Felt tired this morning, which was to be expected after two days with a lot of heightmeters and kilometers. So I decided for an easy ride on the road. It was the first time this month I took the Hilset out. I started along the Weertse Dreef towards Sint Joris Weert. The weather was fine but there was a nasty wind blowing which would hamper me in the second part of the ride. The sun came through the clouds from time to time and out of the wind the temperature felt pleasant.
From Weert I rode towards Nethen and then over Pecrot to Archennes. From Grez I climbed to Heze and further onwards to Longueville. Here I chose to ride to Dongelberg and try to make my way towards Melin and St Remi Geest .

After crossing Dongelberg I remembered the little road that took me towards Lathuy. From there I took the direction of Melin, crossing the big road towards Jodoigne and then onwards to reach this little village. One of the most beautiful villages of Wallonie, as it is mentioned when you reach its borders. A lot of the houses here are built with the typical Gobertange sandstones, giving them an ancient but neat look. Pausing to take some pictures from the church - also in Gobertange stone - I then rode towards Saint Remi Geest. Very cobbly roads in this area but also a very beautiful little village with a typical church in Gobertange stones.

From St Remi Geest I took the cobbly road towards Zetrud-Lumay and then - just before reaching Hoegaarden - disappeared on a small tarmac road that led me past Hoegaarden towards Meldert. From here I just had to ride through Bierbeek before arriving home again. On the last part of the ride, the wind was blowing in my face which wasn't helping to keep my heartrate low. But in all I can't complain with and average heartrate of just 113bpm during this ride.

Ride Stats : 62K and 540/610 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h3mins

3496/35970 

My employer wanted me on standby today. That meant that I could make a cross over my planned Ardennes ride because I needed to be at work within the hour of being called, if needed.
So I decided to do something else, involving less distance and a shorter response time if needed. I cleaned the Moots before riding out a couple of kilometers towards the Tienne Vincent in Nethen. Here I usually go to break in my disc brakes. It is a steep slope on a wide tarmac road which offer around 35 meters of height difference. I can do the braking on the way down and couple it to a nice climbing session on the way up.

In all I rode up 10 times and so also had 10 times x 3 brake sessions. Coming to a complete standstill on every application of the brakes. I could do this 3 times on every downhill. This warms the pads up nicely and allows them to bed in. The difference between the first sessions and the last is very noticeable. About halfway through the sessions I could feel the front brake becoming stronger . Strong enough to lift the rear wheel whilst braking. After I finished with the Tienne Vincent I couldn't resist adding another climb on the parallel Bruyere de Wez. Unfortunately whilst riding down this narrow street I developed a flat tyre on the front wheel. Turned out to be a thorn which had made its way through the carcass of the Continental Mountain King. Even in this Protection Version it still is penetrable. The heavy braking must have helped because I flatted during one of the braking applications. I just went through the tyre as I braked. I didn't bother looking for the whole but changed the inner tyre and rode home.

Ride Stats : 21K an 480/500 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h25mins

3434/35360

15-05-2010, 13:37 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

After yesterdays rainy and cold intermezzo I was weary that I would find a lot of mud on my trails. I decided to ride the newest O2 Bikers roadbook. It is called Taalgrens and this makes allusion to the fact that it flirts with the language border between Vlaams and Waals Brabant. The dutch-speaking and french speaking side of the province of Brabant.
The trail starts at the Zoete Waters in Oud Heverlee and the first 10K or so lead through the Kouterbos and the Meerdael Forest. Some pleasant trails and with the forest floor being moist some care needed to be taken on some of the downhills. The Moots is equipped with Continental Mountain King tyres so grip wasn't an issue. What was an issue is the fact that my front brake - a 180mm Hope Mini - seems to be dragging itself against the brake pads, or at least one of them. I had them replaced when the bike went in for service and it seems the brake pads need some braking in. This constant dragging makes the ride a little tougher than it should be. Its not much, but it does slow down the wheel after 3 or 4 turns when you let it run free. I must have a look at that brake and see if anything can be done to fix this.
Anyways, upon leaving Meerdael Forest the trail then loses itself into the Nethen fields before making way towards Pietrebais. More field trails here, with the landscape ondulating up and down so adding to the heightmeter count  all the time. The trail then makes its way towards Lathuy before turning slowly back towards Happeau . The field roads sometimes give way to descents in semi-hollow roads where care needs to be taken not to choose the wrong trail. There are some deep ruts here and taking the wrong one will lead you into a muddy puddle. I keep my eyes open and manage to circumvene all trouble.

