Today my legs were feeling recovered from last fridays ride so after watching Fabian Cancellara beat Tom Boonen and all the other so-called favorites in Paris-Roubaix I decided to go out for another mixed ride. I rode towards Rosieres to pick up the GR trail there and follow that for nearly 25K towards Tourinnes. I was with the Litespeed, again on Nokian NBX Lites 2.0 and with a race cassette in the back. But this time there were a lot more steep climbs to be conquered which did not go well with the race cassette. Anyways, I only had to walk once and made all the rest of the hills, not without straining my legs a little more than I had anticipated. The route follows a northeasterly direction and has to conquer a couple of hills and valleys. It went straight through the city of Wavre but fortunately my GPS track was correct and I was also more attentive to the GR signs this time. I made the 24K to Tourinnes just in time before dusk started to settle and from Tourinnes it was only 10 more K's to get back home. A nice trail this one, with the ride towards Rosieres offering a good warmup of about 18K. I didn't forget to start my GPS this time so I do have the track available but I also offer a map printout of the GR trail I rode today.


Ride Stats : 51K and 495/550 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h42mins

2444/23730

11-04-2010, 21:42 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Having a day off from work I wanted to take advantage of the nice and quiet spring weather to do a long ride. I chose for the eastern part of a trail that is called the SGR BW 217. This is a 217K long looping trail though Brabant Walloon that follows mostly GR paths. You can ride it as a whole but given the sheer lenght this might take you an entire day. I decided to pick in on the trail as it passes Nodebais. My plan was to follow it to the east and then back until it crosses the Ravel 2 just before Perwez. It started along familiar tracks, lots of cobbles and zigzagging through Nodebais and Tourinnes la Grosse before moving towards Beauvechain. The trails were mostly dry - this is mainly an offroad track so that does matter - but here and there in some hollow road I would still have to be careful not to ride through some puddle. I was riding with the Nokian NBX Lites 2.0 and with a road cassette so I wasn't looking for steep hills. In the beginning the trail ondulates up and down, but nothing drastic. I was enjoying the fine weather and breathing in the spring air. Making my way towards St Jean Geest and then towards St Remy Geest this was about the furthest I had already ventured before on my offroad expeditions in that direction. From now it was all 'new' so I was exited. More cobbles and by now I began to feel them. Passing through the Parc in Helecine and then making my way towards Linsmeau I was now close to the eastern border of Brabant Walloon. To the southeast I could see the chimneys of the nuclear powerplant in Huy, breathing out hot steam. In the region of Orp Jauche follows what I consider a highlight of this track; a nice singletrail following the river Gete. I stopped to take a picture of the Roman church in Orp-Le-Grand before venturing along another backtrack further to the southwest.

A bit further I was pleased to be on small tarmac roads for once. The kilometers were adding up nicely and I felt my neck and legs ache from the continuing bashing of the sometimes very narrow and rough offroad tracks. Paris-Roubaix came to mind from time to time. Remember these are GR trails, some are easy on the bike, but some are pretty tough. And that, of course, is what makes them so exiting. Passing Folx-les-Caves and spotting the windmills of Perwez at the western horizon I understood that I had to start to look out for the Ravel crossing. After Ramillies-les-Offus it was suddenly there. The tarmac trail connecting Hoegaarden to Namur. I wanted to check how much heightmeters I had at this point on my GPS but screamed out my frustration when I noticed I had forgotten to press the START button. This doesn't bother you following a track, but it doesn't record the actual ride. Bit of a let-down and I was suddenly feeling very tired. But I still had to bike quite a distance. First following the Ravel towards the north and passing Jodoigne and Hoegaarden. Then from Hoegaarden riding towards Meldert. The climb out of Hoegaarden hurt my legs; I rode towards Meldert and then onwards to Beauvechain. From here it was only 12K to reach my home. 
I had a fine but very demanding ride. I did 50K of the SGR BW217 trail and about the same distance 'getting there' and 'getting back home'.  


Ride Stats : 101K and 760 heightmeters (Polar) in 5h11mins

2393/23180

09-04-2010, 00:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

The weather was still pretty warm today and it even felt hot, as if the would be a thunderstorm later in the day. I rode out with the Litespeed because I wanted to do an easy mixed ride. Mixed rides - for the uninitiated - are rides where I mix on- and offroad trails. In general, I can go anywhere I want. For that I want a bike with at least front suspension. I had mounted the old XTR wheels I have been using in the winter on the Hilset and left the race cassette on them as well. The Nokian NBX Lites are on the skinny side in their 2.0 format but I didn't plan on doing any serious offroad sections so I left them on. With a 26 tooth small ring in front the race cassette still allows me to climb almost anything at an easy pace. I started out over Ottenburg and Wavre towards Rosieres and then went offroad towards Terlanen. Here I followed the renovated Bergstraat for a while before turning towards Overijse. Downhill in the Hertstraat and a little later I was easing along the bikepath next to the big road to Huldenberg. Following the Ijse for a while I felt a couple of raindrops falling , but nothing to woory about. I climbed over the crest of the Smeysberg and then dropped towards Sint Joris Weert. A small loop bringing me close to the Doode Beemde - which I didn't enter because I suspected it would stll be wet-ish - and then towards the Kouterbos and onwards towards Vaalbeek and Blanden. In all I had a very relaxing ride along some trails I don't frequent too often. And that is exactly the purpose of these mixed rides. Go where I usually don't dare to go when on the Hilset.

Ride Stats : 47K and 445/455 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h13mins

2292/22420

07-04-2010, 20:15 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today saw the return of the sun with a pleasant temperature but still a nasty wind from the east. I decided to do a ride since it had been a while. My Hilset was once again ready for duty, with new brake lines and a new shifter and cable for the front derailler. With an average temperature of nearly 20 degrees throughout the ride it was fun and good to be on a bike again after a couple of days of rest. In the next couple of days I have to get back into the rhythm so lets hope the weather stays more or less dry and with temperatures above 10 degrees C. Todays ride took me over Bierbeek, Neervelp, Opvelp, Beauvechain, Tourinnes and Hamme Mille , then onwards to Nethen, Sint Joris Weert, the Zoete Waters and Heverlee before returning to Blanden following the Naamse Steenweg. The offroad trails looked already a lot dryer than last week, so maybe in a couple of days it might be feasable to try them out.

Ride Stats : 41,5K and 285/305 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h47mins

2245/21965

06-04-2010, 18:15 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf