For the last day of the 4th decennium of my life I wanted to do something special. And the fact that the riders in the Tour had a rest day also allowed me to stay away longer than I normally would. I took the Moots out and rode towards Pecrot, where the start lies of the 2008 Belgian MTB Marathon Championships. I know the track quite well because I was one of the people who conceived and changed it , leading up to the championship. But still it was almost a year ago since I last rode it, in part or as a whole, so I wanted to try and do the complete lap today. The weatherforecast was good, partly clouded, no rain and temps between 20 and 25 degrees C. That meant wearing long trousers wouldn't feel too warm. I applied a good spraying of Deet 40 and got on my way. The ride leading up to Pecrot already yielded me 118 heightmeters but things were getting serious pretty quick after I started out on the Championship trail itself. The GPS track is available on Motionbased. I will add a link at the end of this article.

Describing the track completely would take too long so I will only give some highlights. The first part is pretty intense turning around in Nethen before moving towards Bossut . After crossing the N252 there follows a part that is more oriented towards field roads, and the big ring can go on a lot. After that, the track drops towards Pietrebais where another intense section follows, with really narrow - and sometimes dangerous - tracks ondulating up and down. Then its in the fields again towards Longueville. At the chapel you are around the halfway point and things get intense once again with some steep climbs and zooming descents leading in and out of the forest and towards Biez. Then I ride into Grez Doiceau for the first time, and a loop leading towards Dion Valmont introduces a lot of cobbles and some more climbing - again. You will be glad to see Grez Doiceau again but the last part is also pretty hefty. Climbing towards Gottechain you will remember my words. Then a bit of field road takes you towards Bossut and then down into Archennes. The most difficult climb of the lot - very sandy - had me walking, as usual and there are a couple more to follow before I am near Pecrot again for a final loop, following the first 4K of the track again before finishing at the end of the Ruelle du Curee. The figures showed 91.5K and 1361 heightmeters. Not bad at any rate.
I then rode back home, not before stopping at the well near the camping La Hetraie to drink some cool water. The ride has been difficult - due to the warmth and the difficult tracks - but I am glad I did it.
The grand total of the day way a surprising 124K and nearly 1450 heightmeters.

Ride Stats : 117K and 1435/1479 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 6h42mins

GPS track on Motionbased : CLICK

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