Finally riding the Bloesemroute

Something I've always wanted to do but always managed to skip in one way or another is riding one of the famous Bloesemroutes ("route of the Blossoms") in the province of Limburg. Every year around this time most of the fruit trees start to bloom, giving the landscape beautiful colors to ride through. The province of Limburg is famous for its Knooppuntennetwerk, a very clever network of bicycle routes connected with numbered intersections. This allows the bicyclist to plan his route through these numbered knooppunten, all you have to do is to remember which number to ride to. Small numbered road signs in blue are placed all over these routes, making it easy to ride from one point to another. Boards with maps of the routes are placed at many intersections, so there is no need to bring a map by yourself.

Anwyay, last Friday a riding buddy and myself drove a car with our bikes to Borgloon, one of the many places where one can start to ride the Katarakt route, the most famous Bloesemroute.

The weather was ideal for biking : a mild breeze and lots of sun. Total distance of the planned route was around 75 km, but I think we took a wrong turn at some point and were close to our starting point after only 62 km. We still had the time, so we decided to ride another loop around Borgloon, making a total of 82 km. As expected, the scenery was beautiful with lots of sloping landscapes through fields of blooming fruit trees. Not too many other bikers yet, as it was on a working-day and still early April. A couple of weeks later and during the weekends, lots of people show up to ride their bikes over there, making some of the routes really crowded. Not so last Friday. We really had a good time and it made me long for more bike trips over there ....

My riding buddy near one of the boards near the route ....

Local discoveries ....

It is said that sometimes one does not have to travel far to discover some nice places to ride. The day before yesterday I took my 700X for a ride since I did not want to stay on the asphalt. A cold has been taking my off the bike these last weeks, but the weather was so nice I just had to get out on a bike.

When riding towards Poppel, I discoverd 2 new bicycle paths that must have been constructed last year. The first one only almost 2 km, the other one a little bit longer and going all the way to the Netherlands. It was a nice surprise to find such improvements for bicycles so close to home ! Yesterday I rode the same bicycle paths again all the way up into the Netherlands, looking for as much of off road as I and the 700X could take. Allthough I did not plan to, I was on the bike for almost 4 hours (I did get lost a little, which is fine with me).This was my first long ride on a CF bike this year and I had a blast. After a couple of hours, I wished again that my 700X had a suspension fork, 'cause I really got shaken up, especially on those trails where horses had been riding. On the other hand, I really like the looks of the carbon fork ....

Leading all the way to abroad ....

Upgrading the 700X

To make the 700X a more perfect holiday touring bike, it still needed a head light. It's not that I always ride at night while on holiday, but since we never leave home for holiday when the days are the longest, I want to able to ride my bike anytime anywhere.

So I ordered a Shimano DH-3D72 hub dynamo and put it together with a B&M IQ FLY headlight on the bike. The hub is on XT level so it should outlast the bike even without even noticing it's there. I had the IQ FLY headlight lying around in the garage but is a very good LED-head light with a start/stop function. I'll spend another holiday in Germany next month again and will be taking the 700X with me. Let's hope the weather'll be nice !

The French Adventure

Like I wrote in my previous post, I spent the last week in the south of France near the small village le Barroux. Together with another couple, we've rented a small villa (with swimming pool !), from where all our bike rides started. I was the only one with a CF bike, the others rode regular road bikes.

Le Barroux, as seen from above ....

Before leaving for France, I had my Zenetik Pro checked by my bike shop. Smallest chainring in front was a 34 and largest cog in the rear was a 28, which would be enough to ride all the way to the top, according to Harry, the owner of the shop. Well, I was soon to find out !

We did a couple of local rides on the first 2 days, one of them a 112km ride all around the Mont Ventoux, riding through villages such as Bédoin, Malaucene, Sault and others. The scenery is really wonderful over there and although the French drive their cars like they're racing all the time, they never cut bicyclists off. Besides the regular tourists, there were a lot of bicyclists, 99% of them on road bikes, all attrackted by the famous mountain top ....

