6.30am.. ouch, there is not much light as I set out with my bike to ride towards 7 Fontaines near Hallerbos where "Moster Blonde" was waiting for me to do a reconnaisance of the Magical Bluebell ride she organises each year. She had lots of other stuff to do today so we planned to meet up really early. It's nice and quiet in Meerdael Forest and the Foret de Soignes as I bike through them, the first rays of the sun piercing in my back. Oh, nature is so beautiful this early in the morning. In the Dyle valley some shrouds of mist are being quickly dissipated by the upcoming sun. Not a lot of time to look around though.. I'm on a tight shedule. 8.01am.. made it - just in time. 37.5K on the counters already and the real ride hasn't even started yet. MB is ready to roll and we set off onto the loop . The first couple of K has us following a little trail along the bottom of a field next to a little stream. A big tree that has been lying here for at least a year has us lifting our bikes over it. We continue along a wet - aargh, my bike is getting dirty - upwards trail towards the outskirts of the forest. Pretty steep but very manageable due to the perfect trail conditions once we passed the wet bit. A technical and sandy downhill follows and then its upwards again to join the Hallerbos rim . The sun is out now but the temperature in and around the forest is still nice and cool. Excellent biking conditions. This early there are but a few other people around but this would change later on. Diving into the first of the Hallerbos valleys it becomes pretty obvious that the amazing weather we have been enjoying these past few weeks has brought the bluebells ( scilla nonscripta - blue hyacynt ) out . They are blooming already.. the magic of this moment is breathtaking and I feel so priviliged to be here, with MB. We both enjoy the moment to the fullest , taking some pictures before venturing deeper into the forest. Riding along has us filling our lungs with the pure air and our nostrils with the scent of thousands of flowers. Some of the tracks are off limits because due to the treefelling they are blocked by trees. A passing horseback rider warns us about the forestry keeping a watch out for trespassers but we are not worried about that. It is not our policy to bike on forbidden roads. MB has the maps with her and has already devised some possible detour around the blocked trails. The trail meanders from one valley into another, always up and down, some technical bits, some steep trails and lots of singletrack to interconnect the bigger trails. This is such a fine forest , pity there are no marked biker trails, and lots of the trails are offlimit to bikers. Still, with the remainder of the trails, and a good guide, the loop we followed is pretty awesome as it stands. We netted 430 heightmeters in 23.5k. Back at the 7 Fontaines area we say our goodbyes and I headed back towards the Foret de Soignes. I felt good so I did a little detour around some of the Hoeilaart trails and coming back into Korbeek Dyle I rode along the Green Bloso loop before happily arriving home after a good long ride. Thanks Moster Blonde for the awesome ride ...
Ride Stats : 105K and 1015heightmeters in 5h11mins
