Dry and sunny and I decided to ride out for a long ride. Yesterday I felt a bit off, probably due to a flu shot I got on thursday but today I felt better. I took the Moots and first rode towards Duisburg, crossing Meerdael and then making my way over the Smeysberg. From Neerijse I rode up towards the double water towers marking Duisburg. A little later I was into the Sonian Forest , following the Dronkemansbaan next to the Kapucijnen Cellar.

The trails were a bit wetter here than they were in Meerdael last thursday, but it did rain yesterday. But nothing to worry about. I passed Jezus Eik and made my way to the Nero route. Coming to the railway bridge I noticed the terrain was once again changed into a building site. I wanted to follow the Nero route in the opposite direction. This is not as easy to do as - say - on the Meerdael Bloso's or the Overijse Bloso's. Some points are easy to recognize but the Sonian forest has a lot of trails that are looking exactly like each other. Lots of squares as well. But I managed , not without looking over my back from time to see if I was still on the track. I included one of the singletrack sections but these were so messy that I decided to leave out the other two. I will do them when track conditions are better. When I arrived in Groenendaal I decided to leave the Nero and riding towards Hoeilaart and Maleizen I connected to the Overijse Bloso trails. Following these I had to chew on a lot more heightmeters than in the Sonian Forest but I had my GPS and trail knowledge and more or less moved into the direction of Sint Agatha Rode, cutting short some corners here and there. My heartrate was still a little high and I didn't want to strain myself too much. From Sint Agatha I rode to Sint Joris Weert where I entered the Meerdael Forest. A quick stop at the Hertebron where I found confirmation of what I already read in the papers . The spring is believed to be contaminated with a bacterial infection and people are warned not to drink the water under the results are in.

Finishing my ride more or less following the Paddenpoel from the Kluis to the Weertse Dreef and then a loop along the Prosperdreef back into Blanden. I had a good solid 4 hour ride in pleasant conditions. I uploaded todays' track to Every Trail so those who want to have a go at it , be my guest. Its not too difficult and should be Ok as a long winter ride as well.

Nero and Overijse Bloso at EveryTrail

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Ride Stats : 74.5K and 830/950 heightmeters (Polar/Garmin) in 4h6mins

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