This morning saw clear and sunny weather. The temperature was just above 10 degrees C but that did not bother me much. On the contrary, I prefer temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees, they are perfect for cycling and certainly for mountainbiking. I set out through Meerdael Forest and Sint Joris Weert towards Sint Agatha Rode where I joined the Black Yse and Voer Bloso trail. My plan was to combine all three routes today. There was some kind of happening because around these new trails because I passed a lot of bikers on the black trail looping towards Terlanen and Huldenberg. Here I switched on the Blue which took me way up north to Duisburg and even Vossem and Moorsel, before turning towards the east and later to the southeast to join Leefdaal. Here I hopped on the Green to complete the last of the trails before joining the Black Bloso again riding down to the Wolfshagen and into Sint Agatha Rode. The trails are well marked, but at some points there are road works and of course no arrow was to be seen. So I took the precaution of downloading them into my Garmin. Better be safe than sorry.
What can be said about these trails? Well, they are varied, a lot of field tracks, a couple of passages through little forests - Sint Agatha Rode Bos and Moorselbos among them - some of the trails run parallel with the Overijse Bloso routes and the Tervuren Bloso routes. They skid along the edge of the Sonian Forest, so if you feel up to it, you can combine them, just make sure you take enough to eat and drink ! A couple of passages through villages demand your attention, be advised that you do NOT have any right of way just because you are a biker following arrows. I was fortunate to do these trails after a long dry period. Some passages can be quite muddy . I was surprised at the amount of climbing, but there are quite a few long and even steep climbs. The climb out of Huldenberg along the Dreefstraat, the dreaded Moskesstraat in Terlanen, the Kleine Hollestraat out of Leefdaal, and the climb into the Kleine Keistraat towards the Grote Keistraat are some that I remember quite well. There are also a couple of zooming downhills , all easy now that its dry but some might prove quite a handful when the floor is wet.
When I arrived in Sint Agatha Rode I decided to add a couple of extra kilometers to my ride. I first rode through the river Dyle estuary to reach Pecrot. Here I worked my way up the Malaise crest and then dropped down into Nethen. Along the Savenel wall I joined the Blue Meerdael Bloso and followed that, and later the Red, accumulating trail after trail, kilometer after kilometer, and sight after sight. Nature is becoming alive at last, trees are turning green with foliage and there are flowers - white, yellow, blue, red - everywhere. When I arrived at the Margrietendreef I decided to call it a day and ride into Blanden for a last loop.
Endomondo
track
Ride Stats : 73K and 915 heightmeters (Garmin) in 03h32mins
4889/17170
04-05-2013, 15:03 geschreven door Big Bad Wolf
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