Big Bad Log

6.30am.. ouch, there is not much light as I set out with my bike to ride towards 7 Fontaines near Hallerbos where "Moster Blonde" was waiting for me to do a reconnaisance of the Magical Bluebell ride she organises each year. She had lots of other stuff to do today so we planned to meet up really early.
It's nice and quiet in Meerdael Forest and the Foret de Soignes as I bike through them, the first rays of the sun piercing in my back. Oh, nature is so beautiful this early in the morning. In the Dyle valley some shrouds of mist are being quickly dissipated by the upcoming sun. Not a lot of time to look around though.. I'm on a tight shedule.
8.01am.. made it - just in time. 37.5K on the counters already and the real ride hasn't even started yet. MB is ready to roll and we set off onto the loop . The first couple of K has us following a little trail along the bottom of a field next to a little stream. A big tree that has been lying here for at least a year has us lifting our bikes over it. We continue along a wet - aargh, my bike is getting dirty - upwards trail towards the outskirts of the forest. Pretty steep but very manageable due to the perfect trail conditions once we passed the wet bit. A technical and sandy downhill follows and then its upwards again to join the Hallerbos rim . The sun is out now but the temperature in and around the forest is still nice and cool. Excellent biking conditions. This early there are but a few other people around but this would change later on.
Diving into the first of the Hallerbos valleys it becomes pretty obvious that the amazing weather we have been enjoying these past few weeks has brought the bluebells ( scilla nonscripta - blue hyacynt ) out . They are blooming already.. the magic of this moment is breathtaking and I feel so priviliged to be here, with MB. We both enjoy the moment to the fullest , taking some pictures before venturing deeper into the forest. Riding along has us filling our lungs with the pure air and our nostrils with the scent of thousands of flowers. Some of the tracks are off limits because due to the treefelling they are blocked by trees. A passing horseback rider warns us about the forestry keeping a watch out for trespassers but we are not worried about that. It is not our policy to bike on forbidden roads.
MB has the maps with her and has already devised some possible detour around the blocked trails. The trail meanders from one valley into another, always up and down, some technical bits, some steep trails and lots of singletrack to interconnect the bigger trails. This is such a fine forest , pity there are no marked biker trails, and lots of the trails are offlimit to bikers. Still, with the remainder of the trails, and a good guide, the loop we followed is pretty awesome as it stands. We netted 430 heightmeters in 23.5k. Back at the 7 Fontaines area we say our goodbyes and I headed back towards the Foret de Soignes.
I felt good so I did a little detour around some of the Hoeilaart trails and coming back into Korbeek Dyle I rode along the Green Bloso loop before happily arriving home after a good long ride.
Thanks Moster Blonde for the awesome ride ...

Ride Stats : 105K and 1015heightmeters in 5h11mins

Some pictures taken today (CLICK)

3218/24355

Marvelous weather - one can hardly believe its only Easter, it feels as if Summer vacation is here. No excuses, get out on yer bike dude. So I did and I went for a quick dash around the Blue and Green Meerdael routes, in reverse direction. The forest was vibrant with people ; hikers, bikers, horses, children and even some couples who were feeling giddy. Spring is definately in the air.
My legs were feeling great and I was able to maintain a good speed throughout the ride, without having to force anything, just a quick easy pace. The trails were bone-dry and even the most stubborn of mudpuddles seemed to have dried out .. great riding and the sun and a warm breeze kept me company , the average temperature being 23 degrees C.
I had that great Deep Purple song - Speed King - in my head, and it was very appropriate. I also saw that today marks the 46th anniversary of Yuri Gagarins flight with the Vostok 1 into Earth orbit. I checked some stuff out and found this big monument in his honor, entirely made of out of Russian titanium.. thats a lot of bikes..

"I'm a speed king you go to hear me sing"
"I'm a speed king see me fly.."

Ride Stats : 35.5k and 280 heightmeters in 1h34mins

3113/23340

Had a great feeling on my bike today. The last two big rides, coupled to sufficient rest have left my body in a supercompensation state, and the ride today, albeit a short one, felt like floating on a cloud. Legs felt fine and heartrate was low throughout the ride. I have been making all kinds of plans for the weekend, trying to make the most of the spell of excellent weather we are having.
Having taken next monday off of work, I plan to do another Ardennes ride, or go to my beloved Nandrin routes. For Sunday there is Paris-Roubaix, a race I love to watch, having participated twice in the mountainbike race over there some years ago.
For saturday, I hope to go out to the Hallerbos with a friend. With the current weather we might just be in time to see the Bluebells bloom.

Ride Stats : 26K and 170 heightmeters in 1h00

3077/23060

Wow, great weather conditions today, a perfect day to do a first ride in the Ardennes. I had made an appointment with a good friend to meet at the Franchimont Castle and do a combination of the Green and the Blue Theux routes. It was her first 'big' ride of the year, so we would have to see how she felt and add or subtract loops accordingly.
We were not alone at the parking lot, quite a few mountainbikers were preparing to enjoy the fine weather and possibly have a great ride.
Having a map soon proved to be of gold value around these trails, because - although most of the markings are up - at some crucial points markings were missing , even at the Green and Blue loops which I noted as 'perfectly marked' last year . I noticed that at some points new markers were added but at other points markers were sadly missing; some lying on the ground, run over by traffic or simply disappeared into thin air.
Bottom Line : bring a map!
The first loop, the Green one, basically is one big climb into the majestic "Bois de Staneu" , followed by a nice and fast descent before looping back to Theux. I love these long uphills and at this point the downhill was certainly up to par with the uphill, meandering down , with some gullies here and there, generally forcing the rider to be very attentive, be easy but decisive on the brakes , choose the right trajectory and basically enjoy the ride.
At the bottom of the big descent we picked up on the Blue route and immediately started on our second big uphill of the day. We were taking it easy , since we had a long way to go. Finding a good pace from the beginning of the climb and sticking to it was the order of the day. Again this climb was followed by a long downhill over a gravelly road with some lazy switchbacks near the end dropping towards the 'Route de Spa'. I noticed some arrow markings, left over from the Olne-Spa-Olne ride a few weeks ago. We would see them again throughout the ride.
After crossing the Route de Spa we came to a more technical uphill which was thoroughly enjoyed , the landscapes were more open at the end of this tricky uphill and we would be riding next to fields now. This as opposed to the first 20K or so which were mainly in the forest, not considering the first 5K which went through the fields as well.
The road was gradually working its way up towards the 400 meter mark as we decided to take the Red loop towards the Ninglinspo area. Here we stayed on the plateau for a while with broader roads but also a nice passage through the fagnes, which felt a bit like riding over cobbles.
Onto the Blue loop once again we came , with an interesting passage after another steep uphill and mighty yummie rocky bouldery downhill which would have been even more of a handful had it been wet. I have never seen the Theux trails so dry as they were today , they were perfect and inviting .
At one point we came to a passage were a storm had keeled over a lot of large pine trees, and we had to go around or climb over at least 10 big trees. One biker who joined us at this stage managed to make us burst out in laughter when he first swiftly climbed/jumped over two trees, and then just pushed himself and his bike under a third one. Smooth operator, he certainly was !! It occured to me how interesting it would be to see a flock of time-pressed chrono riders take these natural obstacles..
Some more interesting bits were to follow, but now they were few and further apart. This is were the Blue differs from the Red for sure. The Red route doesn't "mellow out" near the end , it just keeps on getting tougher and tougher. I don't think this is altogether a good thing, since mistakes are more easily made near the end of the ride, and when this 'end of the ride' is as tough as the Red routes'... well, you take it from there.
As it was, we still had an interesting loop going round the Chateau de l'Ourlaine, with a mean downhill with rocks which was very ride-able today in these dry conditions, followed by a steep uphill section which brought us back upon tarmac.
The last 12K I would like to call 'boring', mainly on tarmac roads gently meandering though the valleys. But the views were at times breathtaking. With the sun hiding from time to time behind the clouds, the hills were alternatively brightly lit or in the shade. There were lots of flowers along the route which along with the fresh green leaves were not thick enough to hide the underlying outline of the forest floor. I think this time of the year - and certainly in conditions like today - is, together with the fall, perhaps the best season to ride these trails.
The last uphill towards the castle was at least another offroad bit which put a nice icing on the cake for me.

Ride Stats : 50K and 1075 heightmeters in 3h44mins

Ride Profile (CLICK)

3051/22890

14-04-2007, 14:51 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

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