Minus 12.7 degrees C this morning and when I rode out around 11am it still was -10 degrees. The snow was around 10 to 15 cm thick and I decided on a leasurely stroll through Meerdael Forest. The snow quality was good for riding , it was dry and hard. A lot easier to ride through than my last snowy ride, in the beginning of January this year. I stopped frequently to take some pictures, gradually becoming more confident and upping the speed as I rode along. More snow is forecast this weekend so there may be other opportunities for some short rides like this one. I leave you wit a couple of pictures to get you in the mood to go out and enjoy the snow too.

Ride Stats : 17,5K and 175/205 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h24mins. -9 degrees C average temp

9462/98680

19-12-2009, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Cold and dry today with just a whisp of flurry snow when I left for a nightride in the forest this evening. The Lupine shining brightly and with warm clothes to brave the cold. I did a loop focussing on climbs , taking good care in the downhils. They were very tricky. The visibility was good, with some darker patches meaning ice , but the main trouble were the frozen traces, criscrossing and unforgiving when your wheel gets caught in them. The wall of the ruts are like concrete, tipping you over if you hit them unaware. Even the sandy patches were feeling frozen solid. The leaves were crackling under my Big Jims when I braced myself for another downhill, very concentrated and sometimes just throwing the bike from one side of the trail to the other to avoid the ruts and other pitfalls. The climbs that followed were a moment of relief, nice steady pace and just taking care the bike didn't stall . The worse bits were where the horses hooves' had made a mess of the track, stopping you dead cold of your speed was too low. I managed to find a fair amount of climbs and after about 2 hours I was nearly back home. The cold didn't bother me much during the ride, once I got settled into my pace I was fine.

Ride Stats : 31K and 465/500 heightmeters in 2h05mins. -2 degrees C average temp

9444/98475 

16-12-2009, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Last night temperatures dropped considerably below zero for the first time this winter. I had a day off from work so decided to take my chances and try an offroad ride again. The Litespeed was equipped with a new Middleburn 36 tooth middle chainring, a new chain and a new XTR 12/34 cassette in the back. Shifting went smoothly but I had to get used to the Middleburn not gripping the chain quite as well as TA chainrings, when shifting from the 26 upwards. It needs just that little split second of holding back the power when shifting, otherwise it wouldn't lift the chain.
The forest was cold when I entered it.  I saw -2 degrees C on my Polar and had an average temperature of -1 degree C throughout the ride. But as I had guessed, the mud was mostly gone. The overnight freeze had taken care of that. The earth was stiff and the puddles were still frozen up. So that made for a great surface to ride on. I set out on the Meerdael BLOSO's. Starting with the blue from Blanden in the opposite direction.

At the crossing with the Red Bloso I took the Red but this time in the right direction. I added a few extra loops here and there just to check out some trails and add a couple of extra climbs. During the first half hour I needed to get used to the cold temperature but after that I felt just fine. I had chosen exactly the right amount of clothing and my mitts and waterproof socks with inner socks protected my extremities from the cold. Obviously I wore a windproof bonnet under my helmet.

The ride went fine, I took a picture of the tallest tree in the forest, from out in the Valduc plains, and passed close by that tree a while later to take another picture of it, and its twin brother that broke in two during a storm. I call them the Twin Towers. They are situated not far from the Dikke Eik, another leviathan in Meerdael Forest.
After completing the Red I continued along the Blue, again in its opposite direction. I added a couple of climbs in the Nethen region to keep my inner fire well and truely burning. After a very intense section I switched over to the Green BLOSO in Heverleebos to finish in a more relaxed pace and with less height differences. When I arrived home, it was already getting below zero again, another cold night awaits us.

Ride Stats : 61.5K and 670/755 heightmeters in 3h47mins. -1 degree C average temp

9413/97975 

14-12-2009, 16:52 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf