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The Ride
So
I decided to go to Mazy and ride the 5th 'Vallee de l'Orneau' organised ride. After last nights' thunderstorm I wasn't sure
if Braine would've been spared (it wasn't ) , and since I hadn't been
in Mazy for a while and I knew that organized ride was bound to be less
crowded , I made a last minute decision to ride there.
Had
a bit of trouble finding Mazy ( I really need to get out my map sooner
instead of just riding along in the wrong direction ) but I
arrived around 11am and found some parking space very close to the
start. The first riders were already back at the start and I heard some
complaints about the last 10K being a lot of tarmac.. Oh great.. :(
But
then I had been here before, for the "Randonnée des 5 Chateaux" ,
a classic ride passing - you would never have guessed - along 5 of the
areas' very beautiful castles. I also did the "Sauvenieroise" , another
race starting in not-so-far-away Sauveniere and I knew I would be hard
pressed to get a Hill Factor of more than 10 out of this ride.
Payed
5 at the start and soon enough I was on my bike and ready to go.. All
of a sudden someone comes riding up next to me and I am pleasantly
surprised to see an old friend. Someone I was in the LCMT with a couple
of years ago.
Also a titanium freak we take some time checking out each others'
Litespeeds while he also informs me the last 15K are rather flat and
dull.. Great x 2 .. :(
On
my way then and there are some nice tracks straight away. No rain here
so most of the trail is dry and bone-hard. The Orneau is a small river
we will see quite a few times. The offroad sections near that river -
and the trails descending towards it or climbing away from it - are
really nice. Pity that there is also a lot of tarmac, or dull
fieldtracks, to get from one nice trail to the other. I more or
less ride together with a guy with a Cannondale Rush and I am amazed at
his ability to really make speed on the heavy pothole-ridden field
tracks. He can remain seated and really put down the hammer while I
have to get up from time to time to avoid being hammered in my back.
This is the kind of ride that makes even the most ardent hardtail freak
long for a full suspension bike. I really have to look at that Titus Racer-X I have been thinking about for a while now.
On
the uphills I have the advantage though, due to my lighter bike I can
power away from him. So we kept on passing each other during the entire
ride. As was being mentioned, the last 10K or so was on the plateau,
and the wind was blowing fiercely in our faces to even make it more
tough. Only one last quick descent towards Mazy and we are back at the
start, only 2h35 after I left.
As was to be expected, after 54K there are only 590 heightmeters on my Polar (Hill Factor of 10.9 ) .
Still there were some really nice sections and I am not alltogether unhappy I chose this ride.
The Lowdown
What I liked:
- 2 well stocked rest stops, spread evenly along the ride, friendly people.
- arrowing was sufficient, white background plaques with red tip indicating direction, some chalk and arrows on tarmac.
- some nice sections along the river and at least one great downhill just before the 2nd rest stop
- police at busy roads stopping traffic , making crossing these roads very easy and safe
What I didn't like:
- long tarmac sections or dull field tracks between the more interesting sections
- no discount for licencies.
- could have used some more offroad sections near the end. Looks like they concentrated on distance, not on content.
Synopsis
The area has potential, but between the interesting sections, and there really
were some very nice tracks around, there is too much tarmac or field
roads to really make this ride (or this region) stand out. The
Randonnee des 5 Chateaux is better but they get permission to pass on
privately owned trails, something the organisers of this ride did NOT
get. Also note that this region is to be avoided after heavy rainfall ,
the dull field tracks then becoming sticky with mud.
The bare facts
I have uploaded the ride's profile HERE
and you can find a map of the 52K distance HERE
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