The trail then moves towards St Jean Geest and I recognize some trails I did in the winter. Unfortunately the trail also goes though a deep hollow road that is a real mud trap. I take no risks on the slippery downhill and walk a couple of meters when the going gets too muddy. On the other side of the hollow road I cross a tarmac road and can recuperate a bit while following a small tarmac road. After a while a nice and tricky downhill with lots of ruts follows and I really enjoy finding a trail that keeps me going forward. After the downhill follows an uphill - of course - and this is a difficult one because they paved the track with little stones and debris. More field tracks follow and it isn't until I reach the Ferme de Wahenge that I find another forest passage. Very short though and now I am on the trails I already did a couple of days ago. A lot of boring fields trails bringing me towards Beauvechain and then into the Meerdael Forest again. Here I have to follow some broad forest roads that lead me back towards Vaalbeek. A nice little uphill that hurts my legs and then a last 1.5K on a braod forest trail and I 'm back at the start. A little more than 80K and according to my GPS some 880 heightmeters.
This roadbook obviously focusses on distance, compromising on the beauty of the trails. Of course it can be made a lot more interesting but then these 80K might be a tad too difficult for most. Riding 5 hours on a mountainbike is not something that most are trained for. And if you should couple that to more heightmeters or more technical trails - they are there, I can assure you, just try the Grez Doiceau roadbook for example - most bikers would arrive more dead than alive at the end of an 80K ride.
As it stands , this is a nice ride as an in-between, to get some distance in the legs without straining them too much.

Ride Stats : 92K and 745/930 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 5h25mins

3413/34860

14-05-2010, 18:32 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

The weather was dry and it wasn't too cold. Around 12 degrees with again a northern wind blowing. I felt like doing the Korbeek Dyle O2 Bikers roadbook this evening so I set out to the start near the Natur Natur complex. The roadbook is an ode to the hollow roads this area is famous for. The first kilometers meander up and down along some fine examples of these hollow roads. The trail moves up and down the northern slope of the Yse valley and gets me through Neerijse and Loonbeek. The dry trails are no match for the Moots. It rolls happily over them, the Continental Mountain Kings finding a lot of grip even on the off-camber gullies that sometimes criss-cross the trailhead. Whenever it rains, there is a lot of erosion on these trails, which obviously explains the deep hollow roads that have been formed through the centuries. The landscape is lush and green.

Next to Huldenberg the trail moves to the north and just before Duisburg veers to the northeast towards the Tersaart farm. A nice section along the Tersaartbos takes me towards the Hegge. Here I add an extra downhill and climb the makers of the trail must have missed. Or perhaps it had rained and they opted to leave it be and took the tarmac instead. Anyways, when its dry the extra loop is not difficult unless you don't like gullies and fast downhills.

The Keistraat takes me towards the Neerijsebaan which I follow for a while before taking another small tarmac road in the direction of Leuven. But not for long. Another downhill in a hollow road takes me towards St Verone. I see the chapel sticking out behind the crest but I move to the right and down into Bertem. Here is another impressive hollow road taking me up the Zavelberg. From the top I follow a tarmac road again and then take a sharp right for another section of hollow roads, taking me down into Ormendaal. Along a singletrack and then upwards into another hollow road, back up the crest. Into Egenhoven for a nice section of forest taking me to the Rotspoel where I follow the Green Meerdael Bloso in the opposite direction for a while, taking me along a singletrack parallel to the E40. Crossing under the E40 and then following the Bloso again which takes me nicely back to the Natur Natur in Korbeek Dyle.

It was a fun ride. Not too tough , just a fine ride for a long evening, preferably ridden when its been dry for a week, because these trails can hold the mud for a long time. The trail is around 40K long and has around 500 heightmeters in it. No worries about any mud today. Everything was nice and dry. If you also want to ride this trail, check out the O2 Bikers website (www.O2Bikers.com) for the GPS files or the roadbook. 

Ride Stats : 55K and 505/585 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h51mins

3321/33930

10-05-2010, 21:07 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf