Stoempen door Selfkant

Getting on the bike during the week is not always easy. This evening i only got started around 7:30, which means tere is daylight for appr. 1:45. So from the start i tried to push the pedals. It should be a flat course and the weather was somewhere around perfect. No wind, thunderstorms to the north but far enough away. Late enough to feel alone in the world on some parts of the route.

The new bike is still some getting used to, but the directness feels good. Up to speed i pass Brunssum and get across the border. Some part is new to me and i need to dig in some gravel to get to my amied road again. The east -west part across Selfkant is through typical villages for these parts. Keeping the heartrate on 160 something is high, but i feel good and keep pushing it (for my experience off course) Turning around the streets in and between the scene, i reach Gangelt with it's small old centre through citytowers. At Wildpark Gangelt i cross the border back to the Netherlands again and i need to do some minor climbs to get home. Here i guess i make my good average by not being a weeny, but trying to push on the speed as much i can, feeling what the pulse allows me. Even at Merkelbeek on the last 5 km, i try to get off the saddle to keep on speed. With a good average and some pr's on strava i can say i made the best of my 1:45.

Finally on the (new) bike again

After a hard time with a big renovation project at home, i finally find a small space in time to use the new bike i have waiting at home. After my dad finally was able to let go of the cycling era in his mind, and transfer the bike he had left in the attic to me, i needed to wait till sunday to finally try it.

With a birthday party in Aachen just below the 'drielandenpunt' it gave me a perfect oppertunity to do some hardcore hills going home. No big volume riding in mind, it would be some 50-odd km to get home. Being in Aachen meant i could start of with the climb to the highest point in NL from the German side, a climbing variant i dind't do until  now. Finding the start of the climb was a bit of a challenge but the climb itself is nice and quiet and quite different from the other 2 variants. I chased a motorbike going downhill on the belgian side and after coming through Gemmenich in the valley it was up again towards NL. But not over the normal climb, but the alternative one behind the houses: chemin du Duc. It was not so hard and challenging as i had imagined it in my mind, but the tarmac was bad. Not a lot of cyclers want to steer over it, but still it's a good alternatvie, Carfree and good views. At the top it was downhill again to tackle climb three with only 12 km underway. The Eschberg was ok, some rythm in the moves and up it went. Down the Camerig and big climb 4 already there: the Eperheide. All went well and i searched for the nice ride towards Gulpen via Landsrade. There i went down the Gulperberg on the westside to skip the Kruisberg and Eyserbosweg as i initially wanted to ride. But with no training last month and no hill riding at all this year it was a wise choice.

The Rensberg towards Elkenrade was allready riding in cramps. But up it went in nice evening sunshine. Down and up the well known Fromberg. You can get good speed to get up the first steeper part but at the top it took some kilometers to get rid of the cramps in the quadriceps. from here it was down towards Ransdaal via the Karstraat and traight on along the golfsite of Voerendaal to home. Not an amazing avarage all in all, but an amazing set of views. The surroundings are astonishing! and after such a long time it was very good to be in the 'Heuvelland' again.

As for the new bike. It's a different ride! shorter framesize and much lighter it's set with campagnolo veloce. The breaking power is much better so more speed downhill for sure! :-p
The shifting is a bit different and something to get used to. But it's more accurate than what i am used to. Steering and handling feels quite natural and direct, almost nervous sometimes, and maybe the combination of less weight for the bike and less weight for myself, made for some nice set of PR's in strava!

Meinweg and Roer(-mond)

Friday afternoon i needed to be in a meeting in Roermond. I took the opportunity to load the bike in the car, and around 17:30 i could go! The weather again was amazing, light breeze, not so much clouds and along the way the most stunning sunset views.

The route was through the beautiful 'Meinweg'. A nature reservoir on and over the German border. It's known for the uphill part and in Strava that is visible through many segments. Back along the border is again nice forests and later on along the Roer. I switched back coming into Roermond for some extra mileage to end worth lovely 61 km and a very good average speed (for me personal that is).

Just before entering the hills of Meinweg, i overtook another rider who came by me a few minutes later. I said in Dutch: "comming from work or just enjoying the view?". It appeared that talking German worked better and we started chatting about riding, strava, training, gps, tourrides and hill climbing. Just any chat one does when having a common hobby. Up until Niederkrüchten it was good riding together and for me it helped for sure to ride up the small hills in meinweg. But still it's amazing to see how fast many riders are when checking segments in strava. And not only on the meinweg parts.

After splitting up i really enjoyed the ride back to the dutch border and keeping a good stable pace all the way to the car. Forests, fields, but not that much views of the Roer itself. 

Flat riding

I was tired because of some things during the night involving Luc that made me reconsider my 'during the week ride'. Instead of going for 50k with 12 hill attacks around the house i opted for a flat ride around the Teverener heide and Schinveldse bossen. A lot of it was on and around the 'groenroute'.

Groenroute

A bike route of 360-something kilometers from Germany through Limburg to Belgium, connecting the old cultural and industrial heritage of the region.
I drove most parts in earlier years, so some segments were known roads. But still iswas good to try to keep some decent speed in the ride and still keep the average heart rate low. I quit succeeded in that and it was a good recovery ride, ending with the area i already went by on last Saturday. In the end i could pull some small hills on tempo to have the feeling i did something today! With the evening sun in between the rain it was a good recovery ride over quite bikelanes, along forests and small villages.

Too short to be fun

Due to family thingies i couldn't put in the time to go a big ride today. But again nice weather and motivated by the last ride i gave it a go! small and easy climbs around the house were the goal. This part of Limburg is really a 'forgotten' and neglected part, and so nice to ride (or walk) through. Up and down around Merkelbeek and Doenrade i tried to keep the speed going uphill. The long and not so nice (traffic!) kleijkuilenweg was a firsttimer and brought me to Oirsbeek for a quick last hill before i was forced to head home to be just in time to jump under the showers. I hope next week i have some more time for a longer (70+k) ride. But the legs for the hills still needs to be build up!

Evening ride (the parkstadroute still is alive!)

(click image for strava activity)

The classic evening ride of the season. I found the signed route a few years ago. The small hexagonal signs were old and i thought the route was not maintained anymore. But to my surprise on places the signs were wailing last year, i see new signs again! cool that the city is making an effort to keep this nice round intact. It's a bike route on the border of Heerlen with a lot of parks and forests to cross and pass by. Just how to show how green parkstad Heerlen is. You also pass a few nice castles.

Today i wanted to push it a bit to try to do a good average. I succeeded. Climbing was still not as i hoped although i made some good sprints on some short hills. I extended the route around the Brunssummerheide to have a nice evening view. I tried this version also last year as my first ride, and it was something different!

This evening it was amazingly nice, good weather. All in all a lovely ride and a good training exercise. 

Nieuw seizoen

(click image for strava activity)

Another season started for me riding bike! this last winter i did some more running compared to the winters before. It resulted in running a half marathon.
It seems the preparation with running on a higher level made my first ride easier. 60k in plus 25 kmh average is nice to start with. The weather this year is amazing and also this day i enjoyed sun and shorts. The route took me along a lot of castes and even more green. Crossing the German border for a few km's and almost touching the Belgian border a few minutes later. Going back via the Canal was fun and finishing with the Slingerberg was a real change in the ride. Stopping halfway to check if a tourist who creased in the big corner was ok, i noticed that hilly riding is different compared to Canal flats!