This noon saw me at the start of the 51st Brabantse Pijl in Leuven, taking some pictures with my mobile phone and enjoying some sunshine in the crowd gathered at the Grote Markt. Taking a break from work I witnessed Michel Wuyts announce the riders one team at a time. Some hours later I was watching Philippe Gilbert winning , looking very relaxed whilst beating a brave Bjorn Leukemans at the sprint on top of the Schavei. Gilbert looks ready for the Amstel and the Liege, for sure.

Then I set out on the Litespeed Vortex but I was looking at a lot of wind, rather cold weather and some dark clouds gathering. My initial plan was to do around 50K but when I noticed the clouds were coming closer and it looked like there was rain coming out of them, I quickly decided to cut my ride short and make for home as quickly as possible. The rain veils were getting more prominent by the minute and just when I was entering Bierbeek I got a first little splash of raindrops. Moving closer to Blanden I got another one. The smell of the dry streets getting wet was overwhelming. But it was only a couple of drops, nothing more. Still the temperature had dropped again and I was glad to be home with a somewhat shorter but very intense ride under my belt. I tested the Camelbak Rogue and the frame pump and both didn't move ann inch. I hardly felt the Camelbak at all on my back, it was light even though it carried a spare inner tyre, on O2 canister and injector, tyre irons and my Galaxy S mobile phone. It is also very short so it doesn't block the rear pockets of my jersey. Well conceived indeed. I ordered a titanium King Cage in Durango, along with some titanium tire 'irons' to replace the plastic ones I now carry. The King Cage will be used to hold a drinking bottle.

Ride Stats : 30K and 205/205 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h3mins

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