My employer wanted me on standby today. That meant that I could make a cross over my planned Ardennes ride because I needed to be at work within the hour of being called, if needed.
So I decided to do something else, involving less distance and a shorter response time if needed. I cleaned the Moots before riding out a couple of kilometers towards the Tienne Vincent in Nethen. Here I usually go to break in my disc brakes. It is a steep slope on a wide tarmac road which offer around 35 meters of height difference. I can do the braking on the way down and couple it to a nice climbing session on the way up.

In all I rode up 10 times and so also had 10 times x 3 brake sessions. Coming to a complete standstill on every application of the brakes. I could do this 3 times on every downhill. This warms the pads up nicely and allows them to bed in. The difference between the first sessions and the last is very noticeable. About halfway through the sessions I could feel the front brake becoming stronger . Strong enough to lift the rear wheel whilst braking. After I finished with the Tienne Vincent I couldn't resist adding another climb on the parallel Bruyere de Wez. Unfortunately whilst riding down this narrow street I developed a flat tyre on the front wheel. Turned out to be a thorn which had made its way through the carcass of the Continental Mountain King. Even in this Protection Version it still is penetrable. The heavy braking must have helped because I flatted during one of the braking applications. I just went through the tyre as I braked. I didn't bother looking for the whole but changed the inner tyre and rode home.

Ride Stats : 21K an 480/500 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 1h25mins

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