Legs felt a bit like tutti-frutti so I could do not much more than ride out on the Litespeed Vortex for an easy recovery ride. Recovery means I stay off of the big ring and ride relaxed and with a low heartrate and high frequency.
I made a loop that did not incorporate many climbs and avoided the steep ones. So from Bierbeek I rode towards Beauvechain, La Bruyere and then into Pietrebais and Grez-Doiceau. From here I made my way towards Bossut and down into Pecrot. Left towards Eerken and then through Sint Agatha Rode and Neerijse towards Heverlee. I stopped a the Arenberg campus to take a couple of pictures. The funny thing is that there is a Litespeed model that is called "Arenberg". So my Vortex was in the right place.

I then rode on through Heverlee and back towards Blanden to complete an easy loop with an average heartrate of 103bpm and still a good average speed of nearly 25kph. The sun was out - again - and there was a cooling breeze - again - whicj made for ideal biking conditions.

Ride Stats : 56K and 360/400 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h14mins

2848/28985

08-05-2011, 14:15 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Time to get myself in gear, get in the car and ride towards Nandrin. A long standing favorite of mine where I always enjoy going to. A couple of years ago I found some markings belong to other Adeps tracks and upon investigation I found them to be from the Tavier/Anthisnes routes. I tried following one of them but the arrowing wasn't allowing me to do so for very long. So I took a picture of the route map in Tavier and vowed to be back and check some of them out. So yesterday I traced 2 of the loops using Mapsource and put the tracks on my Edge 705.
Today was that day. I started as usual on the Nandrin village place and took the White loop towards the Bois des Gottes.

There I stumbled on the 17K Green route of Tavier. Taking that towards the starting point I decided to do the 11K Green Walking route first.

This walking route is marked with a green spade on a white field. It is quite a nice route as it loops towards Limont passing through some nice wooded sections, and then follows the Chemin del Haye des Sarts into what turns out to be a splendid passage through the Bois du Sart. Crossing the N638 and then disappearing into the forest again before dropping me back into Tavier. Great trail.
The 17K Green Biking trail is next. Its starts off with a boring tarmac section which brings me into Hody. After Hody the trail goes offroad and starts getting more interesting. It roughly goes anticlockwise through Villers-aux-Tours and  then runs in the opposite direction of the 11K walking route I just took.

Great section now, a downhill towards Petit-Berleu where I cross a little river which marks the deepest point of this route. From here it goes upwards again, unfortunately over tarmac but eventually the tracks goes offroad again for a nice singletrack downhill  . Before long I am back on the Nandrin White route where I met the 17K Green Tavier trail some 28K ago.
I decide to further follow the Nandrin White until the point where it meets the Red - that is coming straight from Nandrin - and ride back to my car to refill my drinking bottle and apply some suntan lotion.

Starting again, following the climb that is shared between the Nandrin White and Red, and then continiung on the Red itself . I left out this little detour on the Garmin Connect map and gpx track I share at the end of this narrative. But if you study the map you can see where the trail is within 3km from the start. If you want to ride it, that is where you can ride back to Nandrin.

But then you would miss the cherry on the cake because the Nandrin Red trail alone is well worth a visit to this region. I have done it so many times and it never ceases to amaze me with its beautiful landscapes, tricky descents and physical climbs. Especially the long steep one in the Bois de Chaumont is a geargrinder. And today it came after I already had 70K on my counter, so it was particularly difficult. I encountered some fallen trees at several places and had to carry the Merlin over them.

The next two climbs - singletracks in the fields - are starting to make my legs ache but after a refreshing drink from a well in Villers-le-Temple I am ready for the last long climb through the forest towards Scry. Crossing the N636 next and beating the wind on the tarmac climb on the Rue Tilesse I turn left , straight towards Nandrin. Crossing the busy N63 and from now on its mostly downhill with a lovely passage through the Fond de Beche before reaching the starting point.
The wind had been blowing fiercely but I did not mind since it provided some coolness. Temperature was really high today with an average of 26 degrees. Not bad for a weekend in May. It was a long ride, made tough by heat, wind and the terrain but it left me very satisfied with my performance. I started out easy and was able to maintain a good pace throughout the ride. Even after the return to my car, with the difficult red still in front of me, I was mentally strong enough to go for it. 


Ride Stats : 84.5K and 1375/1420 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 4h52mins

2792/28585

07-05-2011, 20:33 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

The wind had turned to the warmer southeast and with the sun out, I decided for a longer road ride this evening. Starting again along the Biz'on the Bike trail I chose the 90K version at the split in Pecrot. Bossut, Grez-Doiceau, Bonlez, Gistoux and then upwards to Longueville and Dongelberg. Just past Dongelberg the trail runs parallel with the 1W ride. So I followed that towards Huppaye and stopped at the little chapel for a snack and to take some pictures.

Riding on towards Melin I finished the 1W ride in La Bruyere. Adding another loop over Meldert , Bierbeek and Haasrode brought me home with a solid distance and a good average. I noticed I passed the 1000K on my Vortex and also that it is the bike I rode most with so far this year. That does not mean I'm turning into a roadie. Its just that I missed a lot of kilometers in january and februari and with the Vortex the K's add up easily. I have plans for an Ardennes ride on the Merlin this weekend. Tomorrow will be a rest day for sure. I need to get some info on some new shoes. My old Shimano SPDs from 1992 are on their last legs. With nearly 20 years on them they are ready for a well-earned retirement.

Ride Stats : 85K and 710/705 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h7mins

2708/27165

05-05-2011, 21:22 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Looking for a 'not-too-difficult' ride I decided to follow the blue Biz'on the Bike markers and do the 57K loop. The markings date from last year but they are still there and this was the first time I rode this track with the Vortex. Legs felt tired but I still managed good speed, also due to the fact that the wind was less than yesterday. When I arrived in Bierbeek I decided to do an extra loop over Heverlee Park and then return to Blanden via the Expressweg. Good easy ride in sunny but sometimes overcast conditions. Temperature was up a couple of degrees compared to yesterday.

Ride Stats :  57.5K and 455/490 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h8mins

2623/26460

04-05-2011, 20:18 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

After having ridden the 35K base loop of this years' Haasrode TT I was eager to try out the 65K version I got yesterday from the organisation. I asked Roger L. if he wanted to come along and Roger agreed.
Around 3.30pm Roger parked his Seven Sola at my place and 20 minutes later we set out on the loop. The weather was sunny but a strong northeasterly wind made it no warmer than 15 degrees. A good windstopper proved no luxury. The first bit of the loop was of course very familiar to me, since it runs along the base loop. After the nice loop through Gottechain we got to the split and decided to ride on for the longer distance. The loop then turns towards Pietrebais and Longueville. The wind on the plains was not always to our advantage and the sun was welcome to warm us up again when the wind was in our favour. We rode at a leisurely pace, heartrates around 110 bpm , and enjoyed the fine landscapes that paraded under our wheels. When we rode through the rapeseed fields towards Heze I could not resist taking a couple of pictures. The greens and yellows were amazing.

We then rode towards the Chapelle du Cheneau in Longueville, the furthest point of the route. The track then made for Heze town and later Biez. Passing Grez Doiceau we arrived back on the base loop. Through Gottechain and Bossut and then towards Nethen and the Meerdael Forest. Here I was a little complacent and followed the base loop towards the point where we injected on the route, thus missing some 10K and 200 or more heightmeters. So we ended up doing a 55-56K loop instead of the full 65K. But in view of the fading light it was perhaps not a bad thing we missed out on that extra loop. We were both very satisfied with our ride. Beautiful landscapes, nice weather and a good long-distance workout. We can do the full monty somewhere during the next weeks.

Ride Stats : 62K and 735/820 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h24mins

2565/25980

03-05-2011, 21:51 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf