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| Tales from the Woods |
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| 15-07-2007 |
 Accro Bike-Beat the Heat |
5.58am.
Rise and shine, give the cat his insulin injection and prepare to head
out for a tour around one of my favorite training rides : the Accro
Bike. This ride starts in Grez-Doiceau and I have two versions - a 42K
and a 52K one. Today I decided to do the 52K version and do it in the
reverse direction. This is a very good exercise in remembering a trail.
You have to know it by heart to be able to ride it in the reverse
direction without hesitation. I know this trail by heart, I have done
it so many times and each time again I am amazed at its beauty and
deceiving toughness. It is a steady connection of climbs and descents,
one after the other. The 42K version has some 650 heightmeters and the
52K version around 800.
I started early to avoid the heat. I am still wearing long-sleeved
shirts and pants, and even though this is not that much hotter than
short sleeved stuff, it helps when the temps are cool. When I left it
was a marvelous 16 degrees C and during the ride temps would rise to
about 29 degrees. My average temperature was 21 degrees though, because
near 11am the sun was hiding behind the clouds and lots of the trails
pass through cool and lush forests.
Some of the little tracks were overgrown but with my long pants I was
immune to the nettles and prickly thorns. The smell when riding along
the freshly cut and harvested grain fields was making me reminiscent of
my youth, when we used to play in the haystacks. The corn was gently
whispering in the wind and I felt great to be able to be out here and
ride. All the while I did not forget to check my legs for horseflies
because even though I wear long pants, they can bite through them if
need be. But since I have been applying some DEET before leaving I have
not been bothered. Yet it doesn't hurt to be vigilant. 
Some of you might think I'm a bit crazy doing all this stuff to avoid
being bitten but I know why I'm doing this, don't worry. A couple of
years ago I was bitten by horseflies twice within a fortnight and the
second time the allergic reaction was a lot more violent than the first
time. The doctor prescribed me an EPI-pen
which I had to take along . The third bite in a row might send me into
anaphylaxis and an Epi-pen is the only thing that can save my life when
out in the field. Since I have been bitten twice this year - albeit
that the first one was without much harm - I am not taking any chances
thank you !
Anyway, the trails were great today and when I arrived home just before
noon I felt tired but very satisfied. I had a narrow escape with a dog
near the end of my ride - I think the poor bugger is half deaf now from my
screaming and yelling - and I nearly turned around to have a go at its owner .
There are 'dogs on a leash' signs everywhere so I figure that if I am
attacked by some runaway mongrel it is my good right to protect myself
and if I get a hold of its collar I will see its tongue turn blue
before I let go. Pity I can't do the same with the owner - because that
is where the blame really lies.
Ride Stats : 81K and 1055 heightmeters in 4h51mins
6012/55475
15-07-2007, 12:56 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 13-07-2007 |
| Bois des Reves |
Ah, at last I was going to ride in the Bois des Reves
again. This is an amusement parc near Ottignies Louvain-La-Neuve where
they have a permanent mountainbike trail, some 3K long and sporting a
whopping 80 heightmeters. That may seem like nothing much until you
ride it. It's on the side of a hill and the track is taking you up and
down that hill several times , with some nice lacets, roots and steps
everywhere. It takes a good rider to make this lap without setting foot
to the ground. It was slightly drizzling when I set off for my first
big lap. I usually combine the "Circuit VTT" - which is marked - with
a trail going all the way around the parc, consisting of a big climb
starting out on the bikers trail towards Louvain-La-Neuve, then taking
to the right climbing all the way up to the top of the forest, two
times right again followed by a very fast descent on a forest road .
That way, MY lap is 5K long and yields me 130 heightmeters. With the 2007 Belgian XC Championships
taking place here in 2 weeks, there were a lot of bikers on the
circuit. Some youngsters from my club were having some kind of
orientation exercise and they were all over the place. I also saw
Sebastien Carabin and Morgane Van Lierde who were practising on part of
the Championship circuit. From what I've seen of the circuit , it will
be very technical, with at least one major downhill - no, I did NOT
ride it - going almost straight down the slope. I hope the Croix Rouge
will be well staffed because this could prove to be a dangerous spot.
The thing with Bois des Reves is, there is not a moments' rest. Your
heart rate is going up and down like a yo-yo, you are either on a steep
climb or on a technical descent , always on some narrow singletrack.
That will be another major point for the Championship. Passing others
riders will be a tricky affair, since the trails are narrow and always
ondulating up and down, with not much room for error. Of course , only
part of the circuit is open now, since the other half is in an area of
the parc that is normally forbidden for bikers. I met Laurent Saublens
and he told me that the final lap will be some 5K and 280 heightmeters.
The track will be fully marked for reconnaisance purposes from
wednesday July 18th. .
So I lapped 8 rounds of MY lap, which yielded me just over a 1000
heightmeters. The tracks were moist which made the downhills tricky,
but manageable. I felt tired but very happy having done a good
technical and climbing training.
Ride Stats : 40.5K and 1055 heightmeters in 3h01mins
5861/54270
13-07-2007, 14:33 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 12-07-2007 |
| Goose Tail |
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No biking today. Instead I went out to play with my newest aquisition, a (second-hand mind you) 300mm F2.8 Nikkor AF-I lens. I first set off to spot some planes at nearby Beauvechain military airport but there were none to be seen, at least not in the air.
So I set out for the Zoete Waters Ponds and took a nice series (well - I like them ) of some goose splashing and spraying.
 and, turning around, he splashed even more..
..and then, he came swimming a little bit closer to me, as if asking : "Hey dude, did you get that or do I have to do it one more time? "
Well, I got him allright. The light was poor with the overcast sky so I only got 1/250 to 1/320th shutter speed with the lens fully open. It might look easy to get these shots but I can assure you it's not. This goose is at around 5 to 6 metres from me and it doesn't sit still for a second. So you need to be patient and then it's a combination of skill - pushing the trigger at the right moment- and (a lot of) luck. I like the effect of the water droplets, some are sharp, some blurry, giving a nice suggestion of the speed with which they are being hurled around.
The camera/lens combo weighs around 5kg so I mounted them on a Monopod to be more stable. Here is a pic of what the combination looks like.
Looks heavy doesn't it. I can assure you it is.
Oh well, I hope to be out on my bike again tomorrow, riding my car to the Bois des Reves and do some laps on the very technical and hilly MTB trail in that forest. The weather forecast looks good with even some warmer weather forecast for the weekend.
12-07-2007, 20:22 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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| 11-07-2007 |
| Vlaanderen Fietsroute |
Some light drizzle this morning did not stop me from going out. In fact, I like the weather as it is, not too hot and relatively dry. I wanted to do a recovery ride so I rode out along the Vlaanderen Fietsroute Lf6 which passes through Meerdael. This is an A to B route so the plan is to follow it for however long you fancy, turn around and follow it back home again. I decided to turn at the 1h30 mark, just past Goetsenhoven. There were still some clouds heavy enough to spill a little rain but I never had to stop for shelter or even wear a Gore Tex raincoat. Legs felt fine considering the heavy load they had to endure these last few days.
Ride Stats : 65.5K and 530 heightmeters in 3h02mins
5821/53215
11-07-2007, 14:40 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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