Big Bad Log

Ah, at last I was going to ride in the Bois des Reves again. This is an amusement parc near Ottignies Louvain-La-Neuve where they have a permanent mountainbike trail, some 3K long and sporting a whopping 80 heightmeters. That may seem like nothing much until you ride it. It's on the side of a hill and the track is taking you up and down that hill several times , with some nice lacets, roots and steps everywhere. It takes a good rider to make this lap without setting foot to the ground. It was slightly drizzling when I set off for my first big lap. I usually combine the "Circuit VTT" - which is marked - with a trail going all the way around the parc, consisting of a big climb starting out on the bikers trail towards Louvain-La-Neuve, then taking to the right climbing all the way up to the top of the forest, two times right again followed by a very fast descent on a forest road .
That way, MY lap is 5K long and yields me 130 heightmeters. With the 2007 Belgian XC Championships taking place here in 2 weeks, there were a lot of bikers on the circuit. Some youngsters from my club were having some kind of orientation exercise and they were all over the place. I also saw Sebastien Carabin and Morgane Van Lierde who were practising on part of the Championship circuit. From what I've seen of the circuit , it will be very technical, with at least one major downhill - no, I did NOT ride it - going almost straight down the slope. I hope the Croix Rouge will be well staffed because this could prove to be a dangerous spot. The thing with Bois des Reves is, there is not a moments' rest. Your heart rate is going up and down like a yo-yo, you are either on a steep climb or on a technical descent , always on some narrow singletrack. That will be another major point for the Championship. Passing others riders will be a tricky affair, since the trails are narrow and always ondulating up and down, with not much room for error. Of course , only part of the circuit is open now, since the other half is in an area of the parc that is normally forbidden for bikers. I met Laurent Saublens and he told me that the final lap will be some 5K and 280 heightmeters. The track will be fully marked for reconnaisance purposes from wednesday July 18th. .
So I lapped 8 rounds of MY lap, which yielded me just over a 1000 heightmeters. The tracks were moist which made the downhills tricky, but manageable. I felt tired but very happy having done a good technical and climbing training.

Ride Stats : 40.5K and 1055 heightmeters in 3h01mins

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