Started out early for a ride along the Meerdael Bloso routes. The sun was out and with temperatures around 11 degrees C it promised to be another fine early spring day. I took the BBW again - by default - for this offroad ride. I left out a little bit of air from the Hutchinson Pythons but I soon found out that they do not like to be too soft. Especially the rear tyre was rolling in the corners on hardpack. Even though the comfort was marginally better I decided to pump them back to the prescribed 2.5 bars.
Riding offroad with the 8.5kg Hilset is a challenge. The bike is light and fast but also very skittery due to its lack of suspension. This takes some getting used to. It doesn't bother me much on the hills, there the light weight is an advantage and the lack of traction is a nuisance but nothing more. But especially on the downhills the bike is a handful to handle. The steering is precise but the lack of suspension leaves all the jolts and bumps to go through the tyres and handlebar into the arms and shoulders. In the back the moans and groans of the frame under the hard beatings is not transmitted because I would not dare to remain seated anyways. Good thing the frame is titanium otherwise I believe I would have long ago cracked under the stress. In the front I am thinking of mounting my Morati M-bar. This will be a lot more comfortable than the current aluminum/carbon Extralight setup. The Pace fork is also not one of the most forgiving around. It offers some comfort but an all-titanium job will also improve that. I might be looking into that once the Moots Psychlo-X is built up. This latter frame is currently in Belgium but has been at the Customs offices since March 12th. I'm curious as to how much import and VAT I will have to pay.
Anyway, the ride went well, my legs still felt tired from yesterdays' major ride but I managed to keep a good pace nevertheless. My Endomondo app performed flawlessly today, after experiencing some weird gps-related jumps, bouncing me up and down to the equator. Maybe it is related to the major upgrade Endomondo did last thursday. It first occured on that day. I re-installed the Endomondo app yesterday. I did not experience these bumps using the Garmin Fit app but I did see them on my Google maps history. Weird.

Endomondo track


Ride Stats : 41K and 480 heightmeters (Garmin) in 2h00mins

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