Recon track 2008 Belgian and Dutch MTB Marathon Championships
Last wednesday I got the preliminary map of the 2008 Belgian and Dutch Mountainbike Marathon Championships that is organised by my club, the Velo Club Blancs Gilets, from Laurent Saublens with the demand to go and ride it and check out all the passages and produce a height profile if possible. So I prepared a GPS track with Garmin Mapsource and downloaded that on my Edge 705. Following the track proved to be very easy. Unfortunately I must have made a mistake because it didn't get any records of todays ride so I can't check the amount of heightmeters on the Garmin or produce a GPS track Luckily I always take my trusty Polar S710 along so I did get the rides' profile. With nearly a 100K - I did make a few extra loops when the GPS wasn't sure of the direction or when I had to go around closed tracks or private sections - and 1200 heightmeters this will be a tough cookie to chew on. Race distance will be closer to 95K but the amount of heightmeters is correct.
My friend Roger had agreed to accompany me until noon, when he needed to be somewhere else. We met at the races' start near the little train station in Pécrot. This was the first time I was going to follow a pre-made track on my GPS so I was kinda curious. I am pretty disappointed with the manual Garmin provides. There is only the mention that you can navigate pre-recorded tracks but no mention of the different screens, etc.. Its all very instinctive as I was going to find out but still. I also believe that when navigating along a pre-recorded route, the Edge 705 is at the edge of its capabilities. During the navigation the unit powered itself off 4 times. I had to restart it and could continue where I left off but when I got home I found out that only the part getting to the start, and the part from the end of the track towards home, was logged correctly. The part where the unit had to navigate AND record at the same time showed some lapses and I couldn't upload it to my PC to check it on the map. Only the amount of kilometres was correct, I 'lost' almost 2 hours of recording. Strange. But anyways..what is this trail like?
When I looked at the map I saw a track that was criss-crossing all over the Grez-Doiceau community. Starting in Pécrot and making its way towards Nethen, and then towards Bossut and Gottechain.Then it passes near de Bois de Linsmeau and into Pietrebais. The wet grass made our bikes glisten and acted as a magnet for dirt and debris. Some of the downhills proved to be very tricky and technical, with big holes, lots of stones and other debris. Of course the famous jungle hollow road is also in the track. We had to walk because the washed out gullies were too deep to ride.
The trails were dry and Roger and I had taken our full suspension bikes because the added comfort proved to be very welcome. Anyone who ever rode the Accro Bike race knows what racing in this part of Brabant Walloon means. Short climbs, fast descents , twisting and turning singletrails and some passages through the fields where the weaker riders can relax a bit and the stronger riders can make the difference. Don't be fooled by the relatively low amount of heightmeters. The continuous succesion of short climbs at high speed will take their toll. The averages will be around 25, perhaps even more when it stays dry on the days before the race - September the 28th. After the passage around Cocrou Roger decided to return to the start and I had to continue on my own. The trail then departs towards the eastern edges of Grez Doiceau, namely Roux-Miroir and Longueville. Long field passages but also some nasty passages through singletrack . At the Longueville chapel, exactly 45K into the ride, I had a little snack. The sun was getting hot and I was glad I applied sunscreen before riding out this morning. The track now meanders towards the Bois de Glabais with a tricky downhill in loose sand and with deep gullies. Again people riding the Accro Bike and some of the organised rides around this area will know these trails and have a certain advantage. The trail then goes towards lower Heze and finally arrives in Grez-Doiceau before heading to the southwest again for a loop towards Bonlez and Dion Valmont. Here I had to improvise because the trail that was marked on the map seemed to be gone. At one point I stood before a private section and at another point I was riding straight through a cornfield (well, walking actually - corn is though). The map shows a trail here, but the map seems to be wrong - or outdated. Surely the trail will have to be rerouted here. I was starting to feel a bit tired here and again I was thankful to be on the Merlin full suspension bike. Back in Grez-Doiceau I stopped to buy something cool to drink before tackling the last 20K.
The track now goes back towards Gottechain and ultimately over Bossut and La Malaise where a succesion of tough uphills will wring the last ounces of force out of the riders' legs. The last downhill is another killer - dangerous when you are tired. I think spreading ones' forces over the entire ride will prove to be the secret to success here. Riders who do well on short powerful climbs and also have the ability to go fast on tricky downhill will excel here. In short, the type of rider that can go fast, has lightning reactions and has sufficient power to do so for 95K . Some nice singletrack brings me back into Pécrot where I cross the finish line. The Edge has guided me well . I hit the lap button again and return home passing at the well near La Hetraie to have an extra refreshing sip of its water.
