This "old wives' summer" doesn't seem to end. Great ! After the 2 straining Ardennes rides from last week I needed to do something less difficult so I opted to ride the 73K distance of the organised ride the Leuvense Brandweer organised a few week back.
Great invention, GPS, because someone was kind enough to upload the track and hey presto, you can ride it yourself.
I connected with the track in Korbeek Dyle. Got the GPS aligned and off I went. The track first goes to the area between Neerijse and Leefdaal. Some very beautiful hollow roads here and of course the track builders take advantage of the rolling hills to score a lot of heightmeters. After a while the track turns to the north towards Bertem where it crosses the E40 a first time. A lot of field trails here, dusty and hard. But after crossing the N3, Bertem forest looms on the horizon. A very nice and difficult first loop here, with a 21% ascent that makes me strain my muscles to make it. Out of the forest for a loop towards the south to gather some momentum for another climb over the ridge. A fast descent along the forest edge and the track then turns towards the east. Another stretch of forest brings me up towards the radar buildings overlooking Bertem. I have a feeling the trails become a little easier now, as we turn towards the east again towards Everberg. But since 'berg' means 'hill' obviously before long another climb announces itself, this time on tarmac. But before long I am back offroad enjoying a nice descent and the trails aims towards the northwest now in the direction of Veltem Beisem and Winksele. My legs begin to tyre from the constant succession of climbs and descents. The trails are still hard and dusty. As I arrive in Winksele and undercross the N2 my GPS is having trouble finding the right direction and I have to take a moment to stop and stop the navigation. Letting it re-navigating the route again brings it back to life and on the right track. The trail now turns to the west for a last but very nice singletrack loop in a forest. It then runs parallel and eventually returns for another playful loop into this little wooded park, called Mollekensveld, if I'm not mistaken. There are some nice dropoffs here. I ride them without much trouble and am grinning when I remember that some people were complaining about them not being marked as 'dangerous' spots. Hey, it's mountainbiking, you can't expect it to be a road-ride. I pass the starting point, the Firemen caserne at exit 16 on the E314 and am now doing the first couple of K's of the ride bringing me back to Korbeek Dyle, where I started. Some nice tracks along the E314 , luckily they are dry , I've done them in other conditions as well and I can tell you, when wet or muddy they are a lot more difficult. When I arrive at Korbeek Dyle, I already have 78K on my GPS and riding back towards Meerdael along the Green Bloso route I stop at the Zoete Waters for a refreshing drink at the well near the chapel. I had a good long ride, not too difficult - especially when coming from the Ardennes - but certainly not easy. The amount of heightmeters will testify to that. I cannot but congratulate the track builders, I'm sure "Carlito" is one of them, on a very well laid-out ride. Here are a couple of pictures I took during the ride.

Ride Stats : 90K and 1060/1220 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 4h58mins

7291/73945