On Tuesday we decided to try to ride to the top. Since my buddy's wife is not a very good cyclist, we decided to start in Sault, which is the longest but not the steepest route to the top. Weather was good : sunny but cloudy, with a mild wind, not too hot. I stayed with my friends for about 15' but then left them behind, riding my own pace, which was a little bit faster then theirs (but only just a little bit). Riding up was pretty tough but doable, I'm not used to ride my bike uphill for such a long period of time (we have no mountains in my country). The higher I got, the colder and windier it became. When I reached the famous chalet Renard after 20 kms, I decided not to stop but to continue riding.

Me on my way up ....

Now every serious rider knows that the real climbing starts from that point on. It's only another 6 kms to the top, but the grades are really steep. Soon I was riding on my 34 x 26, which allowed me to keep my speed around 10 km/h. The wind became stronger and soon I had to switch to my lowest gear, 34 x 28. Speed had dropped to 6 km/h and I really had to work hard to keep it up to that. So yes, I did reach the top, but it was hard, really hard ! On top, it was so windy and cold that I immediately put on the extra clothing I had with me. Visibillity was almost nill and I did not even bother to ask someone to take a picture from me and my bike, I wanted to get down again ! However, I promised my wife to send her a text message by cell phone once I reached the top, but it took a while before I got any kind of connection over there. After that, it was only going downhill, which was a blast. Instaed of going back to Sault, I turned right to Bédoin at chalet Renard. This road was of better quality than the road to Sault and my speed was limited to 78 km/h because of a car in front of me.

So, was it a triumph using a CF bike going up Mont Ventoux ? Well, not really, I guess ... The bike performed well, no doubt about that. Handlebar set up turned out to be fine, even on 5 hour rides I never got uncomfortable hands, shoulders or neck. My butt never really got sore, but it got really hot from time to time, resulting in a seat cover and shorts that were completely wet from sweating. This was irritating, but never caused any kind of pain.

Gearing should have been lower, that's for sure. It would have been sufficient for a regular road bike (my friend never needed his 2 largest cogs riding up), but since I only have a 9 speed on my Z Pro, I cannot get any larger than a 28 cog in the rear. For next time, I might consider getting a 10-speed or have a triple crank in front. Or ride a regular road bike, if only that saddle .... right !

My friend rode up to the top again on Thursday, this time starting in Bédoin, but I did not accompany him, because I knew I wouldn't be able to ride that way up with the gearing I have.

Compared to a regular road bike, I think the Zenetik Pro is a little less efficient. Maybe the longer wheel base causes a little loss of power, I don't know. It's just a feeling that I got. I tried my friends' road bike for a short while and I got the impression that power coming from every pedal stroke was transmitted more directly to the rear wheel than on my Z Pro. But like I said : that was just an feeling. Maybe I should have tried that road bike to ride all the way to the top again to make a real comparison, so maybe next time ....

However, I do know that riding downhill with the Z Pro is a blast ! I'd lean on the bar ends with my elbows and the bike rolled downhill like a brick ! My friend never could keep up with me and the ones who could, were smashing their pedals like madmen (where I was only freewheeling). All in all, it was well worth the 11 hour ride to get there (le Barroux is almost 1050 kms from where I live). I rode a little over 400 kms with my Z Pro over there and was thankful that I had beefy tires on my bike, since not all roads are very smooth over there (Germany has far better roads to be riding on). And although I did bring an extra rear wheel in case I'd break any spokes, nothing happened .... I had a very good time, weather was excellent (only one night of rain) and I might consider going back in a couple of years. Will I still be taking my Z Pro next time ? I don't know, only time will tell ....

More pictures of my holiday can be seen here

The real works ....

In just a couple of weeks I'm going to ride my Z Pro all the way up to the top of the Mont Ventoux in France -or at least I will TRY to ride all the way to the top. A friend of mine offered to share a little villa in a little town called le Barroux for one week, so we are staying pretty close to the famous mountain. Needless to say that these last weeks I spent on the Z Pro these last weeks, getting used to the riding position again after months of leaving it gather dust (yeah I know -I am deeply ashamed ....). I've bought a new set of butterfly bars to replace the regular bar on the Z Pro, but I did not find the right foam to go with it that is as thick and comfy as the one that's on my 700C. So it's back to the regular bar for now. It's okay as long as I do not ride more than 60 miles, after that my hands are really getting a bit sore. I might consider swapping bars, but can't really make up my mind. Not that I expect to be riding a lot of + 60 mile rides over there, but still .... Anyway, I still have a couple of weeks to make up my mind and to try to build up some strength (not that easy when you live in a country without mountains).

I did buy a new (and bigger) handlebar bag, so I can take a decent camera during my rides in the south of France with me. I'll also be taking an extra rear wheel, just in case. Lately I did not break any spokes in the rear wheel, but I will not take the risk once we'll be in the south of France, I want to keep riding once I'll be over there !

The new bag, bigger but not too big ....

Another CF holiday

Yesterday, my wife and I just got back from spending anohter week in Kronenburg in Germany. This time, instead of taking the Z Pro with me, I took the 700X because I did not want my riding limited to road riding only. The day before we left home, I switched the regular handlebars of the 700X for the butterfly bars I tried on the Z Pro a while ago. To make sure I could keep riding, I put the regular handlebars in the car, just in case ....

We were very lucky with the weather again : although autumn had already started, we had mild late summer days. All of my riding was done with my new bike-sandals and short sleeved bike shirts, just to give you an idea. I did a total of almost 220 miles in 4 days, this was the first time I spent so many hours on a CF bike. More on that later.

Since I rode almost the complete Kylltal radweg earlier last week on my Z Pro, I did the other part between Lissendorf and Losheim ( I tried to find the source of the river Kyll, but couldn't find it). I was very glad that I had the 700X with me, for most part of this route is on gravel roads through the woods where it is impossible to ride a road bike. And a bit more challenging too since it's more uphill. On other trips, I rode the most part of the
Ahrtal Radweg and the Prümtall radweg. I really enjoyed these marked bicycle routes, for they take you to such beautiful places that you would miss if you stay on the main road. The 700X turned out to be the perfect bike to do so, since parts of the routes are on gravel and/or small dirt roads. This turned out to be no problem for the 700X, I even managed to leave another full suspended mountain biker in the dust on one of my trips (the fellow asked me to stop when I was waiting to cross the road to ask me all about my bike).

Somewhere near Alendorf

I learned a couple of things : the butterfly bars are staying on the 700X. I finally found out why they did not work earlier: I put them upside down on my Z Pro ! It's only when I put the bars on my 700X the day before we left that I payed attention to the prints on the handlebar, that I realized that I had them upside down on my Z Pro. On the 700X it provides plenty of hand positions, especially when you ride up and down all the time. The butterfly bars did not feel more comfortable (or less uncomfortable) than the straight bars, so I'm gonna leave them on the 700X for now.

The other thing I found out was that you can get a sore butt on a CF bike. Although I've ridden both my CF bikes for a couple of hours before (meaning 3 hours + riding), halfway during my ride on the 3rd day, I noticed that my butt began to feel uncomfortable. I always ride my CF bikes with spandex running shorts and never felt the need for padded bike shorts before, but this time I did. I can't quiet explain what caused it, but both my sitting bones did hurt after that 3rd day of riding. Is it the 2 bolts that keep the carbon pan in place that I'm starting to feel through the after a while ? Could be .... I'm considering to put a small piece of foam between the pans cover and the carbon pan to see whether this will eliminate the feel of the two bolts. And maybe try a bib short again. Only time will tell.

Another thing I learnt on my last rides is that front suspension is not a bad idea for a CF bike at all. I was convinced that since less weight is put on the handlebars of a CF bike compared to a regular bike, there is no need for suspension. Boy, was I wrong ! On several downhills I had to work very hard to keep the front of the 700X steady and keep the bike in line. In fact, I'm considering switching the carbon fork for a suspension fork (although I really like the carbon fork !). I'll have some homework to do now ;-)

Anyway, I really enjoyed my last bike holiday in Germany. It's not that far away from home (only a 2,5 hour car drive away from where I live), you have miles and miles of bike lanes and bike friendly roads to discover (this was probably the 13th time we spent around Kronenburg and I still managed to find new roads and trails) and, maybe most important of all : you are treated like an equal sharer of the road when riding in traffic (meaning that German drivers do not cut you off or put you in any kind of danger like they normally do elsewhere). You should really try to ride your bike in the Rheinland Pfalz region of Germany !

Panorama near Birgel

Riding the Kylltal-radweg

Yesterday, 2 friends and I drove all the way to Germany to ride the Kylltal-radweg. This is a 115km long route which follows the river Kyll between Hallschlag and Trier. Since I don't have a compact recumbent and to be able to keep up with my friends who ride recumbents, I took the Z Pro. We loaded our bikes in my friends' van and drove to Lissendorf, where we started our ride.
The route is easy to follow, since it is signaled in both directions. The conditions were excellent : very nice weather for this time of year and very few bikers (this route is usually very crowded in July and August).
I had no problem keeping up with my friends, who did this route together a couple of years ago. When we had to go up, the Z Pro was easier to ride uphill and I always ended on top first. But my friends were always going down faster, keeping everything in balance ;-) Some of the climbs were pretty tough, but I managed to ride up all of them.

Having a picknick near Willsecker ...

The route is very bike-friendly : high quality bikelanes for the most part, only a few miles of gravel and only when you approach Trier, you have to ride between motorized traffic (the route enters Trier via the industrial zone). Needless to say we had a blast !
In Trier, we rode our bikes to the railway station. After checking the hour table, we bought tickets and waited for the train.

Checking the hour table at the railway station...

After 20 minutes the train arrived and we put ourselves and our bikes on board (you can take them by train for free !) and headed back to Lissenburg. The German trains have special wagons with a big bicycle logo on them where you can put your bikes. We were very suprised when at one of the stations, another biker stept on board and the railway controller summoned three passengers to sit elsewhere in order to park the bike inside. Amazing !!!

Riding back the easy way ....

A day at the races ....

Although I do not race myself with any of my bikes, I do like to attend recumbent races once in a while. Yesterday there was a race in Peer and since the weather was nice, I decided to ride my Z Pro to the sports track. Since it is only 40 miles from where I live and the first race would start at 6 pm, I left home halfway the afternoon. My wife would be coming by car, bringing my camera and the bike rack. Although there was a mild head wind, I ended up in the charming centre of Peer around 5 pm, with plenty of time to make a stop at the local Leonidas to taste their icecream (which turned out to be excellent!). I arrived at the sports centre a little later and met some of my friends who were preparing their bikes to race.

Most of them already knew that I own 2 CF bikes but had never actually seen one before. So the Z Pro attracked some attention and those who rode it where suprised how well it handled. I couldn't resist riding trying the Z Pro on the track, but just when I was getting up to speed, it started to rain (and you know how I feel about riding in the rain). Ah well, better luck next time. Fortunately, it did not rain for long and the races could go on as planned. I took some pictures of the races, which you can find here

Jonathan in his Quest on the track ....

The tire experiment part II

This morning I picked up my Z Pro at my bike shop (Harry, the shop owner being very busy and me having no time was the reason the bike stayed at the shop for such a long period). He took the Z Pro out of the back and proudly showed me his solution : a front brake calliper in combination with a adjusted pivot nut (hand filed oblique). According to Harry, it would be no use to hand file one of the calliper arms. It looked butt ugly, but I took the Z Pro home anyway.

Harry's solution : yuck !

Once I got home, I took everything off and attacked the old rear brake calliper with a hand file. It took me almost an hour to get rid of enough metal (had to file off a lot more than just 1mm) and when I put the brake back, the tire was still rubbing the center of the arms, at a point where you simply cannot remove anything without damaging the brakes. So, was Harry right after all ? No, he was not ! I took the adjusted pivot nut and placed it between the frame and the brake and voilà ! The oblique pivot nut lifts the brake arms just a little bit upward, enough to let the tire run free underneath.

This looks better !

Hardly but just enough space ....

Of course I had to take it for a spin after the modifications so I left for a 40 mile ride. I really was curious about the tires and it did not take long to feel the difference. The wider tires are way more comfortable ! Speed is the same, but comfortwise, it is a big improvement. They are staying on, that's for sure ! I only noticed that the rear brake has a little less power compared to before the switch, but I'm confident that I'm going to get that fixed to !

That's how I like it : beefy comfortable tires !

The tire experiment

After reading a posting on the C.F. Forum about how comfortable riding on 28mm wide tires is compared to 23mm I ordered myself some wider tires from my local bike shop. Since I'm very satisfied with my Continental Grand Prix's, I ordered these in 28mm. I picked them up from my bike shop yesterday and swapped tires this afternoon.
There was absolutely no problem in the front : the front fork is wide enough to go with even wider tires. The back was another story .... Since 28mm tires are wider, they do not fit between the brake pads when fully inflated. That's no problem, just inflate the tires when the wheels are back in place. So far, so good. After inflating the tires properly, I put the bike back on it wheels and wanted to take it to the front of our house. It sure looked nice, those beefy tires on a road bike ( I do like beefy tires !) But the rear wheel did not move, it was blocked ! No, it wasn't the brake shoes, the rim was free. When I looked a bit closer, I noticed that the rear tire got stuck underneath the rear brake caliper, preventing it from moving at all ! Damn !!!

Plenty of space with the 23mm tire ...

but not so with the 28mm tire !

It is only a matter of maybe 1mm, but as you can see on the second picture, the tire really touches the inner rear brake caliper. I called my local bike shop and explained my problem. They told me that I could try the new Shimano 105 rear brake caliper, which is slightly different in shape and might just be different enough to have the wheel fit. Another solution was to try another brand of 28mm tire, or change them into 25mm tires. I'm gonna take my Z Pro to my bike shop to try out that new 105 brake caliper and let's hope that it will fit !!!

Weekend by the Sea

Last Friday my wife and I left for Nieuwpoort, where a collegue of mine owns an appartment which is available for rent. Since I did not want to limit my bicycle riding to tarmac roads, I took the 700X with me this time.
As usual it was pretty windy near the beach, but that did not stop me from riding my bike. Since it was also my wife's birthday on Monday, I promised her not to leave her alone for more than 2,5 hours a day, which left both of us happy ;-)

The 700X turned out to be the perfect holiday bike, since you can ride it on pretty much every surface. There are several local bike routes on gravel going in all directions, so I always started with a head wind, fighting and struggling to keep my speed not too low and then turning around with a back wind, giving me speeds over 25 mph. Nice !

For the 3rd year in a row there's an art exhibit on the Belgian shore, called beaufort 03. Spread across the seaside cities, several pieces of art are exhibited on or nearby the beach. Now I don't consider myself an art-lover, but I don't mind seeing something nice now and then. I got myself a 03 Beaufort Bicycle Route flyer and went looking for some of the artistic constructions. Some of them really looked like crap to me, others were pretty nice. Anyway, it made it easier for me to decide where to ride my 700X to, since I planned everything in advance.

Some of them in plain wood ....

Others were pretty colorful ....

I even mangaged to ride my bike to France on Friday (Nieuwpoort is not that far from the French border). One thing I noticed immediately is that French car drivers are way more cautious then Belgian drivers ! Although there were no real bike lanes on the French roads, I never felt unsave. Vive la France !

Memorial near the church of Bray-les-Dunes

When returing from my bike ride on Saturday, I noticed that my headset had loosened. I do not carry large size wrenches with me, so I could only tighten the headset by hand. Since bike shops are closed on Sunday and Monday, there was no way to have the headset properly tightened before returning home. And I did not want to stay off the bike for another 2 days .... Luckily for me though, my local bike shop back home is open on Sunday from 10 'til 12 a.m. so I called them and explained my problem. They told me that I could keep riding my bike without a problem as long as I rode my bike on smooth surfaces and avoid riding over cobblestones etc. So thankfully I could keep riding my 700X for another 2 days without any problems. Tomorrow I'll ride my 700X to the bike shop to have the headset fixed.

New brake levers

Although I still like the looks of the XT brake levers I originally put on my Z Pro, braking was never quite crisp. I could slow the bike down, but that was about it. Until now I never had to make an emergency stop during my rides, but still ..... So to have some more safety into my rides, I replaced them XT-levers with flat road bar levers. While surfing the internet I discovered that Shimano has the BL-R 550 specially designed for flat road bars and they do have them in black, so the choice was easily made !

Yesterday I rode the Z Pro to my bike shop (I do not have a compressor at home to remove the rubber grips) where I switched the brake levers -and I got called stupid by the bike shop owner for mixing V-brake levers with road calipers. When riding back home I immediately noticed the difference in brake power when I needed to stop. Now it is possible to lock up the rear wheel, something that could not be done with the XT-levers. And to be honest : I kinda like the simple looks of the new levers.

Simple but effective

At last .... alive again !

I know, I know : I should be ashamed ! It's been almost a year since I last posted something on this blog .... And what's even worse : only today I took my Z Pro for a ride since almost a year too ! I can't explain why, but I did not ride my CF-bikes much last year. Most of my cycling has been done either with my Stratus XP or my velomobile. Don't know exactly why, but I just didn't feel like taking either the Z Pro or the 700X for a ride. And even then .... In the last three months, I did not even bother to ride the XP or my velomobile. Only used one of them for commuting and that was it. Could not bring myself to grab a bike and take it for a ride ... Of course, I did ride my old Beemer, but that's something completely different .... So anyway, today was THE day. It was a nice spring day with mild temperatures and since the forecast predicted a drop in temps and rain for tomorrow, I took the Z Pro out of its storage. Inflated the tires, checked the brakes and the chain and off I went. There was a mild breeze, so it was pretty tough to keep the speedometer above 19m/h but anyway, I really enjoyed myself ! Of all the bikes I own, the Z Pro is defenitely the most responsive one. This makes perfect sence, since it's the only bike that has a regular rear derailleur and cogs instead of an internal gear hub. And it's also the lightest, which is also nice to ride !

It took some time to get adjusted to the seat again, but that's only acceptable after not riding a CF seat for such a long period. So yes, I did feel my sitbones after I completed todays' 40 mile ride, but not that it hurt or felt uncomfortable in any way. And yes, I really did enjoy the ride and kept wondering why I didn't spent more time on the Z Pro before. Oh well ....

When I got home, I noticed that the rear tire needs to be replaced, for it has several worn spots as you can see in the picture below. Since it'll be raining all day tomorrow, I'll have plenty of time to replace the rear tire.

Time for replacement ....

Change of handlebar setup

Lately there has been a couple of posts on the CF forum regarding the handlebar setup. Although I was pretty satisfied with the setup I had on my Z Pro, I noticed that for longer rides (meaning +60 mile rides) I was looking for alternate hand positions. I've read about and seen the add on whisker bar solution that Randy Schlitter put ons his handlebar, but I don't like the concept. When it comes to multiple hand positions, nothing beats an trekking or so called butterlfy handlebar. So I put one on my Z Pro. I switched my medium stem riser with the curved riser facing forward, but that was stretching it way too much. Turning the riser backwards was way too close, so off it went. I now use the butterfly handlebar in combination with the long stem riser and that seems to do the trick. The shifter and brake levers are positioned in the beginning of the handlebar, where they are supposed to be. When you ride with your hands near the shifters, the bike's very easy to control. When you're out of town and going for the long road, there's no need to keep your hands there and you've got plenty of options to put your hands. I even managed to rest my ellbows on the curves when riding into strong headwinds, which gives you a little aerodynamic benefit. I have not put many miles with this configuration yet, but if the weather'll be with me, I certainly will !

The new handlebar setup ...

Almost perfect angle for leaning your ellbows on ...

Helping out a fellow rider ....

I had an early shift at work yesterday and since the weather was really nice, I took my Z Pro for a ride in the afternoon. There was a mild breeze, but blue skies all over and plenty of time (more or less anyway). I took a trip across the border with the Netherlands and really enjoyed the Z Pro: all the advantages of a regular road bike minus the discomfort of the saddle !
When I returned from my trip after 40 miles, I noticed a fellow biker who was walking his bike on the road close to home. I noticed that his rear tire was flat and asked him if I could help. Turned out he was Dutch and 10 miles from home without anything with him : no patches, no spare tire, no pump .... Since I always carry that stuff, I parked my bike and offered him my tire levers, my patches and my pump. As soon as I saw him trying to get his rear tire off the rim, I realized he'd never done that before. When I asked him, he admitted he had never done something like that before. Amazing .... Anyway, to make a long story short : I replaced his rear inner tube with my spare one, since his tube had multiple leaks. I let him do the pumping though, that was something he could do, right ;-) ? He thanked me for helping me out, told me his name and the place he lived and was on his way again. And I was home soon after that, feeling that I did my good deed for the day. Made me feel pretty good ....

War Memorial

Spring finally arrived this weekend and since I was off from work today, I took my Z Pro for a spin this afternoon. First time I wore my shorts and my short sleeve bike shirt today, only a few white clouds in a blue sky and the sun. And a mild breeze, of course, which was pretty tough to ride against. I took off against the wind, as usual, and rode on the tow path near the canal until Dessel, where 2 main canals cross. Because the weather turned out to be so nice, a lot of bikers had the same idea. I crossed the border with the Netherlands to return via Postel. Now there's a bicycle path that runs straight through the forest over there near the border and halfway, there's a War Memorial. I've seen it a dozen of times, but never took the time to stop and see what's it all about. Until today. Turns out that in WW II, in the night of June 21-22 1944, a British airplane crashed over there. They put up the Memorial in September 2006 to remember the locals who risked their lives to rescue and hide the only survivor from the crash.

My ride was about 50 miles and average speed was almost 18 mph. If it wasn't for the wind, my average speed would've been higher, but that's only a lousy excuse, no ;-) ?

The War Memorial in Postel

Back on the road again ....

Due to circumstances, I did not ride my Z Pro much these last months. In fact, since I returned from my short holiday in Germany last December, I did not ride it at all. Mostly because of the weather; winter was mild when it came to temperatures, but pretty wet. Only last week, the weather finally turned around and I took the Z Pro out of the garage. Only to find out that I should have cleaned the bike more appropriate ! There was a lot of rust everywhere : on the chain, most of the bolts, even the spokes, although they are black, show some sign of corrosion where they cross each other. Guess riding on the German roads when they were salted to prevent them from freezing, was not so good for my bike ! Anyway, I only have myself to blame for this negligence, so I tried to find some replacement stainless steel bolts. I went to almost every hardware store in the neighbourhood, only to find out that they were not available ! Gee .... Guess I'll have to look on the internet to find me some SS or aluminum replacement bolts. Why don't bikes come with SS or aluminum bolts when you buy them ??? Maybe that would make them too expensive, but still ...

My other CF bike, the 700X, is now exactly how I want it and is a blast to ride ! Shifting the Alfine hub is precise and very light. It is a bike you can ride anywhere, just as long as you keep cranking the pedals. Last week I took it to the local trail to test ride it and it went pretty well ! Only on tight corners, the length of the bike makes you realize that you're riding something different than a mountain bike. The other thing I'm still not used to when riding trails, is that you cannot clamp the saddle between your tights, like a regular bike. Still wasn't as fast as the others on their mountain bikes on the trail, but hey, give me a couple of more months and I'll keep up !

Not a pretty sight ....

New Cf bike : the 700X

Today, I finally picked up my new 700X from my bike shop. Much later than planned, but I can hardly blame the bike shop for that. Reason is that Shimano could not deliver some of the products which according to them, should have been available already two years ago. Anyway, since I'm leaving for a short holiday starting tomorrow, I insisted that my bike should be ready to ride today, and it was. It's not 100% as I want it yet, but it comes close. Although 2 MARATHON CROSS tires were ordered from SCHWALBE, they only sent one. So the front tire is only temporary (I don't even know the brand). I ordered the ALFINE internal hub gear with the chain tensioner, but they only delivered the hub. So the chain is temporary tensioned by a 105 derailleur. Brake levers are DEORE LX instead of ALFINE, I wanted a hub dynamo in the front wheel, which I'm still waiting for .... But anyway, tomorrow after my night shift I'll ride my new bike to my holiday's destination (only about 60 miles from where I live) where I hope to testride it all week. To be continued !

ALMOST exactly as I want it ....

Short holiday in Germany

Today one week ago my wife and I went to Kronenburg in Germany to spent a short holiday. Since my new 700X wasn't ready yet, I took my Z Pro with me. I'm quiet familiar with the region, I guess this was the 10th time we visited the area. So far all the bicycling I did over there was with my mountain bike, since there are miles and miles of trails to be discovered (and I know most of them by now). I was planning to take my mountain bike with me on this trip, so a couple of days before we left, I took my MB out of our garage and took it for a spin. It had exactly been 11 months since I last rode my MB so I just took it for a ride to see if everything was still okay. The bike was okay, but myself .... Oh boy, did I suffer during that ride !!!
My butt hurt, my hands and wrist were sore, my neck ached .... When I returned from my trip, I told my wife that no way I was going to ride that bike again !!! I put the MB back in the garage and that's were it's going to stay from now on ! Maybe some of you think I'm a baby, and maybe you're right, but I'd like to tell myself that I'm spoiled by riding recumbents and my Z Pro ;-) ! Anyway, when my 700X'll be ready, there will be plenty of time to ride dirt roads again !

Anyway, taking the Z Pro with me meant that I would only be riding on tarmac roads. No big deal eather, since most drivers are very polite towards bicyclists over there. During all my rides I never got cut off short or felt in any kind of danger when cars or trucks overhauled me. When arriving at the top of hills, they all stayed behind me and waited until the top before passing me leaving me plenty of room, something I can only wish for here in Belgium !!!

Just out of Duppach, going uphill again ....

After two weeks of rain, the weather was dry during our stay in Germany, but very cold ! I'm not a wuss when it comes to cold temperatures, but I could not stay longer that 3,5 hours on my bike. Temperatures never went over 20° F during daytime, with a mild, sometimes strong eastern wind, which always feels extra cold. On Saturday I managed to ride 45 miles but I was so cold afterwards, that I wasn't recovered on Sunday. When I rode again on Monday, I had less problems with the cold. I rode my Z Pro for a little over 180 miles during my stay and again enjoyed the CF concept in every ride : I never felt uncomfortable and the bike felt stable as a brick, even when going downhill at + 40mph. I even managed to ride the Z Pro on a gravel road, were the only worries I had was trying not to think of getting myself a flat tire. But the Z Pro handled just fine, no problems at all.

Riding the Z Pro on gravel never gave any problems (here somewhere between Stadkyll and Schönfeld )

New frame arrives ....

It has been raining a lot lately, which means that I did not ride my Z Pro much. To be honest, the only riding these last weeks has been with my velomobile, which is used for commuting. Let's hope it'll start freezing soon ;-)
Last week I received an e-mail from Spincyclz to inform me that the 700X were ready to ship. So I ordered one immediately and yesterday, a small pick-up from Fedex delivered the frame. Is this fast service or what ?! Today, I took the frameset to my bike shop and discussed the hardware with Harry, the owner. I already decided on most of the parts, the only thing that's still in discussion is the kind of brakes. I know that I want disc brakes, but I prefer mechanical. Harry tried to convince me to use hydraulic brakes from Shimano, according to him they are the most reliable at this time and he did not receive any complaints about them so far. Since he could not tell me the exact prices for both types of brakes, but he will contact a couple of distributors tomorrow and let me know. We'll see tomorrow ....