The Men's Elite race at the World Championships in Kopenhagen made good speed so after seeing the best sprinter taking a deserved win I was out on my Moots at 4.10pm. I decided to ride to the Rouge Cloitre near Brussels and this meant taking off through Meerdael Forest and the Doode Beemde and then interconnecting through the Margijsbos towards Duisburg. Here I entered the Sonian Forest. It had been a while since I last was on these trails but I remembered them without help from my GPS and after 1h30 I was at the Rouge Cloitre ponds. Making my way back I decided on a parallel trail more to the North. Over Duisburg again but then aiming for Korbeek Dijle from where I injected myself on the Green Meerdael BLOSO route which I followed past the Meerdaelhof. Up the Keiberg and I was back into Meerdael Forest for a last stretch of green before reaching my point of departure. I had a very good ride in a balmy 21 degrees C and with the sun on my face. Near the end it was almost disappearing behind the horizon but I was home at 7pm due to a very good average speed.

Endomondo track


Ride Stats : 57K and 560/655 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h48mins

10381/86895

25-09-2011, 19:57 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

After watching Giorgia Bronzini take her second consecutive World Title, and also feeling a little bit of the pain that Marianne Vos must have felt after taking her 5th (!) consecutive second place, I decided to make the most of the beautiful weather and ride out with the Moots YBB. I left late and I guessed I would have more or less 2 hours of light in the forest. The temperature was quite mild and the sun was still giving some warmth when I entered Meerdael Forest and made my way to Haasrode to pick in on the base loop of the Haasrode TT, held last August. I would follow this more or less - I had to follow it from memory, did not have the track with me on my GPS - and it led me to Mille, Gottechain and Bossut. I did avoid the steep hill in the Rue St Remacle in Gottechain, riding it downhill instead. Then following the track down along the outskirts of the Bois de Beausart where I had to do a little bit of calisthenics to keep the bike on the right track. There where some deep ruts, some glistening with the promise of a puddle so I had to choose my track wisely. But except for one foot on the ground I rode the whole section. Great!
Into Gottechain again and then down towards the N25. Crossing that I climbed into Bossut and set forth towards Nethen.

Nethen which was lying waiting into a shrouf of light smoke from one of the BBQ's no doubt. Before long I was riding into Meerdael Forest again. The light was dim as the sun was slowly setting. But I kept to the big forest trails and added a last loop into Heverleebos before completing a nice relaxing ride. My legs felt good , having recuperated well during last night and today. The average temperature was 18 degrees and near the end of the ride, with the sun disappearing, I could feel the cold of the autumn night upon me.

Endomondo track


Ride Stats : 39K and 430/485 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 2h04mins

10324/86240

24-09-2011, 20:20 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Time for a little more technicality in my reacquantaince path on the mountainbike . So the Overijse BLOSO routes come to mind. Called the "2 Valleien Route" this 34K offroad track connects 2 valleys ; the valley of the river Ijse and the valley of the river Lasne. Ondulating up and down on the flanks. Nothing too tricky, steep or long , but just enough technicality on the downhills to catch the unaware or overzealous biker.
Unfortunately I am neither, and I fully enjoyed riding on these trails again. They were dry and fast, with an occasional puddle and some obstructions in the form of farmers harvesting their fields, or community workers filling up some holes in a field track.
The day started out misty but in the afternoon the sun came piercing through the clouds. I had a first stop on a small track overlooking the village of Huldenberg. Stowing away my windbreaker and checking the tension in my tires.

23-09-2011, 15:31 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

I felt a bit tired and my muscles felt stiff so at first I was thinking about just doing a 40-50K recovery ride. I started out over Bierbeek and Meldert to reach Hoegaarden and inject myself on the ravel. As the kilometers disappeared behind my wheels I started to feel better and I decided to follow the ravel 2 and then take the fork towards Perwez. The wind was blowing in my face on that last bit but once I reached Perwez I could turn to the right and have it  blowing from the left. Speeding towards Maleves-Sainte-Marie-Wastinnes and then through Opprebais and Sart-Risbart. The road was bad here, lots of "macadam" and in a very bad shape with holes and patches in it. In Sart-Risbart I took a narrow tarmac route with some cobble sections to connect to Longueville. From here it wasn't far to Heze and then downhill into Grez-Doiceau. From Grez I rode through Archennes - bad road - and Florival and then took a left turn for a long climb towards Ottenburg. From Ottenburg I took the narrow street down towards Terlanen and decided to ride up the Smeysberg on its 'easy' side before riding to Neerijse along the Langerode straat . In Neerijse I connected to the Sint Jansbergsesteenweg. Following that busy road - but with super tarmac conditions - towards Egenhoven and there taking my usual route back through Heverlee and Oud-Heverlee. When I reached the Zoete Waters I saw that I nearly had 90K so adding another loop towards Sint Joris Weert and riding home along the Weertse Dreef would bring me a solid 100K. The weather was dry and not too warm, ideally suited for a long steady ride. With an average temperature of 21 degrees and a mild wind blowing from the west I have no reason to complain.

Endomondo track


Ride Stats : 100.5K and 705/760 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h51mins

10229/85040

22-09-2011, 17:37 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Yesterday I took a day off from biking and rode to the Ardennes with my car. We visited Baraque Fraiture and Bastogne and we had a good time driving the Mazda MPS through the twisty Ardennes roads. A little more than 300K in 4h30mins.

Today I felt well rested and I wanted to ride the big interchanging node route that was featured in the summer number of Grinta magazine. This added an extra loop of 21K to the 48.5K ride I did last friday. The extra loop first takes you towards Willebringen, Meldert and then rides along very nice little tracks towards Hoegaarden. Some narrow tarmac roads here , most of them very well known to me from my ventures with the Hilset around these parts. Before entering Hoegaarden I stop to take a picture of the church which looms over the berm of the road.

21-09-2011, 15:14 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf

Now that summer is at its end, and the freshness of autumn is already in the air, we have to make the most of every sunny, calm and dry day that comes along. So today again I grabbed the Vortex - or did it grab me, I sometimes wonder ? - and got underway for what would turn out to be a great ride. Riding at a relaxed pace - my muscles are beginning to feel the toll of 7 days biking in a row - I rode towards Egenhoven where I got on the Sint-Jansbergsesteenweg which I followed all the way past Overijse until I reached Maleizen. Here I turned left towards Rixensart and crossed the language border riding into Rosieres. Down to cross the river Lasne and then the long  but easy climb upwards towards the N257. Down again into Basse-Wavre and then taking the long climb out of Wavre to reach the Chaussee de Huy near the Bois des Neulettes.
Speeding along to get off of that busy road as soon as possible . Taking a right into Dion Valmont where I rode left and thus took a much calmer parallel road with some nice views into Brabant Walloon as a bonus.

19-09-2011, 18:35 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf