10th “Dwars door het Zonienwoud” – March 28th ,2004 – Overijse

Winter is gone, here comes Spring! We are back on Summertime and it is mighty cold (minus 2C) when I leave my home at 8.30 to bike to Overijse. At the start I meet up with Xavier and Minna from BigM. It promises to be a fine day and the sun is doing her best to warm our freezing faces. Inscription is 2.5 euros as usual and this is the last of the Mountainbike Tourtrips Winter series. Next year the series is sponsored by Scott.

Today the Bierkarboys have 2 distances for the mile-hungry bikers, 25 and 42 K. There is one feedzone after about 16K into the ride. We start with a nice steep downhill into downtown Overijse where we have to give our inscription formular to someone of the organisation. This is done to make it hard for people to ride this loop without paying. We cross the big road towards Maleizen and are sent up a nice steep climb, cobbles and wet ground make it tough on the muscles and already some are having trouble finding the right gears . Others just bump into the tyres of the “slower” bikers before them, right M.? I have chosen the rigid Scott for today , and the choice will prove to be a good one. The big fat Fast Fred 2.35 tyres take in most of the small bumps while still offering spectacular control and very low running resistance. The profile is more than suited for the conditions of the day. It hasn’t rained for a few days and the ground is firm with the occasional wetter patch here and there but nothing muddy. I will have no trouble at all, not even on the sticky-grounded meadow bits we cross along the ride. My legs are feeling a bit empty after yesterdays’ 80k ride, but with the 20K warmup from my home to Overijse, and the first couple of K’s into the ride, things are starting to fall into place and all that LSD training is starting to pay off. As I said during the first few kilometres we are taken up and down around Overijse and finally cross the big road to Huldenberg to attack the Koningsberg. Another steepish climb into the forest brings us high into Eizer . The tracks now lead us towards the Foret de Soignes, where we will find the obvious fast tracks, leading us to the first feed zone. The Forest is looking like a charm in the March Sun, and I enjoy the beautiful winding tracks, the occasional fast swooping downhill and the big-ring climbs back up. I am riding alone, seem to have lost my companions somewhere. I am not sure if they are behind me or not so I decide to ride on and try to connect with them at the feedzone. This zone comes along quickly and here we can feast on some refreshing Creaforce sports-drinks and pieces of fruit and cookies. I am a bit hungry and eat a lot of stuff while I wait for Minna and Xavier to arrive. I say Hi to Ivan Dehertogh and also see Philip Rademakers. Our picture is being taken and I chat up with Jekas, another friend from the organising team.

We ride along and are taken to the singletrack section leading to Groenendaal . Here Minna misjudges a root and goes down screaming ( in Swedish?) and laughing. Luckily the laughing indicates she has not hurt herself and in good spirits we continue along the beautiful, slightly wet, track. We cross a big road and are making our way towards Hoeilaart. Some lovely little tracks take us up and down along the edge of the Forest. I quite enjoy this and even with the big biker turnout today (1600+) I never experience overcrowded trails. If I cannot pass I just sit back and enjoy the track. No hurry here, this is no race ! In the downhills , and there were some nice rooty and stony ones today, I always leave a few meters between me and the rider in front so as not to startle the slower rider. If possible I will pass them, otherwise I enjoy the trail and seek some alternative route, zigzagging along and waiting for the track to broaden up. If you are pressing to close, they might make a mistake and fall. It is supposed to be fun for all and once again, it is no race. Near the end of the ride, we are out of the forest again and the organiser still has some nice steep uphills in store for us. A very steep one leads us up the beautiful Hoeilaartseweg. I attack these final climbs in full force, slaloming between the riders who walk up . Once again I enjoy my good choice of tyres and gear. My 32/32 lowest gear combination is more than enough for these hills. The legs are feeling fine and another climb along a wet meadow takes me to the spot where one of the Bierkarboys, Ivan again , is taking some piccies. I hope he manages to get one from me but will have to check his fotopic site later to find out for sure .

After 43K and 520 heightmeters, we are dropped back into Overijse where I wait in the warm sun for the others to arrive. I have really enjoyed this ride, the arrows where well-placed, the organisers indicated dangerous crossings or downhills and only the signs at the 25/42 splits might have been a bit bigger and easier to read. No harm done but you really had to slow down considerably to read what was on them. In all a very fine day and the first of many fine Spring rides to come, I hope.