varied from 1 to 4 Euros corresponding to distances between 10 and 40K.Took a pic of the map, got on my bike and off I went.
It started out fairly easy going up towards Les Monts and the outskirts of Wavre and Grez-Doiceau. A very wet downhill leading from the Bercuit golf circuit down towards Bayarmont and Morsain , were I greeted the earth with my right hip . Having put on Nokian NBX Lite tyres which are not at their best when things get really muddy and sticky I was fearing the worse.
But my fears were premature since the rest of the ride was as good as dry, one or two puddles notwithstanding.
The ride hooked up with the Accro Bike after passing through Grez-Doiceau and followed this hilly track for quite a while. Since this is one of my favorite training areas I was enjoying the ride, but secretly hoping they would soon leave the Accro and find their own trail.
Not far from Cocrou, on the Longue Tienne, awaited a first rest stop, some 16K into the ride. Even though I left very late, there was still plenty of stuff to eat and drink, they even had a bottle of Martini, which I politely declined. Some good sports drink and a couple of chocolate cookies filled up what little hunger I had and I drove on.
After Cocrou the ride left the "Accro Bike" area and after passing the busy road to Jodoigne a long uphill on cobbles brought us in the Bois de Linsmeau, were a nice fast, rocky and rooty downhill followed.
Another uphill and then a nice little 40K-only-loop with a very steep ascent along a field into Gottechain.
The wind was blowing fiercely into my face as I went down towards Guertechain and after crossing the Wavre-Hamme Mille road I came onto the second rest stop, 26K out.
Met Nicolas Casteels there, who was riding a tandem together with Manu, owner of Moving Bike. I got some hot soup here which really warmed me up nicely after the cold wind. Upon leaving I took the wrong direction but quickly found out (no more arrows) so I turned back and took the right split (the one going left) this time.
Dropping into Nethen via the famous "jungle downhill" which was a piece of cake today, only a big puddle near the end. Back up again and this would be my ordeal for the next couple of K's . Up and down, up and down, every now and then with my face into the wind. I saw Nicolas and Manu in the distance and made an effort to rejoin them, which I did just before Pecrot.
They went downhill with the speed of a train, and after I passed them in one of the uphills, they came thundering by me again in the following downhill. Big brakes and of course the advantage of quite a bit of weight made them go really fast here. But then came a nasty singletrack uphill, leading up to the last rest stop.
In the beginning of that uphill they were riding before me but had to bail out at the steepest bit , leaving me stranded as well. Nicolas gave me a good push though and I managed to ride the whole thing. Had to wait quite a bit at the third rest stop (which only had a very limited amount of food left) but this gave me the chance to chat up with Eric Anris, co-organiser of this ride and himself organising the 'For Your Pleasure' ride in Pecrot on the 3rd of December.
Make a note of this, because that is a great ride coming up in just 2 weeks ' time !!
After this stop, the ride ondulated up and down some more, going over La Malaise where I found some muddy patches along the "La Hocaille" sandpit. We then dropped into Archennes to finish the ride after some 44K (closer to 42K because I made a little detour after the 2nd rest stop)
Met up with Sandrine and Atef from BigM just before the finish area. There was only one hose to wash the bikes with, which was OK in these conditions but there really should be at least 3 or 4 hoses.
Ride Stats : 44K and 660 heightmeters The Lowdown:What I liked:
+ great area
+ arrowing was without fault
+ distance splits were very well marked, before AND after the split
+ well stocked rest stops, and 3 of them on the 40K
+ danger markers at the really dangerous spots/downhills
+ disaster number was handed out at inscription and was also on every arrow
What I did not like:
- this ride was too short, a 50K distance would be nice.
- only one hose at the bike wash.
Synopsis:
A great ride, providing distances for each level from 10K to 40K. Perhaps a longer distances for the real bikers would have been a bonus. The rest stops were well stocked and even for the late starters there was plenty of food and some soup and/or sports drinks in lots of flavors.The arrowing was without fault, I only took a wrong turn once, after the second rest stop, but that was my fault.
The Bare Facts:Ride Profile : CLICKMap of the Ride : CLICK
Some pictures taken by Schijfrem : CLICK
12-11-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 06-11-2006 |
| The smell of fresh beets |
Oh yes, NIGHTRIDE time again. Today, or rather, this evening was the first one for me this autumn . Started out easy on the road to check out the state of my lights and get used to the rhythm of riding in the dark, with just the white cone of your light to guide you , once again.
It felt great to be out in the dark; the loneliness, the inherent danger, the quiet, the 40 watt HID beam blinding car drivers, the smell of freshly harvested beets when passing the fields where the machines were still working to get them out of the ground, the pang in my stomach from the sugary smell of the beets, reminding me I hadn't eaten for 6 hour, the crispness of the onsetting night, the waning full moon playing hide and seek behind some sparse clouds.
Yes, it felt great to be out again in the dark.
Ride Stats : 32K and 200 heightmeters in 1h21mins. Average temperature : 7 degrees C
06-11-2006, 21:33 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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