GROESBEEK GROEWELIJKSTE

 
53 kms | 3 h 07 m | avg speed 17 km/h | avg hr 157 bpm | 1.996 kcal

Different ride today: 50 kms mountain bike ride on the hills around Nijmegen. A beautiful challenging ride with 630 vertical meters of climbing into mud, wood and sand. Lots of fun, beautiful views in the woods and hard work. Check after the link.

Treino diferente hoje: 50 kms de mountain bike ao redor das ladeiras de Nijmegen. Uma volta muito bonita com 630 metros de subidas em lama, raízes de árvores e areia. Muito divertida com vistas fantásticas e trabalho duro. Dá uma olhada depois do link.

NO MUD. NO GLORY.

17.8 kms | 0 h 59 m | avg speed 17.6 km/h | avg hr 153 bpm | 688 kcal

Today was mountain bike day. Since the Etape was finished we have been trying to stick to the weekly Wednesday ride during lunch time. It is a great way to refresh ones mind for a quick hour on the bike and away from the email and meetings. Today, despite the constant rain, temperature of 15 degrees and the prediction of a very muddy ride in the forest of Laage Vuursche, we decided to go for it. It was a great active ride with lots of mud pools, slides and jumps. Great team.  On Sunday we will face a 50 kms mountain bike ride in the region of Neimegen, in the East side of Holland. We are participating on an event, Groesbeeks Gruwelijkste, for awareness of the Syndrome of Leigh, a disease that leaves the cells with no energy. Worth checking the www.road4energy.nl website. It is going to be very hard because the region is full of very steep hill but it is a good cause.

Hoje foi dia de Mountainbike. Desde a Etape du Tour que estamos tentando manter o ritmo de dar uma volta por semana na quarta-feira. É uma forma excelente de quebrar a rotina e refrescar a mente longe dos emails e reuniões. Hoje, apesar da chuva constante, frio de 15 graus e uma previsão de uma volta muito lamancenta, decidimos enfrentar a rota do Laage Vuursche. Foi uma volta muito divertida com muitas poças de lama, escorredadas e alguns pulos. Muito divertido. No Domingo vamos enfrentar 50 kms de mtb na região de Neimegen, no leste da Holanda. Vamos participar do evento Groesbeeks Gruwelijkste, ou Groesbeek Hediondo, para chamar atenção contra a Síndrome de Leigh, uma doença que deixa as células sem energia. Vai ser uma corrida muito dura por causa das subidas muito íngremes da região mas vale a pela por essa boa causa.

BACK TO THE HEUVELRUG

80 kms | 2 h 44 m | avg speed 29.2 km/h | avg hr 154 bpm | 1.699 kcal

17 degrees mid strength wind cloudy day. Short and sweet back to the Utrecht Heuvelrug for a quick test of the legs on the climbs. All climbs went well and I manage to keep speeds always around 32 kms/h on the flat parts of the route. The number of traffic lights this route has is what brings the average down, I did get all of them red… Next weekend: 50 kms of mountain bike ride on the hills of Nijmegen.

17 graus com vento médio e um dia nublado. Uma volta curta de volta a região do Utrecht Heuvelrug para testar as pernas nas subidas. Todas foram bem e também consegui manter a velocidade por volta dos 32 km/h nas partes planas da rota. O grande número de sinais de trânsito abaixou a velocidade média… Próximo final de semana: 50 kms de mountain bike nas ladeiras de Nijmegen.

OVERDOING IT

150 kms | 5 h 26 m | avg speed 27.6 km/h | avg hr 152 bpm | 3.081 kcal

I totally super estimated  my fitness condition today and under estimated the wind strength. I overdone in the distance riding 150 kms, which is the first time over 80 kms since the Etape in mid July. And the headwind and cross winds didn’t  help. But good raining nevertherless.

Hoje eu superestimei minha condição física e subestimei a força do vento. Eu fui além do que devia na distância fazendo 150 kms, a primeira vez que passeio dos 80 kms desde a Etapa em Julho. E a força do vento contra e cruzado não ajudou muito. Mas afinal foi um bom treino.

The idea of the day was to get a steady zone 3 ride and do a loop in a new route. I chose to take the road to Schoonhoven (photo above) and follow the river Linge in the direction of Tiel. The ride into Schoonhoven was nice and quick, pushing 32 kms/h in the cross wind. In there I cross the river by Ferry and then I got quite some tail wind for more or less 15 kms. It was fantastic to be riding 40 kms/h with little effort.

The ride to Tiel is cool. Mostly on top of the dike and nice views and nice turns to keep it interesting. Even with a cloudy weather the rain hold for most of the time and I only got  little showers. The wind was mostly cross and I enjoyed the feeling of keeping the pressure to maintain the speed.

Just a little after Waardenburg, I turned left and the fun stopped. The tailwind that was fun a little before turned into a constant headwind. Speed went down immediately to 28 km/h and it was a long drag to home. The original idea was to hit Wijk bij Duurstede and got on top of the dike over the river Lek, with more or less 40 kms/h to go home. But the wind was too strong and I decided to go thru the roads from the inside. I took the road to Odijk and straight Utrecht.

Right at the end I got some cramps but managed to control it to be able to get home. Good ride to keep the fitness back up. Now back to the gym…