No snow today but with a maximum temperature just below 0 the snow didn't melt much either. Decided to ride to Nethen and do some climbing on the Beaumont crest before riding towards the Tienne Vincent for another couple of heightmeters. The 100.000 heightmeters mark is coming closer and I'm getting impatient to get there.But the weather is not exactly on my side. In normal circumstances I would have passed the mark a while back but now the very difficult weather conditions do not allow for 1000-heightmeter rides. So I have to be patient and not forsake my safety for a quick gain .
The track leading up to Beaumont was a lot icier than last saturday and I had to walk the steepest part. The many wheels had honed the track to a perfect icy mirror. Not much grip and it was difficult finding traction even when riding on the flat. But I managed to find some on the very edge of the car trails where some loose snow was covering the ice. Down the Rue de Pecrot which was also more dangerous now. And then back up the Ruelle du Cure for a couple of times to complete the first part of my quest.

Riding towards the Tienne Vincent then which I attacked 3 times, turning 180 degrees at the top and riding back to the bottom to make things easier . When I returned from the 3rd ascent I followed the road towards Hamme Mille for a while and then rode up the Bruyere du Wez. Luckily the middle part of the road was loose snow so I could make the 17% grade without much troubles. Riding down the Tienne Vincent again for another loop and then back up the Bruyere again. By now the sun had set behind the horizon and this effectively became a night ride.

I decided to ride back through Meerdael Forest. The first part was better then last saturday because the had bulldozered the forest road  so I could ride in the middle of it and avoid the icy jeep tracks. But then there were only the jeep tracks left to ride in and things got very very difficult. The ruts were deep, icy and narrow. So I had to take care when pedalling not to touch the sides of the rut , and also not to slide away and ride through dark muddy puddles.

The bike behaved well although I was wishing for the narrower Q-factor of my ordinary bikes which is 3cm narrower compared to this one. I was glad when I reached the Weertse Dreef. This was still closed for regular traffic but there were good solid jeep trails here, not so deep and a lot wider. Also, less icy which was a relief after the struggle I just had. When I turned into the Prosperdreef there where no jeep tracks any more but I could follow the footsteps left by many walkers. This made for a wobblier ride but at least I could still ride. Reaching the Naamsesteenweg at last I was almost relieved to get out of the dark icy forest.

Ride Stats : 27K and 395/455 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h58mins

9013/99900