Lots of rain yesterday and also a good shower during the night made me put on every inch of watertight verstiment I could find. Gore tex jacket, watertight Sealskinz socks and Pearl Izumi AmFib overpants. Put the Lupine Tesla4 on my helmet because I was leaving in the darkness to reconnoittre the 65K distance. The organisation asks me for help every year and this way I can couple being useful with still being able to ride alone for almost an hour and a half before I am overtaken by the first starters on the longest distances.
Leaving at 7.15am at The Borre I could make good use of my helmet light. The forest trails were wet, dark and slippery , with the cobbles being real deathtraps for the unaware. The first loop up till the first rest stop in Gottechain cost me about an hour for 17K . I didn't take any risks and even though it was wet it was not too cold which made for a fine ride. I was cozy inside my layers of clothing and I didn't want to sweat any more than necessary either.
Meerdael Forest was glistening and a little fog was rolling here and there when the sun rose behind dark clouds. It would certainly rain some more during the next couple of hours. When I passed the first rest stop - located in Gottechain - things got serious whilst the loop continued towards Cocrou. A steep uphill with roots and other niceties, followed by a dangerous downhill on slippery cobbles. There were a lot of scouts wandering around on these trails - boys and girls - and they were all very nice and friendly. They were probably wondering why someone would choose to ride a bike through all the muck. To be honest, I was wondering that myself from time to time today. But as long as it stayed dry, I could cope with the wet and muddy trails. A beautiful loop upwards going to the 2 Sartes where the 55K split off from the 65K distance . A bit further the track turned into Heze for a downhill on tarmac followed by a sharp left and a long long climb - first on cobbles, later on dirt - took me towards the Chapelle du Chenau in Longueville.

31-10-2010, 14:00 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Had a day off from work and when the weather turned out to be sunny and rather mild I decided to make the most of this day and do a long offroad ride. Riding up to Pietrebais to start the 55K track of this years' organised ride I had a bit of a nasty surprise when my Garmin froze up and I had to restart it. Upon restarting it seemed it had gone back to its factory settings. My ride history was completely gone. I decided to return home and hang it on my PC to see what had happened and what could be done about it.
When I checked it turned out it was still on the latest software version, the tracks were still there and so where my bike settings. But my personal settings had dissapeared. I had to re-enter these along with my geographic location, language and metrics. Also the display settings had to be restored. For the rest the unit looked OK so after having eaten a bit I rode out again.
Arriving in Pietrebais I chose the 40K distance and got going. The trails were mostly dry but in the places where the sun didn't shine there was still some mud and puddles.

The 40K track is a fine one. First it moves towards Longueville along some fine little singletrails and then dropping into some muddy hellhole which is rarely completely ride-able. It wasn't different this time but I managed to keep the bike rolling anyway. The mud wasn't too sticky and there was a lot of wet grass which cleaned my wheels pretty quick.

The trail builder knows his trails and he sent me along a fine and difficult loop towards Chaumont next. Some very steep climbs where I had to dig in deep to keep the crank spinning. By this time I was glad I didn't choose the 55K distance. After all, the first ride up to Pietrebais and back had already cost me an hour and some 21K. The temperature was a balmy 14 degrees but the sun was hiding more and more behind low clouds and there was a very notice-able southern wind blowing on the high plains. When I reached Heze I knew I hadn't long to go. The last descent into Pietrebais was a classic one along a fine singletrack with some deep gullies hidden by high grass.

When I rode home I decided to loop into Nodebais for a little visit to the little chapelle. I always like to have a quiet moment here, reading the writings on the wall .

After that moment I rode on into Nodebais and Hamme Mille before entering the Miradal forest for the last stretch along the Naamsesteenweg back home. This ride turned out a bit longer and more difficult that I had wanted it to be but I had a good feeling of accomplishment afterwards. Looks like it is going to rain though, which doesn't look promising for tomorrow and sunday.  

Ride Stats : 83K and 910/970 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 4h42mins

7910/84275

Got the Moots back in working order yesterday. Filip Sport had finally gotten a tyre to close on the rear rim using NoTubes. The Continental Mountain King wouldn't close, so I opted for a Rocket Ron as a good second choice. The normal RR wouldn't close so Filip had to fit a UST version. This one did close and was still hard when I grabbed the Moots for a quick ride in Meerdael Forest this evening. Putting NoTubes fluid in a tyre requires riding the bike to evenly spread it around so that all holes fill up nicely.
The tracks were a little splashy because it had drizzled most of last night. But at least it wasn't raining anymore now. I chose for a perimeter ride, opting for the bigger tracks.

Stopping at the Mollendaal cabin for a brief rest and then continuing along the south-easterly rim of the forest. The wind was blowing hard but at least it was not too cold. With an average 11 degrees I could not complain.
The bike performed flawlessly. Filip also did some maintance on the Chris King hubs which improved the freewheeling considerably. The brakes also did not drag anymore. This is possibly due to the colder outside temperatures diminishing the oil volume just enough.

Ride Stats : 22K and 265 heightmeters (Garmin) in 1h11mins

7827/83305 

Fine sunny weather this evening so I just had to ride out and profit of the opportunity. Riding through the Weertse Dreef towards Sint Joris Weert the sun greeted me when I exited the forest. Over Nethen and Hamme Mille, extra loop towards Nodebais and the I arrived in Tourinnes la Grosse. The newly restored Eglise Saint Martin was glistening in the sun so I rode up the hill and took a couple of pictures. That tower certainly is big. The church dates from the early 10th century. It has been thorougly cleaned and just recently came out of the scaffolding.

Leaving Tourinnes I rode towards Beauvechain and then took a left for Opvelp. Following the river Velpe along the Hoeveroute and then coming into Neervelp I took a left again towards Bremt. From there back in to Bierbeek and Haasrode with the wind in my back. It wasn't cold with an average temperature of 10 degrees C but the northerly wind wasn't pleasant in the open areas going over the crest between Beauvechain and Opvelp. Coming into Blanden I had a nice easy ride under my belt.

Ride Stats : 38K and 270/315 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h44mins

7805/83040