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Cold but sunny this morning so around 10AM I rode out towards Lovenjoel to pick up on the Lubbeek Bloso routes. I was on the Green route which turned out to be the main loop, with the Blue and Red routes adding two extra loops, respectively to the east and the west of the main loop. Before long I came upon the Blue loop which rides all the way to Binkom. Nothing really special here, lots of small tarmac roads with the occasional offroad or semi-offroad track breaking the boredom. I was more concerned with passing cars than with the intricacies of the trail. Entering Binkom the church lies dominantly before you on a hill.
The only challenge of the Blue loop comes towards the end, when you enter the Calvariebos. This means a very steep climb towards the statue of Jesus. Dropping down immediately and before long you have had the Blue Loop and are back on the Green and entering Lubbeek.
In Lubbeek I pass the start of the loops and make a picture of the route map whilst eating a little snack. Another biker is ready to start and says hello.
On the Green loop now which offers some nice tracks, connected by - again - narrow tarmac roads. But a least there is some challenge here as I slowly come closer to the N2. Crossing that means I am near Linden and I now ride on the Red Loop. This turns out to be the more challenging of the three routes as it enters the Steenveld , Bleekbos and Lindenbos for a couple of nice climbs and some backtracks and singletracks. Care has to be taken not to pass the sometimes small trails. They often start between two houses and on a couple of occasions I rode too fare before realizing I had passed the trailhead. But the combination of the trail markings - missing at the crossing of the Kasteeldreef and the Kortrijkstraat - and the GPS track quickly had me on the right track again.
Crossing the N2 for the second time I make my way up through the Gasthuisbos as I near Pellenberg. Nice descent here on a very steep and steppy singletrail. A little danger sign would not go amiss. This descent can take you by surprise . Riding around the hospital I am nearing my insertion point and before long I have completed the 48K loop. I remember that the Red is the more intersting loop, it looks interesting to combine this with the Green loop of the Holsbeek Blosos.
Making my way home I loop around St Camillus and have to take a detour when the Haanhofweg appears to be blocked for all traffic.
But the weather is superb and I don't mind the extra effort and kilometers as I ride through the Industriezone in Haasrode and make my way back to Blanden along the Langestraat and the Wijnbergstraat.
Endomondo track
Ride Stats : 75.5K and 690/775 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h55mins
12028/104800
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