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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