Moots Time ! Yesterday I cleaned the Litespeed Obed and put it under covers. It should remain there until late fall, when the weather will be foul again. Now the Moots and the Merlin come out, for those epic spring and summer rides.
Wanting to do a long ride , but not too much heightmeters, I chose the O2 Bikers Taalgrens roadbook. This is 80K long and couples forest and field together in one long ride.
With the Moots I also have disk brakes and No Tubes, which means I can go faster downhill without worrying too much about flattening my tyres . Sure, it can still happen , but not as easy.
The first 20K of this roadbook is a great succession of forest and hilly fieldtracks. Starting at the Zoete Waters the trail goes into the Meerdael Forest for some nice lesser-used tracks, coupled to a tricky descent here and there. Unfortunatelt, forest exploitation is still going on and on one track I had to find a way around a jungle of fallen trees.

It is here that a GPS is of invaluable worth. Just check for alternative trails and you quickly find one that brings you back on the track. But the alternative trail was also very difficult , lots of deep tractor and heavy machinery ruts . But the Moots is a fine little bike. The Chris King rear hub gives it near-instantaneaous reaction to pedalling movement, so you can really be very confident on twisty and difficult trails. So I zigzagged around fallen trees, through deep ruts and over crosstrails. I emerged near the Hercules Salon where I was treated to a magnificent downhill towards the La Hetraie camping. Crossing the road and into Beaumont for another great section of hills, hollow roads and cobblestones taking me up towards Bossut and then back down towards Nethen.

Crossing another big road and I am in the fields of Gottechain. The sun has come out and is giving me a bit of warmth, much needed because it isn't really that warm. A little breeze is blowing from the northeast . It will keep me company throughout the ride. Nice passage in and out of Pietrebais and I'm into the fields. Every now and then there is a challenge in the form of deeply rutted trails - you DON'T want to do this roadbook when it has rained ! - or a descent in a deep hollow road. The field tracks are dry, dusty and hard on bike and man. The trail here as a major tendancy to loop around in search for extra kilometers. They might have wanted to focus on ding some more technically challenging stuff but obviously they did not want to make it too difficult - besides it being 80K which really  is difficult and challenging enough for most.
But my aim today is getting a long ride in, so I accept this. Grabbing the occasional technical passage with both hands, just to have something else to do than avoiding potholes on the endless field roads.
On a beautiful descent in a hollow road I am stopped again by what looks to be a jungle of fallen trees. No way through, and no way around.

So I have to ride back up out of the track - yippee, extra heightmeters  - and do the descent on a cobble road. Bummer. Into St Remy Geest and then onwards to join the track again back into the fields. A nice loop down a deep hollow road again, followed by a long climb back upwards, in another hollow road. And then more field roads. After what feels like a 100K of desert I see at last Meerdael Forest looming on the horizon. Phew, I made it. So glad to see some trees again and ride in the shade. I do a little dance upon entering Meerdael Forest. I really wanted to get off my bike for a couple of minutes because my neck and shoulders are painful from the hammering on the field tracks.

With renewed spirits I  complete the last 10K in Meerdael Forest. There are a lot of walkers, bikers and horses about but everyone is very friendly when greeted. In the fields around Lathuy and Jodoigne I was passed or crossed several times by jeeps, which seemed to be on some kind of GPS tour. They all were very attentive, stopping when I crossed them (to avoid the dust ! ) and at one point I just was faster on a deeply rutted downhill than they were. Ah, a small victory from man and bike over machine and horsepower.
Upon arriving at the Zoete Waters I only had 5 more K to ride back home. A good long ride and I am very pleased with my average and heartrate. Ok, trail conditions were nearly perfect, dry and fast, but still I rode well. Two 5-hour rides this week. Need to relax a bit next week for sure.

Ride Stats : 94K and 790/900 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 5h14mins

847/9415

27-03-2011, 18:10 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Had a day off from work and it looked like a sunny day was in the making when I rode out around 9.20am. I wanted to do a long ride, and score some heightmeters, so I chose the O2 Bikers Grez Doiceau roadbook. Obviously not the original track but my version of it. To be exact, I have been honing and tuning this track throughout the years and this was the 5th version of it, aptly named "Julie 5".
Getting to the start in Grez already had me riding through Meerdael Forest and the fields of Bossut. Then dropping into Grez where I set off for this 56K loop that would net me close to a 1000 heightmeters. I looked up the track on my Garmin Edge 705, pressed navigate and I was underway.
The tracks were perfect and the succession of climbs and descents were slowly wearing me out, like they are supposed to do. At some places there had been a lot of forestry activity and I had to clamber over fallen trees on many occasions. The trail sometimes went straight through a field but don't worry, its there and it will stay there. It struck me how open everything still was; no nettles, no ferns, no high grasses, no leaves on the trees. Perfect for riding on the trails.

Stopping for a first snack high above Chaumont Gistoux, some 2 hours on the lap. From here, things were getting pretty hectic. Difficult climbs, technical and steep, followed by tricky descents, and then another climb having my grind my teeth and looking for the smallest gears. Welcome in Accro Bike country !
At the Chapelle du Cheneau, after a long climb, I decided to stop and have another little snack. I would need it for the remainder of the trail. I was getting tired and I know the track stays relentless until the very end.

I had a lot of time to think about a lot of things while I was riding. Near the end I began to feel the bumps more and more and I figured I might have taken the Moots YBB which has suspension in the rear as well. But its time will come during the summer months. The Litespeed Obed is light and agile and is a strong weapon in the hands of an able rider

Arriving back in Grez after a little more then 4 hours I was still not home. I needed to ride back to Meerdael Forest, this time I chose to ride to Archennes and climb out of that towards Bossut and Nethen. Arriving into Meerdael Forest near Les Claines and then making my way past the Warande pond towards the Prosperdreef which I would follow past the Dovo army barracks. I noticed a lot of beautiful little white flowers and couldn't resist taking a picture of them.

Arriving home with more than 80K and close to 1300 heightmeters I was feeling very satisfied with my ride. With an average temperature of 16 degrees C I could dream away whilst humming the Ramones tune 'California Sun' . I include a link to the GPS track. If you decide to ride it, remember it is a succession of climbs and really takes a lot out of you. I would also appreciate any feedback you might want to give.

Ride Stats : 83K and 1205/1285 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 5h10mins

753/8515

25-03-2011, 17:53 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Another tuesday, another loop incorporating the Base Loop of the Haasrode TT for 2011. This time I decided to ride it in the other direction, or counterclockwise as it turned out. I have been riding this loop for 3 tuesdays in a row now and I like it very much. It is 38K and incorporates a good mixture of forest, field and single tracks. The weather was great today, with and average temperature of 15 degrees throughout the ride. This made the trails very fast .

But I also feel I'm getting in better shape, slowly but surely. The first time I did this lap, 2 weeks ago , it nearly took me 2h30. Today, as it would turn out, I was back home almost within 2 hours. And I probably would have made it in 2 hours if I didn't take a wrong turn in the fields of Gottechain. Stopping, riding back and turning in the right trail took me just about the minute I lacked to make it 2 hours flat. But obviously the time is secondary to the fun I had doing these trails. In and out of Meerdael Forest, looping to Gottechain and then back over Nodebais and Valduc into the Meerdael Forest again.

There were lots of small white flowers already in bloom and the trees also seemed ready to sprout what will become leaves. The bike performed flawlessly and like I said before, there was not a puddle in sight throughout the entire ride. I felt very satisfied and relaxed when I arrived home, even though the pace had been pretty high, especially near the end of the ride from Haasrode back to Blanden through Meerdael Forest again. 

Ride Stats : 38K and 425/450 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h1min

670/7230

22-03-2011, 19:15 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf