Holy hotness Batman !! Indeed, typical Belgian weather conditions, when its hot, its really hot and today the temperature went over 30 degrees in the shade. So the only option was to get the Moots out for a 'cool' ride into Meerdael Forest. Having dressed up in long sleeves and 3/4 pants and having sprayed my arms and legs with a mixture against horseflies - made by the wife of a colleague, wife that uses this spray also on her horse - I rode out into the forest.
I stayed on the main roads and rode a leisurely pace. Anything faster wouldn't be very healthy. For those that frown at the above, let me remind you that I am allergic to horsefly bites and usually around this time of year I get bitten and have to spend some time recovering from the ever more violent allergic reactions. So I try to minimize the risks by covering up and spraying on some DEET or other product to drive the biting flies away.
This year I have been bitten already once, through 2 layers of clothing on my leg. Luckily it was only a scratch, the culprit must have been driven away by the movement of the fabric. So I only suffered a little swelling for a day or two. But that was the sign to go into high alert mode.
I stayed on the main roads and stopped along the Walendreef to take a picture of Imelda, the good witch, who has been carved into a tree by Ad Wouters as part of his 12 workings.
You can check them out at this website : http://www.geocities.com/brabo.geo/boomverbeelding.htm .

After less than an hour - which was more than enough because even in the shade of the forest the average temperature reached 25 degrees C - I was back home and tried to cool down taking a lukewarm bath.

Ride Stats : 17,5K and 120/175 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 00h53mins

4790/50790