August 2013, Sheba and I had the fabulous idea to go MTB in the Ardennes forest. After exploring several GPX files we found a route by Solosride, tags included 'non-technical', 'beginner' and other reassuring combinations of words. That's lucky, besides the flats at Waasmunster my MTB skills are about as close to zero as the beach at Oostende. When arriving on scene, we concluded there should be a category underneath 'beginner'. In 10km time I had spend more moments on the ground than on the saddle, I managed to smash my hip into a rock resulting in an inflamed bursa leading to several months of revalidation.
That's where my love for MTB in the Ardennes forest started and ended. Another attempt was made in Februari 2017, less dramatic in result, but I still wasn't convinced.
At the end of last year the news arrived that our team at 3athlon.be was invited to participate in the Grand Raid by Sportevents. 4km kayak, 22km MTB, 8km trail run, 11km MTB and 4km run & bike. The attentive reader will have crossed two issues. To top things off: on Saterday we would participate in the Team Trail, an 8km trail run in duo which later would turn out to be on the same course for Sunday.
Yeasayer that I am, or easily convinced by the 'you can't'-argument, I accepted and so it happend...
The first team-event of our team-weekend took place that Saturday, the Team Trail. A ye-olde trail run to be completed in duo over a distance of 8, 16 or 27km. Hans Cleemput and me opted for the shortest distance. Whether this decision was made due to a lack of preparation or due to a lack of trail experience I leave in the middle, just as Iggy, who was in the middle as well. Making us the only trio in the pack.
The start was given on the Berismenil football field, followed by a long ascent on asphalt. Piece of cake. Or is it? Turn right onto a gravel road, homemade chocomousse by Iggy, so far for our ranking! And Hans' challenge to go sub-1 hour... From this point on the trail became a trail, descents through the woods, jumping through the banks of the Ourthe river, mounting slopes where you can't see the end and with an inclination bigger than your shoe size. Sights to make you stop (but you can't), the Ardennes forest, the meandering Ourthe. My first trail and I've got a feeling it won't be my last. As a yearlong concrete muncher I have to admit it was both mentally and physically exciting to run on a similar track.
Having crossed the finish in one piece it was time to rest. The next day I'd have to face my demons. The Grand Riad. For this event the team was mixed up, not Hans, but Gert-Jan D'haene would accompany me through the ordeal. But first the preparations, because there were some bonus questions to be answered. What pressure on the tires? What about resupply or eating on-the-go? And, given the -1°C that morning, how many layers of clothing would suffice on the boat, without overdoing it on the MTB? Expert Wouter Vander Mast estimated the needed pressure on 2bar, clothing went on a hunch. Sealskinz gloves and socks were a certainty to avoid wet and cold hands and feet.
Let's be brief about the kayak. Not our cup of tea. A nice synchrone stroke, but not moving forward at all, that's about it. We left the water among the last of our wave. The choice for light clothing paid off at that moment, we only had to run to the bike and hop on, easily overtaking 10 teams on the go!
Time for the first demons. Although I have to admit that it wasn't that bad, partially thanks to the experience of the organisation. We feared that, due to our questionable kayak performance, we would find ourselves on a glorified tour ride: in the pack, held up on single tracks and utterly frustrated. None of that, the first few kilometers were mostly on larger (gravel) roads, allowing overtaking. By the time the more technical sections arrived the pack was thinned out that I, thanks to several crashes, became the hindering factor on the course. My fear for the Ardennes forest came back, but there was no way back. Switch off and move forward. The first MTB leg went relatively smooth, we advanced drastically in the ranking and the recce from the day before wasn't even exploited!
Time came to reap the fruits of yesterday's labor. We attacked the trail on a tight but not deadly pace, knowing what we were up for. Team after team were rounded up and noby came from behind. An 8km trail doesn't offer much possibility to scatter the pack before arriving at the single tracks (even though the majority of the work had been done on the MTB), so at the banks of the Ourthe we were often blocked by teams who had decided to walk the technical sections or who went all in on the first MTB leg. 'Run or move over' became our marching song. Besides these hick-ups we managed to keep the pace up and finish the run in a time that would have brought victory on Saturday.
A second demon was to be dealt with. This course was less technical, but fatigue had set in. And fatigue leads to mistakes. After the crashes from the first leg, shifting became more and more difficult, resulting in six chain drops. Combine this with cruising through ankle deep mud and you know: kisses on Ardennes soil where you wouldn't expect it. GJ became jealous of my groundly affection and decided to go face first in a small stream leading to the Ourthe. Washed in a few seconds. Due to our gravitational intermezzo's we had to allow a few teams to pass us, but the overall ranking was long gone. Finishing became the main goal, preferably in the first quarter.
Dessert was served in the form of a run & bike. I found that the name was poorly chosen. Normally you have to stay within 15m of your teammate in this event, but here it was apparently good fashion to ditch your runner, take a considerable lead, ditch your MTB and let your teammate pass you and do the same. After one and a half kilometer we decided to play the part, cheating is winning, even though the winners were already showered at that point.
40th we crossed the finish. Tired? Yes. Satisfied? Certainly. Ready for the next edition? Not really, MTB will never be my cup of tea, but the trail is in my heart. This I will continue to do.
My season was opened with a double. It would be symbolic to close it in the same fashion. An idea is developing, the exact details still have to be cleared out and negotiated. Isn't there a new event at the coast allowing this option?
