Forever and Ever a Mountain Biker It swept me off my feet, it clipped my feet to a couple of pedals. My life hasn't been the same since! Meet my world, and the sport that devoured me for five years! (And then some ...)
Looking for someone to ride with? Check out my old club bigM, now run by other people. Brussels, Belgium. © 2006-2010 Minna. All rights reserved. Pictures © Emily, Simon, Xavier, Mark, Conor, Alan What is copyright? Web site last edited: 5th January 2010 1 2 3 4 5	2010 UCI MTB Calendar IS OUT!

Saturday 30th January 2010

Please note, I am slowly moving my site over to www.minna.eu.com ...

Saturday 9th January 2010

I succumbed, yet another time. Darn, that lack of self discipline.

Visiting my favourite map shop, I tried hard to refrain from buying anything, yet ... I came out with maps of trails in Anhée and Aywaille. The former, inspiration after the visit to Dinant. The latter a long-term idea: I rode through the village of Aywaille on my first ever mountainbike adventure in Belgium (www.lcmt.be) and, struck by its beauty, I promised myself to come back. So far I haven't. So ... one step closer to living up to my own promise?

Tuesday 5th January 2010

Some notes on a visit to Dinant.

Sunday 26th December 2009

Ho ho ho! Lots of snow. Airport closed. Chaos in traffic. So I stayed indoors, did my training sessions on me gym machine, and started looking at belated updating of this web site. After the last straw at work, now I am actively planning for changing jobs: the last 18 months in the new one have been too much sacrificing of my health and private life ... Vallée de Saône, a place not for serious mountainbiking, but for a leg-stretching stopover on your way to rougher trails?

Sunday 13th December 2009

Finally! Although I initially felt tempted to bail out on today's ride, once out there, I thoroughly enjoyed the +2 degree, sunny weather. Frosty .. toes and fingers going numb. Excellent company, great local ride. A first feeler ride for a continuously looming sinusitis, and for my butt. It will tell you if the ride was too long. So far I feel great!

Sunday 29th November 2009

Down with a massive cold: doctors scared of swine flu put me on sick leave for a whole week. Struggling to rest, as it threatened to go down my lungs (I have always been prone to pneumonia). Still not feeling well. Another doctor's appointment tomorrow morning.

Saying this, I have not suffered from much fever, and hence my brain has been working. I've been able to do light reading, sort out papers and cook proper food, which has been great. Also, I've slowly started sorting out my thoughts and impressions from all the travelling last summer.

Last Friday, having gone into work with necessary sick certificates, I visited my favourite map shop downtown Brussels, without any inspiration really. It was just opposite of the health food store I wanted to go to, and I popped in here for the sake of being in the neighbourhood only. I came out with renewed energy: a 1:50,000 scale map of all of Catalonia for the ridiculously cheap price of 20 euro! Of all the divisions you have in Spain, the only map they had in the shop was the one of Catalonia. Catalonia, where I want to move. Necesito aprender español. It is time to learn Spanish. Too many things have pointed to Catalonia, to Spain, for years already...

Until the day that I leave THIS country, I also came out of the map shop with a more local official mountain bike map: the one of all trails in hilly Luxemburg. Long weekends, here I come!

2010 UCI MTB Calendar IS OUT!

Sunday 15th November 2009

Still mysteriously weak ... or does this have anything to do with that detox programme I entered two weeks ago? *suspicious Nevertheless, I pained myself out there for a slooooow tarmac ride, if nothing else to keep my butt used to the saddle, and to fill my lungs up with fresh exhaust fumes. A short session on the TotalGym afterwards almost blacked me out. Hmmm ...

As long as I take it easy I feel great! My home grabs the opportunity to continue being cleared of its seemingly endless clutter and paper overflow. And I've invested in a pressure cooker! Cost-effective and environmentally friendly, I've never really known what it was all about. SUPERB for stews, steamed veggies and dried beans!

Sunday 8th November 2009

I felt mysteriously weak, like Bambi on ice today. Still, I headed out for a guided ride in the area of Aarschot, a place I've never been before. What great singletracks! I wonder, what are the official trails like? Hm ....

Saturday 31th October 2009

I am so grateful for my TotalGym: I keep fit during the weeks when work and lack of day lights inhibits biking! Today I headed out with bigM, for the first time in ages ... and had great fun out on the Overijse trails!

Tuesday 27th October 2009

Aargh ... weekends are too short! 3-day-weekend coming up, but here's a first draft on the Fréjus trails.

Thursday 22nd October 2009

I am so much looking forward to this weekend: there is so much to do, and tell! I came back late last Sunday from two weeks in the south of France, and this event: www.rocazur.com.

Sunday 27th September 2009

Fantastic Braine l'Alleud green trail! My suspicions were raised last time I rode this loop, and today I confirmed it: they have re-routed part of it, onto gravel and a fair bit of tarmac ... eeek! I would rather do the old bit until the big road (Chaussée de Tubize), then go right and hook up with a new bit of singletrack (!) climb further up on the left, after which you join the "old" loop ... Hmmmm, I am wondering if they have issued new maps ... and upgraded them to REAL maps, this time? Hmmm ... *hoping

Wednesday 23nd September 2009

Spin class yesterday, and I am not experiencing my usual soreness in shoulder, neck and head. