After yesterdays' heavy offroad ride I had an onroad ride in mind for today. About time I did a serious distance with the Litespeed Vortex so I decided to ride towards Hoegaarden to join the Ravel number 2 , also known as the 'Croix de la Hesbaye'. This tarmac track runs along an old railroad . This means a couple of things. First the grade of the hills is never more than 4%, which was the maximum grade the old locomotives could master. Secondly, its exclusively reserved to bikers and hikers. Which means for a tranquil ride, only interrupted when you cross a road. I didn't want to ride all the way to Namur, which would bring the total distance to 120K, but decided to ride to the top of the slow ascent, somewhere between Eghezee and Vedrin, just before the long downhill towards Namur starts. Passing Jodoigne the sun came out and I stopped to remove my armlings.

Reaching Eghezee, where it was rather busy with market and also a hikers event which followed the Ravel for a couple of kilometers, I rode on towards Longchamps where the ravel continues towards Cognelee. Just before I reached the 52K point I decided to turn around. The wind was blowing from the east and it seemed to have grown stronger after the sun broke through the morning clouds. I could see the ancient trainstation of Cognelee and stopped for a snack. 
The was back was easier, with the slope now going downwards. Only a little uphill after Eghezee. I stopped at the plaque with the Ramillies battlefield situation. Here the troops of the duke of Marlborough fought those of the Marchal Viceroy  in 1706 - and took a couple of pictures before steaming on towards Jodoigne again

Now came the most difficult part of this ride. Up until now I had been able to maintain a good average speed, keeping my heartrate low. But for the last 20K I had to climb out of Hoegaarden and then had a couple of more climbs in Meldert and Opvelp. But I felt exceptionally well and when I arrived home I was pleased to see my average heartrate was only 24bpm for an average speed of more than 28kph.
So this was the first century ride with the Litespeed Vortex and it went quite well . The bike is light and fast and still offers enough comfort to brave the beaten macadam roads. The comfort comes from the tyres and the 6/4 titanium frame, the Seven/Reynolds fork and tight Campagnolo Neutron wheels are built for steering precision and speed, and only  attribute marginally to dampen any shock.

Ride Stats : 104K and 535/540 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h40mins

1625/17580