Left work 15 minutes earlier because I had a plan for this evening. I wanted to ride the Meerdael Bloso's and be home before darkness set in. Well, I made it, and the ride was a blast. I started out on an easy pace to feel how the legs were and gradually upped the tempo. I was counting on a 2h30 ride and guess what, I was in a 2h31 and my forecast 50K turned out to be almost exactly on the spot as well. Am I good or what?
The front suspension on the Litespeed - a 2002 or thereabouts SID SL - felt harsh and my neck muscles were getting a good workout. There is also some scratching on the fork arms causing a slight loss of oil along the inner forklegs. I am considering to change it for a brandnew SID or something similarly light . have to look into that the next month or so, no hurry.
The trails were just amazing, dry and fast with only the occasional wet spot and I managed to skip most of the bad sectors, either by following a parallel road, or by cutting off a bit. Thats why I only have 51K - normally the 3 BLOSO's yield me around 55K - but as I said, I had a plan to be in before dusk. Yesterday saw a lot of fine dust in the air, but today there was a wind out of westerly corners and the air felt clean. It was certainly pleasantly warm - around 11 degrees when I left and just over 7 degrees C when I arrived at home. I wore my summer gloves, which tells it all. Had a fair amount of heightmeters as well and my legs felt good and strong on the climbs. I think I am ready for that first Ardennes trip now.
Ride Stats : 50.5K and 470 heightmeters in 2h31mins
1098/9610
20-02-2008, 18:56 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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