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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 06-01-2007 |
 Secret Meerdael Loops |
I wanted to check out some passages on my Secret Meerdael training loop so I set out this morning whilst all was dry but with menacing skies. Riding these little trails I always meet lots of wildlife, birds, squirrels and at one time 4 roe-deer jumped over the trail, their white tails disappearing quickly into the now leafless undergrowth. I love these little moments you only capture if you ride alone. Come here with a big group and all the shatter and clatters scares the wildlife long before you actually get to see it. The trails were moist, and that is an understatement. The temps are pretty high for this time of year so all the mud just remains wet , making the top soil very slippery indeed. I prefer nevertheless to ride with low-profile tyres, in this case the excellent Nokian NBX Lite, which has more than sufficient sideway grip to avoid sliding away on offcambers and in corners, but has low knobs running along the center of the tyre, thereby making it more difficult to find grip while climbing and descending. This has two advantages, it makes for an excellent bike-skill training and it avoids damaging the trails . Slipping and sliding is an excellent way to master the handling of your bike. Speeds are low and the wet soil makes it feel as if you are skating on ice.
This first part of the loop is fairly flat, nevertheless accumulating 240 heightmeters in around 24K, and consists of a lot a small trails, meandering through the forest. When I emerged from the forest both my bike and myself looked like something out of a swamp. Mud , leaves and little branches covered the bike and my clothes were full of specks of mud, thrown up by the tyres. As the ride progressed it started raining more and more and by the end it was fairly wet. I never had the intention of doing the whole loop, which consists of more than 60K and has some 1000 heightmeters in it. This first part is more than enough on days like these.
Had a great ride though, rinsed the bike as soon as I got home and took a good long hot bath myself. My average speed of just over 15kph says a lot about the trail conditions and the inherent difficulty. After all, this IS my training loop so it's not supposed to be a stroll.
Ride Stats : 26K and 280 heightmeters in 1h40
06-01-2007, 14:54 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 31-12-2006 |
| Year Ends |
So, that was that, the last ride for 2006 has been ridden. I did the 30K BLOSO road loop, which goes over Sint Joris Weert; Sint Agatha Rode, Neerijse , Leefdaal and Heverlee. Nice and easy ride. Met up with Roger L. just a few K out and we rode together, talking about the things we did this year and things we would like to do next year. Roger is also a titanium adept, he was riding a Seven Sola and has a Litespeed Sewannee at home, so both our bikes share the same color although not the same pedigree. The year has been good, I rode a bit too much on the road if I look at the figures although I have had some good Ardennes rides this year and certainly plan to do some more of that next year. The 2006 figures can be seen HERE (click )Ride Stats : 33K and 240 heightmeters in 1h27
31-12-2006, 13:45 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 29-12-2006 |
| Chain antics |
Was home just in time for a 1h30 ride in the forest before dark. Took the Litespeed and I noticed that the shifting was not as crisp as it used to be. I am running my chain on borrowed time, checking it with a chain tool revealed that it is over and out. Back home I replaced the chain with the Hilset one, which has another 2 or 3 offroad rides in it (I hope) and the Hilset got a new Rohloff chain. This should be sufficient for another year at least.
It was not too cold, in fact I averaged 7 degrees C during the ride which took me from the start of tomorrow's organised ride in Blanden over parts of the Red, Blue and Green BLOSO routes. I was unable to complete the whole 45K because of the falling darkness which forced me to take a shortcut. I am in two minds about what to do tomorrow. There is a Rode Lintjes ride going from Theux upwards to the Signal de Botrange and back again , a trajectory very well known to me since I was at its inception a few years ago. But the chain might not last the whole ride which yields 60K and some 1100 heightmeters.
Since the group might be large, I fear the tempo will also be too slow for me. I like to ride my own tempo, if I ride too slow I get cold and cramped , especially this time of year. On the other hand, it might very well be that the Ardennes are the only area without rain tomorrow, the prediction is for moderate to heavy rain over the coastal and middle areas of Belgium, and only some drizzle later in the day in the higher eastern regions. Oh well, I will decide tomorrow.
Ride Stats : 30K and 245 heightmeters in 1h27
29-12-2006, 18:33 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 27-12-2006 |
| Paris |
Aargh, I had Paris Hilton on my MP3 player today whilst turning my rounds on the rollers. As most of you will know, she does not sing, she just kinda whispers in a husky voice over some nice musical arrangement. Well, she is loaded so she can buy nice arrangements. I really pity her, she looks kinda sexy (she does, click the pic if you dare - don't if you really hate her ) but being who she is, she will never be taken serious. I suppose she doesn't care either. At least I hope she doesn't.
Boring stuff those roller workouts, and Paris whispering in my ear just how "sexy" and "screwed" she was and how she was "gonna get me" really didn't help pass the time any quicker. Oh well, its a test of endurance in more ways than one I guess.
Ride Stats : 25K in 1h
27-12-2006, 18:51 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 26-12-2006 |
| 2 Valleys |
I looked at the outside thermometer this morning and it showed zero degrees C. Hmm, winter is here after all. Ok, need some thicker gloves but I'm out there, no matter what. Low temps never bother me that much. Ok it is cold for the first half hour or so but then the internal heater is on and things level out for an hour or two. The colder the weather , the shorter the ride becomes of course, I may be somewhat crazy but not stupid.I wanted to do the Overijse BLOSO routes today, commonly known as the "2 Valley Route". For those who are unfamiliar with them, they yield around 34K and 500 heightmeters, there are a couple of moderately tricky downhills that require a better than average mastery of the bike and some of the climbs can be called technical and steep. I like to do these routes every now and then, mostly in conjunction with the Meerdael routes, which brings the counters on a nice 110K and around a 1000 heightmeters. But those rides are for the warmer times, today I just did the Overijse trails, biking to Sint Agatha Rode and joining the Red route there, then lap all three routes and return over Sint Joris Weert and Meerdael.The mud was thick, slighty frozen and where it stuck to my bike it froze. The windchill factor was responsible for an average ride temperature of -1 degree C. There was a little breeze blowing from the East but alltogether it was very nice weather, a little cold but great for biking. Found some time to take a few pictures, click on the small pic next to this article for one of them.
Ride Stats : 54.5K and 630 heightmeters in 2h51mins
26-12-2006, 18:25 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 23-12-2006 |
| Sibir |
Today I rode in the Meerdaelwoud. I did the 3 BLOSO routes, but in the opposite direction. Quite a few bikers on the trails and also lots of walkers in the forest. I noticed to my joy that the arrow that had been missing since before this summer, has been replaced, so my mails to BLOSO have had effect. I guess it was just a matter of finding the right person.Good ride I had, the tracks were damp but never wet so my tyres of choice, the Nokian NBX Lite, was an excellent choice. Made some pics of big paddos (check pictures next to this article) and of course also of the new arrow on the red route. On average I had a temperature of 3 degrees C but the cold wind from north-eastern origin made it feel a lot colder. Someone left the Siberian freezer-door open I guess.Ride Stats : 55.5K and 495 heightmeters in 2h48mins
Oh, by the way, I passed the 12000K mark for 2006 today, my yearly aim is to be at a 1000K/month so that aim has been reached.
23-12-2006, 19:14 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 17-12-2006 |
| Ride the Red one |
Yesterday evening I had to work, and work did not work out too well , Murphy was around it seemed, so I was only home at 3am this morning. Very tired and couldn't get out of bed to meet with the gentle people of BigM who had planned a special ride in my home forest, Meerdaalwoud. Sorry guys, but I hope you had a great ride nevertheless.
I decided to leave around noon (having gotten out of bed at 11am) and do the old trusty Red Bloso Road route, with some extra bits to spice it up a bit and to add a few K's . I felt good despite the long day yesterday and really had a good ride. Found a new interesting bit of cobbles as an alternative for the Moskesberg, although the new bit is also very steep at one point. It was dry although the roads, and especially the backroads were still wet and slippery with mud and leaves.
The "Car Decision" had also been made, click on the small icon next to this report to check out a nice picture of the Mazda MPS 3 in red trim. Thats the one for me.
Ride Stats : 60K and 550 heightmeters in 2h41mins
17-12-2006, 16:46 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 15-12-2006 |
| Darkness |
I have been very cheerful today, collegues at work noticed me singing songs and humming to myself. I guess this is due to the fact that I have finally decided what car to get, or at least I'm 95% sure it will be the Mazda 3 MPS . Tomorrow I am invited to do a short test-drive with it , then all that needs to be decided is the color. No options on the list so that is easy. Either I go for another red one and then I will have to wait 5 months, or I go for the one they have in stock (one of 5 in Belgium) and then it will be Cosmic Blue, a nice mica color that makes this exclusive car a little less conspicuous, more sobre looking.
I will know more tomorrow when I actually see the car in its Cosmic Blue trim in daylight. Need to take some pics.As for the biking, I forgot to charge my batteries after my last ride so I only had for about 2 hours of light. And indeed, near the end of the ride the light began to grow dimmer. Since most of the routes I take are shrouded in complete darkness I had to reach a populated area as soon as possible, switch off the light to save some time, and switch it back on for the last stretch through Meerdael Forest. I just made it, even my back light faded out and left me in complete darkness about one K short of my home. They eyes adjust quickly even to minimal light but nevertheless I was glad to be home. Ride stats : 47.5K and 375 heightmeters in 2h0615-12-2006, 20:01 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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