This morning saw the passing of some thinderstorms with only mild rain. So in the afternoon I decided to try my luck offroad and headed out with the Moots towards Pecrot. I had decided on doing the extra loop the 100K meerdael classic did after the split from the 67K distance. I had noticed that this 37K loop had around 700 heightmeters, nearly half of the entire 100K distance. And of course my legs had also noticed the relentless succession of climbs and descents. So after a bit of work with Mapsource I had extracted that loop and loaded it in my Edge 705.
Starting in Pecrot with the infamous railroad singletrack followed by a climb and descent towards Florival station. Then the loop goes towards the Laurensart forest for a great loop followed by a passage through Ottenburg and down along the Oliestraat. 22% climb into St Agatha Rode Bos and then following the Overijse loop for a while before taking a right towards Terlanen and up through the Zandstraat. A first passage on the Smeysberg. The most difficult climb on the Overijse trails is also there, and at the top you have a beautiful lookout over Huldenberg. The Brabanders were there so I paused briefly to take a couple of pictures.

Then a fast downhill through a tricky hollow road into Huldenberg and a bit of recovery along the edge of the river Ijse. Not for long though because the trail then does 4 climbs in the Margijsbos. Yes, an amazing loop this one. Down towards the Langerode and then yet another long climb back up the ridge. At last a downhill towards the Langerode again and a passage through Sint Agatha Rode brings me towards the Marbaise where the trail ends . Amazing loop, and a tough one as well. You can find it on my Garmin Connect page where you also find the complete 100K if you should feel the need to ride that.
But if you only have a limited time I want to recommend this extra trail. It is one of the best loops I've done in a while in this region. There is not much I would add, given the already large amount of hills, descents and curvy singletrails. Be prepared for a 2h30-3 hours ride though.



Ride Stats : 60K and 810/885 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 3h28mins

5228/55530