Big Bad Log

Rather unstable weather today. At one time I thought of getting on my bike, the sky was open and the wet streets were starting to dry out but I had to check something on my PC first and I'm glad I did. Because half an hour later it started to pour again. So on the rollers I went. Armed with some nice music of Ewa Sonnet and Anastacia and reading a couple of short fairy tales from Mr. JRR Tolkien.
The idea was to ride at an easy pace to get rid of the heavy legs, left over from yesterdays' powertraining. Managed to put in an hour and a half and I finished two stories in that time..
Plans for the Houffa weekend April 20-22nd , begin to form. I have already booked last November in my usual hotel, the Ol' Fosse d'Outh. So I can concentrate on things I want to do while there. Checking out some marked trails in nearby La Roche is on my list , I have done some of them, either partly or as part of an LCMT long ago, and I wouldn't mind to go back there and check them out, they are short but steep and tough. The Houffa marked trails themselves are also an option of course , or even a road ride if the trails are muddy and dirty.
Another thing I certainly want to do is check out the entire Houffa World Cup circuit to find some new interesting spots to take photographs. I usually stay in the Ol' Fosse neighborhood ( lazy bones :) ) focussing on the singletrack climb leading up to the famous Ol Fosse downhill or positioning myself on the long climb into the forest after they cross the Bastogne road .
The circuit keeps getting shorter and shorter each year. I've known it to be almost 12K in 1996 and then you could take your time to walk to some other spots before the riders returned.Nowadays they barely need 15 minutes to complete a 3.5K lap.
I should normally have a Press Card so I could take a Press Shuttle to move quickly from spot to spot but I don't need all that hassle, I just want a few good spots and move between them on foot . A nice steep uphill were the tension is on the riders' faces never fails to produce nice pictures.
I think I will practice a bit during saturdays races and compare spots , digital camera settings and lens options. Normally I take my action pics with an 180mm f2.8 small tele but I can now also use my 28-70 f2.8 zoom, which could provide some interesting wide angles as I can photograph the riders as they pass over me (or , to be more precise - next to me)
I need that zoom anyway to make close-ups from the riders at the starting grid before the race.
Normally I will also cover the Trophee Jeunes Vetetiste race at Grez-Doiceau (Hèze) - on saturday March 3rd. This should a good repetition for my new camera and flash (I had to get a new Nikon SB-800 because the flash I had (a Nikon SB-24 aged 10 years) isn't compatible with the newer Nikon D2X cameras' I-TTL mode , thanks Nikon for that !

Ride Stats : 35.5K in 1h30mins

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