Had a great and somewhat epic ride in the province of Brabant Walloon today. I still felt tired from last friday but decided to go out and get a 4 hour offroad ride in. I took the Moots since this is the bike that lets me relax the most while riding it. I started out in Meerdael forest, quickly crossing the language border , more or less following the Meerdael 2000 organised ride trail. Hamme-Mille, Bossut, and then further towards Biez and Longueville. There I could join the Accro Bike trail. I left out the worst bit where the trail is flooded because I did not want to get my bike wet. The trails were great, dry and smooth. I have been using a Nokian NBX Lite 2.2 tyre for the last month and this has proven to be a great performer. The Moots took me up on all the hills, even the impossible ones. I only encountered one stretch of mud when I descended next to the Bercuit Golf Course. I have found an alternative path there, which avoids a forbidden trail right next to the Golf course but the downside is that this new trail is heavily used by horses and it's a real mess in its lower regions where the water gets trapped. Add to that a lot of hooves and you get the picture. Still, I found a little trail through the undergrowth which left me with some thorn scratches but at least kept me out of the worse mud. I more or less did the complete Accro Bike except one loop of 5K or so, as I already explained above. At the finish I dropped back down towards Wavre and crossed the busy N25.

After that I made my way over to Archennes, with a nice climb onto the Bossut plain and then drop towards Nethen where I finished off with a hilly bit of my Meerdael loop. I was very tired but also very elated when I got home.

Ride Stats : 78K and 1060 heightmeters in 4h11mins

8128/76560

16-09-2007, 16:24 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

I would like to end on a sad note, multiple Duathlon World Champion, Belgian Benny Vansteelant , died in hospital this morning.

He was severely injured when during a training ride his bike was hit by a car. He sustained multiple bone fractures and internal injuries to the spleen, the lungs  and the heart. He was operated on successfully, taken out of the ICU yesterday and bound to fully recover when early this morning his condition worsened and he was found dead around 6.45am in his bed in the Roeselare hospital .He shall be severely missed. My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

14-09-2007, 18:25 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

13-09-2007, 19:32 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

 
I have decided to go for the Dt Swiss XR 1540 wheelset, which is light, easy on the maintenance and very well made. I would like to run notubes on this bike and I will probably mount another saddle as well.  I'm not sure yet about the color of the seatpost, I might opt for a black one but am inclined to go for a silver Thomson . I just have to see how both colors present themselves on the bike. Shifting as well as the crankset  will of course be buttersmooth Shimano XTR  and the brakes will be the new Hope Mono Mini Pro's with Shimano XTR rotors. The Rock Shox Reba World Cup seems a logical choice and its white color looks good against the titanium. The rest of the buildup can be viewed on the list above.
ABG already provided me with a Merlin Works race jersey and vest, a nice gesture for sure.

On the biking front : After a few days of rest I will ride out again tomorrow, starting easy on the road.

12-09-2007, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf