I had made an appointment with my friend Guna today to meet at the Zoete Waters and have a ride through Meerdael Forest together. I hadn't seen her since the Houffalize World Cup in May and since that time she has been doing 10 full marathons in Belgium, making for a fine result in the O2 Bikers Marathon Trophy. I am very proud of her .
This also meant that she was the one in shape while I was the one still struggling with Lyme and especially the antibiotics and their effect on my body. But, since this was a leisurely ride, just 2 friends meeting up and chatting up the last couple of months, I was going to be fine with the pace.
I was the guide and I decided for a mix of bigger forest roads and fine singletrails. The rains had made the forest floor wet and we would encounter several showers during our ride . Luckily the heavy leaf cover would protect us from the rain but of course the trails, especially the ones in thinner forest, were wet , muddy and slippery. But we both have enough technical prowess to deal with those kind of trails, making for a fun ride at a relaxing pace. My health did not allow me to add a lot of the very steep trails I normally do but I still managed to cram in almost 450 heightmeters in a 29K ride. First concentrating on the area above Sint Joris Weert and then making my way towards Nethen and to the Warande Ponds. I then crossed the Naamsesteenweg and showed her the biggest tree in the forest, the Dikke Eik. We also stopped at the Mollendaal refuge but by then the showers had stopped . Pity there are so few refuges left in the forest. There used to be a shelter near the Warande Ponds but this has long been gone.

From Mollendaal forest I closed the loop going towards Blanden, vaalbeek and then a short stint into Heverlee Forest. When we arrived back at the Zoete Waters another little shower made us seek refuge beneath some big leafy tree. Guna still had to ride home to Brussels but I reckon she would keep it dry. It was good to meet up again and chat about all the rides she did last summer.



Ride Stats : 38.5K and 440/525 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h30mins

6950/73965

25-09-2010, 18:01 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Today was another warm day, but around 3pm it started to get overcast, with thunderstorms announced. I decided to ride out, making the most of the warm september weather before it would run out on us.
I started - again with the Merlin - towards Heverlee forest. Crisscrossing at the start and then more or less following the green Bloso route . When I crossed the Naamsesteenweg I decided to leave the Green trail and started again following some smaller trail. The tracks were easy, the Merlin was smoothing all that came into its stride, and the kilometers added up on my counter. When I reached the Zoete Waters I fell a couple of drops but a look at the sky teached me it would still be some time before any real rain would fall. So I entered the Kouterbos and made my way towards the Meerdael Forest, passing the Kluis and then circumvening the forest at its Nethen edge.
Taking my time to climb up to the plateau I then made my way towards the Warande pond and crossed the Naamsesteenweg again to make my way into the eastern part of Meerdael Forest and Mollendaal forest.

I then decided to call it a day when the number of raindrops started to increase. But I didn't see any real rain until I got home. When I am typing this, however, a real thunderstorm has just past the Meerdael region. Short but with quite a bit of rain and a lot of wind. Good thing I didn't wait longer to start my ride. I made the most of the short Indian summer we enjoyed these last couple of days. The trails were still perfect today and I already felt a bit stronger than 2 days ago. Even though I still have to take my antibiotics for 7 more days I feel confident that, if I keep the intensity low, I can keep on doing these short easy rides in the forest .

Ride Stats : 32K and 270/320 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h41mins

6912/73440

Another day and I felt like another ride. The sun was out the whole day so again I had to wait until 4.30pm to ride out. Since I took the Moots' wheels to Filip this morning, I had to take Mr. Merlin. That bike is setup for the toughest Ardennes trails so it is serious overkill for the trails I was going to ride today but hey, it made for a very comfortable ride where I was always in control of every situation. In the downhill I could just let it go without brakes, not having to worry about violent bumps and other nasties. The full suspension bike is made to cope with all that without even breaking a sweat. So for this bike it must have been a walk in the park, or a stroll through town.

I stopped for a little while at the refuge in Mollendaal forest, took the obligatory picture and rode along. Nothing too difficult although I couldn't resist passing near the Dikke Eik and doing a bit of singletrail to get there. But long sleeves took care of me. The temperature was an average of 20 degrees C so I was glad to have the shade of the forest. Having passed the Zoete Waters I did a loop into Heverlee forest to finish with a bit of tarmac into Blanden.

Ride Stats : 24k and 200/250 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h15mins

6880/73120

22-09-2010, 18:44 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Holy Fenrir, what a long time without biking. Whilst I was undergoing the healing and sickening effects of the antibiotics in their battle against Lyme, I normally refrained from any physical activity. But today, after a visit to the doctor who prescribed me another 10 days of Doxycycline - "just to make sure all the nasty bugs are gone" - I had to grab the Moots and ride out.
I had to wait until the sun was almost down because one of the effects of the antibiotics is a higher sensibility to sunrays. This also meant I would be better off riding in the shadowy forest. Didn't feel like riding on the road anyways so I went for a loop into Meerdael Forest. I took it very easy and only took big forest tracks without too much hills or other challenges.
Taking a break every now and then to let my heartrate drop down a bit. The legs felt like I expected after nearly 2 weeks of rest and I concentrated on revs instead of watts.

When I closed my loop going through Blanden I flatted - again. Again the rear tyre. I took it with a grin and changed my rear inner tyre. I had already decided to contact Filip Sport about putting in some NoTubes and when I got home I made an appointment to bring in my wheels.

The temperatures were great, around 21 degrees with an average of 18 degrees C in the forest . Even more of a bitter pill to swallow. Normally I would have been riding epic stuff  in the Ardennes now, but when I got Lyme that changed all those plans. I do have a holiday for the next 3 weeks so I better take advantage to heal and rest, with the occasional ride as long as the antibiotics permit it.

Ride Stats : 14K and 120/175 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 49mins30secs

6856/72870