Today a recovery ride was on the menu. I rode out with the Hilset and was aiming for a 2 hour drive. The temperature was near 18 degrees Celcius so it was short trousers time. Well, 3/4th since I added a pair of knee leggings just to be on the safe side. I rode over Egenhoven to Bertem and there took the little bikepath along the river Voer . I followed this path towards Leefdaal - check the castle pic - and then further on towards Tervuren. The path was dry and had been receiving some maintenance lately so trail conditions were great. In Tervuren I turned towards Eizer and then further to the south-east towards Huldenberg.
Here I quickly joined the river Ijse for a ride along its edges on another bikepath. This took me all the way towards Neerijse. Here the path disappeared so I rode into the Doode Beemde to cross the boardwalk over the wet fields towards Oud-Heverlee. I emerged out of the nature reserve just south of the Zoete Waters.

Another couple of easy kilometers and I was back home, with a nice and relaxing ride under my belt.

Ride Stats : 44K and 255/285 heightmeters in 2h2mins

1908/19475

Today it was even warmer than yesterday, it was almost 13 degrees when I left home, but there was also a strong wind blowing from the west. Even so I chose not to underdress. I only wore my summer gloves . The feeling of the thinner gloves on the handlebars was strange to get used to. I felt good so I chose for another offroad ride. I wanted to ride in the region of the Dyle and Yse so I rode towards the Margijsbos where I had a bit of a climbing frenzy, doing no less than 4 climbs and descents in this forest. At the end I followed the river Yse towards Huldenberg where I attacked the Smeysberg offroad. I then went to the other side of this hill dropping down into Terlanen. From here the Sint Agatha Rode Bos was beckoning me for another climb. A very steep one for sure. I had to sit way up front of my saddle, struggling to keep the rear wheel from spinning. It said 23% on my GPS readout after I uploaded the ride to my PC. But I made it. Dropping down on the other side back into Terlanen for another uphill, back up the Smeysberg. Another 21% slope. Then I followed the road towards Sint Agatha Rode, down the Keiberg and then towards the church and Sint Joris Weert.

In Sint Joris I couldn't resist doing a loop into Meerdael Forest, with another climb or 3 against the Nethen slope. By now I began to feel my legs getting saturated so I decided to call it a day and make my way back home. I came across a region I call Weather Top where they have been felling a lot of trees, exposing the trees that are left to the winds. The result of the storm of a couple of week ago can be seen on my picture. Almost 10 healthy strong trees were uprooted, a very sad sight to see. The road was blocked but I took advantage to climb all the way to the top , 102m , adding a couple of more heightmeters to my conto. From there it was all downhill as I crossed the Naamsesteenweg and sped along the Sint Margrietendreef back into Blanden.

Ride Stats : 41K and 585/630 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h32mins

1865/19190

17-03-2010, 20:29 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

This morning saw some light drizzle but during the day things cleared out and what was even more important, the temperatures were around 10 degrees C when I took the Litespeed out for a spin. I couldn't resist going offroad, the trail conditions were just perfect. I rode towards Gastuche and then made my way up and down the many hills , passing crest after crest. I passed more or less in Wavre, Dion Valmont, Grez Doiceau, Cocrou and Gottechain. The Nokian NBX Lites in 2.2 were ideally suited for this kind of terrain. I never felt I lacked traction and even at the few spots were there was just a smudge of mud, the tyres didn't falter. I am still waiting for a replacement jockey wheel for my rear derailler but it didn't bother me during the ride. The gear shifts are as crisp and smooth as I have come to expect from Shimano XTR. For all the years I've been using it I have never been disappointed by the craftmanship and practicality of Shimano's top offering in offroad apparel. My oldest XTR gear dates from 1999, and it is still working like it should. This certainly warrants the higher pricing of the series. 

I had a great ride, riding relaxed and fully enjoying the warm temperatures and the lack of wind. You can really feel that spring is near. The birds are singing a different tune and the air somehow smells different. I already was making plans for a first ride in Nandrin but I believe that there is still more mud at those regions. The snow has been slow in the melting at the higher regions and this week it will surely melt everywhere, leaving behind a big muddy mess. So unless I get signals that the trails are as good over there as they are here, I think I will stay in our region for a little while longer.

Ride Stats : 44,5K and 570/590 heightmeters in 2h34mins

1824/18560

16-03-2010, 20:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Well, yes, almost. I decided to do a ride anyway. After yesterdays' century I wasn't too keen on riding a bike today but figured that active recovery is always better than doing nothing at all. So I rode a little loop over Heverlee and then back to Oud-Heverlee, Sint Joris Weert, Nethen and Hamme Mill to close my loop along the Naamse Steenweg. My legs felt not too bad but I noticed I was tired overall from a rather heavy week.

Ride Stats : 27.5K and 230/250 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h19mins

1779/17970

14-03-2010, 13:13 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

The day was announced to be dry but cloudy. When I left in the AM it was around 6 degrees C and there was a bit of wind blowing from northwesterly directions. I wanted to do a long ride today so I set out towards Meldert and Hoegaarden to connect to the Ravel going to Namur. I followed the Ravel past Jodoigne and where it split up a little bit before Eghezee, I followed the track towards Perwez. I hadn't been here before so when I arrived in Perwez I wasn't sure which road to take to connect to Wavre. So I stopped and fiddled a bit with my Garmin to try and figure out where the road to Wavre was. I must have hit the stop button accidentally at this time. I ended up asking for directions to be sure and then followed the N243 towards Chaumont Gistoux and Wavre. In Thorembais-St-Trond I stopped to make a picture of a bovine triplet, standing in the middle of a turnaround.

The road towards Chaumont was a very solitary one, high up in the fields and at the mercy of the wind which was now blowing full in my face. I also noticed a couple of stray drops of rain. But when I arrived in Chaumont I had some more coverage from trees and houses but also some more hills to tackle. I rode on towards Basse Wavre and then to Gastuche. From here I made a little loop towards Dion and then crossed the N252 again to make my way towards Archennes and Florival. After Pecrot I rode towards Sint Agatha Rode and then Sint Joris Weert. On my way from Weert to the Zoete Waters I met Roger. He was also doing a ride and we stopped for a while to chat about the Summer and how we both wanted the Spring to arrive after a long and cold winter. He told me I should go for the full 100K and I decided to try. At the Zoete Waters I continued straight on towards Oud-Heverlee and then turned right into  Heverlee and climbed to the Pakenhof. Down towards the Geldenaaksebaan and then to the right towards Haasrode and Blanden. I did another loop over the Wijngaardberg and this yielded me the extra couple of K's to make it an even 100 today.
Unfortunately when I arrived home I noticed my Garmin had switched itself off. When I uploaded my track later I understood what had happened. In Perwez I had more or less 1h50 of riding time and there I must have hit the stop button. The Garmin doesn't record the speed anymore but it keeps recording the positional data for another 2 hours before switching itself off. This coincided exactly with the 3h50 mins of track I had for today. 85K and 645 heightmeters and an average speed of nearly 47kph!  Which is normal since the Garmin thinks I did all this in 1h50. Its a pity the last 15K are missing. But I still have the heightmeters from my Polar of course.

Ride Stats : 100K and 725 heightmeters (Polar) in 4h31mins

1752/17720

13-03-2010, 16:07 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today the sun was hiding behind a cloud layer . This made that the temperature didn't rise above 5 degrees C. The wind was still there but less noticeable than yesterday. I decided on a recovery ride with the Hilset. I had switched tyres between the Litespeed and the Hilset yesterday so now the Hilset was on 2.0 Nokian NBX Lites instead of the 2.2 versions. On the road the tyre size doesn't matter too much to me so the 2.0 performed fine. They made me ride just that little bit faster. My average heartrate of 109bpm coupled to an average speed of 23.5kph proved that I was riding very relaxed. 

Ride Stats :  26K and 150/185 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h6mins

1651/16995

11-03-2010, 18:31 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today saw another bright and sunny day with temperatures just a couple of degrees higher but also with a stronger wind from the north turning towards the northwest. I decided to do a climbing session in Meerdael Forest. I had mounted my XTR wheelset with Nokian NBX Lite tyres in 2.0 width. These are rather narrow and I have to put in at least 2.5 bars in them to prevent snakebites. Also, the narrower footprint makes for less effective braking and certainly not as much comfort as its wider brethren. The forest tracks were mostly dry though and with temperatures of 7 degrees it was pleasant enough to drive through the forest. Before I took off I noticed a strange rattling noise coming from my XTR M952 rear derailler. It took me a while to figure out why my chain seemed to jump on the lower jockey wheel. One of the teeth of that little wheel had been sheared off, cleanly. Thinking back to my last ride I remember catching a big branch into my rear wheel whilst riding the Pecrot railroad singletrack. A branch that also hit my rear derailler. It must have hit it pretty good to take that teeth off !

Anyway, riding the bike it didn't matter that much , but I need to get me a new pair of jockeys one of these days. In Meerdael I followed more or less my secret training loop, leaving out the steepest of descents because I didn't trust the skinny tyres to be able to stop me on time. But as I rode more distance I became more confident in them. Nevertheless upon arriving home I swapped them with the 2.2 versions that are on my Hilset. The Hilset is only used on the road and the skinnier tyres are no problem there. The Nokian NBX Lite is quite a nice tyre. It doesn't have a lot of knobs in the center, making it a good roller, but it has some longer knobs on the side, making it grip pretty good in offcamber situations and in the corners.

The climbs and descents followed in a relentless succession and even though I was riding at a pretty relaxed pace I began to feel the heightmeters accumulating in my legs. I was not surprised to see I almost got 600 heightmeters by the end of my 30K ride. The weather forecast calls for a change of weather tomorrow, with the wind turning even more to the west and thus making the air a bit moistier. In Belgium that usually means its going to rain - or snow as might be the case if the temperatures stay this low. Anyway, we might have seen the last night of freezing for this week which must be a good thing too.

Ride Stats : 31K and 560/585 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h11mins

1625/16810

10-03-2010, 20:31 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Beautiful sunny day but a dry and arid wind blowing from the northeast made it feel a lot colder than it actually was. I decided to ride the Haasrode tour, one of my regular rides, following some old arrowing leading me towards Haasrode, Bierbeek, Willebringen, Hoksem and Oorbeek. The Goudberg geosite  marks the furthest northeasterly point of this route, so from there onwards I had the wind more or less blowing in my back. But by then I was already starting to feel like an icicle.

I would see a real icicle in a field not far from L'Ecluse whilst making my way towards La Bruyere. From there I left the Haasrode tour and rode back home over Beauvechain, Tourinnes and Hamme Mille. The air only contained 40% of humidity which made for a bright red sunset. The sun's color was due to the smog over Brussels I believe. Still it was a nice sight and I'm sorry I didn't stop to make a picture. But by then I began to feel the cold in my fingertops and the setting sun made me speed home even quicker. The last half hour it was 'lights on' making this a nightride after all. The average temperature was with 2 degrees C one degree less cold than yesterday, but the wind made it feel a lot colder.

Ride Stats : 50K and 360/440 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h18mins

1595/16225

Cold and even some light snow during the day. This winter is surely one of the worst - or best if you like snow and ice - since ages. I can not remember seeing that my snow in one season or so many days with freezing temperatures. Luckily we can dress for the occasion and I did ride out after watching the finish of the competitors in Paris-Nice. I only wanted to do an easy recovery ride so I chose to do a loop involving little climbing, instead focussing on easy roads. My loop took me through Heverlee, Egenhoven and then towards the crest above Leefdaal. There I turned left towards Neerijse and then continued towards Sint Agatha Rode before turning towards Sint Joris Weert and the Zoete Waters to close the loop. The average temperature was 1 degree C and there was an unpleasant breeze blowing from the northeast.
Today I saw an article where they stated that this july Minister Schouppe wants to introduce the European Car Registration Plate in Belgium. The colors of the Belgian car plates are now red lettering on a white background. Minister Schouppe wants to change this to black lettering on a white background. So far so good but the next step is more difficult to come to terms with. The European plates all have 7 digits . In our system the oldest numberplates have 5 digits and the newest ones 6.
So all Belgian cars must be fitted with NEW numberplates that are comform to the European system . Quite a big change. The worst change is for the owners of personalized number plates. In Belgium you can get a personalized plate for 620 or 874€, depending if you want 6 or 5 digits . Obviously the combination must be available and has to include at least 3 numbers and 2 or 3 letters. Some combinations - like the abbreviations of political parties and the like - are of course forbidden.
Now Mr Schouppe, in all his wisdom, also wants these personalized plates to have 7 digits, so he came up with the bright idea to add the digit 9 (or 99) in front of the combination. So someone who now has the number plate JAN-001 will get 9-JAN-001.
I can understand the frustration of all those who see their investment brutalized and changed into something hardly personalized at all . I doubt that Minister Schouppe will offer those people the possibility to get their money back. There are already Facebook groups who protest against this action and demand that the personalized number plates are left alone - they can become back on white that is not the problem . Time will surely tell how this will evolve.

Ride Stats : 34K and 250/280 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h33mins

1545/15785
  

08-03-2010, 20:09 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

This morning saw a rather cold but clear and bright sunny start. When I rode out around 10.30am it was freezing still but the sun was already upping the temperature . There was a cold northeasterly wind blowing. I wanted to play around a bit with some trails around Overijse and Meerdael so I started out in Meerdael Forest slowly working my way towards its southern edge where I could drop into Nethen and then climb towards Pecrot. Here I made sure to add the famous railroad singletrack in my trails and from Pecrot I made my way towards the Bois de Laurensart for some climbing and descending along interesting trails. The bike was handling well with my tyres on a low pressure of 2.0 bar. It takes some getting used to on tarmac - especially in the corners they tend to roll a bit - but the grip is great and so is the comfort from the 2.25 Big Jims on this low pressure. 

The sun made the trails tricky. In short, whenever you saw the sun on the trail, you had to beware because the top layer would have defrosted just enough to make it slippery. So when you were in the forest, there were no worries, the trails were dry-ish and dependably stable. But whenever you came into a field, or a patch that would accumulate some sunshine, care had to be taken to keep the rubber side down. I made my way along the Overijse red route, in the reverse direction, for some time, adding a little loop here and there to check out some interesting trail and/or ascent/descent. When I arrived near Ottenburg I descended towards Terlanen and from there I made my way into the Sint Agatha Rode forest. In Sint Agatha Rode I added a couple of heightmeters and then made my way back to Meerdael Forest over Sint Joris Weert.

In this forest I did a bit more trail-exploring and ended up in the Speelbos near the Everzwijnbad. I did not ride the bridge over the hollow road. Instead I made my way over it, bike in hand, careful not to slip into the netting. I wonder if anyone would try to ride this. I would surely like to be there and record it on film. Its not that long but if you miss the narrow bridge you end up in the netting, bike and all. From there I rode back towards the Naamsesteenweg, crossed the bikers bridge and added another loop over Hoog Blanden and the Wijngaardberg before returning home with a nice amount of pleasurable kilometers under my belt. The weather was just fantastic, if you didn't mind the cold wind, and I had an average temperature of 2 degrees C. This was quite OK with the right clothing and the shelter of the forest.

Ride Stats : 46,5K and 700/770 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h08mins

1511/15505

07-03-2010, 15:36 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today was another dry and sunny day with some light frost overnight. I noticed when riding home from work that the forest tracks seemed dry and figured I might as well ride offroad. There was a cold northerly wind blowing when I rode out and made the connection the the Green BLOSO trail of Meerdael Forest. The tracks were indeed dry, with some light moisture here and there and some soggy patches in the lower regions in the Dyleland. When I crossed to the Blue BLOSO near the Zoete Waters I could start with the more hilly sections of this trail. The bike felt fine, the trails were great and the light sufficed to aalso connect the Red BLOSO and finish off with the remainder of the Green. I did leave out the long climb from Bierbeek towards the forest, instead looping around over the Bremberg - an extra climb - and also the track next to the Naamsesteenweg I did not do. Instead I followed the Naamsesteenweg for a bit before turning right into the forest again. It might have saved me some mud on my bike, and I did not lose anything significant. When I arrived home dusk was setting in and the sun was being reflected by the houses in Hoog Blanden . I had a good ride, average temperature of 5 degrees Celcius but I never felt the cold because I was protected by the forest from the cold wind.

Ride Stats : 56.5K and 515/605 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h01min

1465/14735

04-03-2010, 20:22 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today another beautiful sunny day and when I got home from work I decided to ride back to Meensel and take some pictures of a 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MR. I had contacted the owner and he told me the car was standing on his drive and I was free to take as many pictures as I wanted. It was still durty after a track weekend in the North of France but other than that it is immaculate.
Some may ask what is this with the Wolf and fast cars, but those who know me also know that I have inherited a weak spot for fast cars in general and these last couple of years for fast Japanese cars in particular. This one is a real killer, I am not at liberty to discuss its real power potential here but lets just say that it has 280HP in its standard form, 4-wheel drive and a torque that can bend the road. I have made a series of pictures that can be seen on my Flickr page for those that like this kind of stuff. Here is the first picture to get you started.

Other than that, my ride was an uneventful one. I basically rode the same lap as last saturday except that I returned over Binkom, Lubbeek, Pellenberg , Lovenjoel and Bierbeek this time. The weather was great, just a little bit of wind and with a temperature of 7 degrees it was lovely to be out there.

I am hoping that it will remain mostly dry for the remainder of the week so that I may consider riding offroad again soon. In the meantime I am enjoying these road rides just as much. Even more so when I have a goal, like today.

Ride Stats : 51K and 365/425 heightmeters in 2h18mins

1408/14130

Today the weather was calm and sunny. After the passing of yesterdays' storm - Xynthia I believe it was called - it was a much needed period to measure up the damage and clean up the debris. I rode out around 4pm and planned to do a longer ride. Starting out towards Ottenburg and Wavre and then making my way from Tombeek towards Rosieres I was nearly hit by a falling tree. The fire brigade was cutting some trees next to the road and just as I passed them I heard a big branch falling on the road, forcing me to brake in order to avoid it. Would have been better if they put up some signage. Anyways, I rode on unscathed and from Rosieres I climbed towards Maleizen. From there I could do some kilometers on the big ring. Just adding some power training from time to time now to up my speed and make my legs stronger. With the wind - there was not very much wind anyway - in my back I could make good speed. Dropped into Hoeilaart and then rode towards Overijse, climbing out of it following the Hertstraat and then making my way over the crest towards Terlanen. From there I decided to add an extra loop over Neerijse and Egenhoven. From Egenhoven I ade my way towards Heverlee and then back home. The average temperature of 6 degrees felt good and in all I had a very satisfying ride today.

Ride Stats : 66k and 425/510 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h52mins

1357/13705

01-03-2010, 20:11 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today I wanted to ride in a completely different direction . So I chose to ride towards Meensel, a little town between Tienen and Sint Joris Winge. My sister lives in nearby Binkom so this gave me an opportunity to pass by . It had rained in the late night and morning but around 10am it dried out and I noticed on meteox that it would stay dry for the rest of the day. Not a cloud in sight, at least not a cloud bearing rain. I started out over Bierbeek and Korbeek Lo and then climbed up towards Pellenberg before plunging into Lubbeek. From Lubbeek I had to climb again to make it into Binkom. From there Meensel wasn't very far away. 

Another reason I came this way is that I know someone in Meensel who has a nice collection of fast cars. I knew the chance of finding him home with the car I really wanted to see - a heavily tuned electric blue Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX - was slim. But at least I was going to try to spot his other car, a beautiful white Ford Focus RS II. And indeed , the Mitsu was nowhere to be seen, but the Ford was there. So a picture was inevitable. When I rode back towards Binkom I did spot the Mitsu coming from Attenrode and riding towards Binkom. He later told me he was preparing it for a trackday in Ecuyers tomorrow . If he had known I was there, etc... But I will catch him and his car later, I'm sure.

From Meensel I rode back towards Binkom for a little stop at my sisters' and then rode towards Boutersem, Vertrijk and Neervelp. From Neervelp I rode my usual loop over Beauvechain, Tourinnes - where I spotted a nice Ferrari in a local Honda garage - and Hamme Mille. In all I had a very satisfying ride in temperatures over 10 degrees C and with only some wind to bother me in the latter part of the loop. 


Ride Stats : 59.5K and 395/430 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h47mins

1291/13195

27-02-2010, 20:01 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today it was dry most of the day but of course the moment I got my bike out it started to rain. Only a few drops so I didn't bother and started anyway. My plan was to ride up to Maleizen but when I arrived in Wavre and the rain had gotten more intense I decided to ride back in the direction of Overijse and then Huldenberg. Very wet streets now and I already had to switch on my lights because the clouds made it darker earlier. When I arrived in Sint Agatha Rode it stopped raining so I decided to add a bit more after I passed the Zoete Waters and rode into Oud-Heverlee. Riding into Heverlee along the Waversebaan I crossed the Naamsesteenweg and rode towards the Geldenaaksebaan and onward towards Haasrode and Blanden. So I did get a nice distance after all, with a couple of more heightmeters as well.

Ride Stats : 51K and 405/420 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h15mins

1231/12765

25-02-2010, 21:15 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

When I arrived home it was raining and the forecast called for scattered showers. However half an hour later it cleared out a bit so I took my bike and rode out. In the beginning there was some light rain very now and then and a very noticeable southern wind made the droplets have a lot more impact. When I turned towards the south it stopped raining and to my amazement even the sun came through for a spell that was long enough to make me finish the remainder of my ride, which took me through Opvelp, Beauvechain, Tourinnes, Hamme Mille, Nethen and then to Sint Joris Weert, the Zoete Waters , Oud-Heverlee and Heverlee. Very much the same loop as yesterday evening but with an added section in the beginning riding over Bierbeek-Bremt and Neervelp. My legs were fine and the temperature of 10 degrees C was very enjoyable.

Ride Stats : 42.5K and 270/320 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h49mins

1180,5/12345

24-02-2010, 17:36 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Raining the whole day, but around 5.30pm it was only a light drizzle so I rode out. An easy road ride in the dusk and pretty soon the drizzle turned into a light rain that didn't bother me much except for my glasses that became wet. The light of my beam and the headlights of cars I crossed were reflected by the waterdrops, making it difficult at times to see where I was going. Temperature wasn't great either, only 4 degrees C on average. But still I had a satisfying 40K ride. Better than sitting at home and sulking about the rain I'm sure.

Ride Stats : 40K and 255/300 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h49mins

1138/12025

23-02-2010, 21:57 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

This morning the skies looked promising and the forecast was calling for a dry day with chance of brighter skies in the afternoon. I had recovered sufficiently yesterday to try another long ride today. My wheels first carried me to Heverlee and the Arenberg castle where I paused at the Banmolen to take a couple of pictures. There were a lot of people taking a walk, jogging and biking in this area, which belongs to the Leuven University grounds. The mill is very old - 17th century and it sure could use a cleanup and an overhaul. I also noticed a lot of debris floating in the water of the river Dyle. This is our heritage , lets try to keep it in a good shape so that people in a 100 years from now can still see how life was a couple of centuries ago.

I then rode towards Egenhoven and followed some small tarmac roads until I arrived near Leefdaal. I dropped down into this small village and stopped to admire the church and a statue that was erected to commemorate the martyrs of the first and second World War. Again I took some pictures, taking advantage of the shy sun piercing through the clouds and illuminating the hard concrete of the statue.

From Leefdaal I then rode towards Duisburg, taking the backroads, and I noticed there were lots of mountainbikers riding on these small concrete roads. I can't blame them, the offroads are soggy and wet and it is immensely better to save your energy riding on tarmac roads instead. I stll have a long way to go, the hard winter has kept me off my bike more than I wanted. I did ride out of course but it was mostly for shorter offroad rides, and not the longer road rides that build up a solid base to attack the new season. Still, my form is not bad, I just need to ride more of these 2-3 hour road rides. 
From Duisburg I made my way towards Overijse and Hoeilaart. Turning around a bit - and everyone who knows Hoeilaart means that this means riding up and down some steep but short hills - I arrived near the town center when I spotted these 2 beautiful Classic cars. I spoke to the owner for a while and he told me he had been to the "Legends Boucles de Spa" Rallye yesterday. He had a good time and at least this way I could also spot a couple of these legendary classic Escorts.

From Hoeilaart I made my way towards Maleizen, but not before adding a couple more climbs whilst leaving Hoeilaart behind me. From then on the ride got easier. The wind was blowing more or less in my favour now and I could put the chain on the big ring. Trying to keep it there I focussed a bit on power training whilst making my way towards Maleizen . In Overijse I spotted one of my favorite cars, and in my favourite color as well. Pity they are so expensive, but this one seemed to be on sale. It had US licence plates and could do with a good clean-up.

From Maleizen I then rode over the plains of Terlanen. In Terlanen I chose to do another big climb and turned towards Ottenburg. But not before I made a picture of the water mill spanning the river Lane.

I began to feel the kilometers - and the heightmeters - by now and settled for the easy road from Ottenburg towards Sint Agatha Rode and down into Sint Joris Weert. Just another 8K now to ride to the Zoete Waters and then over Vaalbeek back home. I had a good long distance ride, easy on the heart with an average of 121 beats per minute. The weather was clement , only the wind bothered me during the first half of the ride but the temperature was between 4 degrees when I started and 7 degrees C when I arrived home near 2.30pm.

Ride Stats : 73.5K and 650/705 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h33mins

1098/11725

21-02-2010, 17:57 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

I felt a bit tired this morning, yesterdays' ride had been fast and I did not feel fully recuperated. Still , I had a day off from work and I wanted to do another ride today, so around 1pm I rode out. I had this crazy idea to ride all the way to Ottignies- Louvain La Neuve. It is quite some distance for a winter ride but I decided to give it a go. If I felt it would be too much I could cut the ride short at a couple of places. It was only 3 degrees today and a nasty wind was blowing from the west. From time to time I could feel some rain or snow on my face.  But I was wearing enough protection and rode through Meerdael forest towards Sint Joris Weert and then over Nethen towards Pecrot and Archennes. Here I was surprised by some colorful vegatation . The snow had melted and the grass looked a bit dull and lifeless. But the colors in these trees - yellow and tints of red - had in them the promise of spring. I stopped and took a picture.

From Archennes I crossed the N25 and rode through Dion, Dion Valmont and Dion le Val. Crossing the road from Wavre to Perwez I made my way over some VERY BAD cobbles towards the outskirts of Corroy Le Grand before turning right and riding into Louvain La Neuve. Here, on the Boulevard Baudouin 1er I saw the red relic of an old cyclotron and took another picture. 

Dropping down into Ottignies, with the Bois des Reves on my right, I knew I stll had a long way to go. Crossing Ottignies and Limelette then passing the Walibi parc in Bierges, I had a long climb ahead of me towards the centre of Bierges. From here I followed the old markings of the Maleizen organised ride. They brought me towards Rosieres and then I crossed the language border and I was back in Overijse and Flanders.. Into Tombeek, then towards Terlanen and Sint Agatha Rode. I had the wind in my back now - at last - and it was easier to ride the bike now. From Sint Joris Weert I rode towards the Zoete Waters and then over Vaalbeek back into Blanden. Quite a ride and I was very pleased when I arrived home again. Just goes to show that you can do more than you think. All you need is some courage and go for it.

Ride Stats : 65.5K and 520/585 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h11mins

1025/11020

19-02-2010, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

After a couple of cold days with lots of snow on the roads last evening saw at last the arrival of a rain zone, and an upwards leap in the temperature which brought it to the positive side of zero. When I arrived home today I even saw it was 8 degrees C. High time to get on my bike and do a ride on the now frost- and icefree roads. Due to the higher temperatures the snow has melted which leaves the offroad wet and soggy. So I will have to wait a couple of days to let the water evaporate . Hopefully, because it might as well start to rain leaving things even wetter. Or it might just get colder again which will stiffen things up.
Anyway, today I chose the Hilset to ride on the roads , doing a medium loop around Bierbeek, Bremt, Neervelp, Opvelp and Beauvechain. On my way back I passed in Tourinnes, Hamme Mille, Nethen and Sint Joris Weert before arriving at the Zoete Waters for the last stretch over Vaalbeek back home. It felt good to be able to ride on dry roads, with just a little bit of wind and best of all, positive temperatures throughout the ride.

Ride Stats : 40K and 275/315 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h45mins

959/10435

18-02-2010, 19:46 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf