After having ridden the 35K base loop of this years' Haasrode TT I was eager to try out the 65K version I got yesterday from the organisation. I asked Roger L. if he wanted to come along and Roger agreed.
Around 3.30pm Roger parked his Seven Sola at my place and 20 minutes later we set out on the loop. The weather was sunny but a strong northeasterly wind made it no warmer than 15 degrees. A good windstopper proved no luxury. The first bit of the loop was of course very familiar to me, since it runs along the base loop. After the nice loop through Gottechain we got to the split and decided to ride on for the longer distance. The loop then turns towards Pietrebais and Longueville. The wind on the plains was not always to our advantage and the sun was welcome to warm us up again when the wind was in our favour. We rode at a leisurely pace, heartrates around 110 bpm , and enjoyed the fine landscapes that paraded under our wheels. When we rode through the rapeseed fields towards Heze I could not resist taking a couple of pictures. The greens and yellows were amazing.

We then rode towards the Chapelle du Cheneau in Longueville, the furthest point of the route. The track then made for Heze town and later Biez. Passing Grez Doiceau we arrived back on the base loop. Through Gottechain and Bossut and then towards Nethen and the Meerdael Forest. Here I was a little complacent and followed the base loop towards the point where we injected on the route, thus missing some 10K and 200 or more heightmeters. So we ended up doing a 55-56K loop instead of the full 65K. But in view of the fading light it was perhaps not a bad thing we missed out on that extra loop. We were both very satisfied with our ride. Beautiful landscapes, nice weather and a good long-distance workout. We can do the full monty somewhere during the next weeks.

Ride Stats : 62K and 735/820 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h24mins

2565/25980