Blog
Amerongen in the snow
It was hard work through the snow and ice today but well worth it!
Fines for cycling off the offical mountain bike routes
Police and forestry commission wardens are carrying out checks in the woods on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug and giving out €90 fines for any mountain bikers they find who are not on the official paths. So if you are going that way, make sure you do not stray off the official routes!
See http://www.rtvutrecht.nl/nieuws/1272514/43-boetes-voor-mountainbikers-utrechtse-heuvelrug.html (in Dutch)
Winter for a change
Last year we did not really have a winter, so this morning when it was only a degree or so above freezing, that was the first time that it really felt cold for ages. The weather was beautiful, blue skies and mist, so the sunbeams coming through the trees looked incredible. It was so nice that the woods were full of mountain bikers (through strangely enough fewer walkers and horse riders than I often see), I have never seen so many cyclists in the woods. At first I thought there must be an organised tour or something, but they were all coming from different directions and different paths (and come to that there were no sign posts), so it was just beautiful weather tempting everyone out into the woods.
The new MTB route by Rhenen
The new mountain bike route at Rhenen is great! There are two loops, and both are full of swoopy ups and downs, beautiful woodland and twisty singletrack. The start of the first one is incredible, with a logn downhill that is great fun. The only complaint is that it is quite short, only 6.7 km and 100 height meters. However that is easily remedied. If you start cycling from Wageningen and when you are half way around the northern loop head off towards the Amerongen route (there is a pretty narrow road, with very few cars, joining them), whiz around that route and then complete the Rhenen route, then that is plenty long enough. In fact that it is a bit of an understatement, that was over 50 km and I was quite worn out by the time I got home. Excellent!
You can download the GPS of the Rhenen route here and of the combined route here (right-click, Save As).
Autumn tour
Even though only a few others were, like me, wearing shorts, it was not cold enough for long trousers, and beautiful weather. It certainly did not live up to its name of 'winter tour'. 580 mountain bikers took part (according to Tour Club Wageningen's website), and as usual it was very well organized, and perfectly signed. I did the 45 km (53 km according to my gps, although that included cycling to the start) and as a bonus there were two coffee breaks (that privilege is normally reserved for the longest distance). Anyway, a great ride, and I'm already looking forward to the second winter tour in the Christmas holidays. Perhaps we can expect a bit of unpleasant sleety rain to keep the numbers down and make it a proper winter tour then.
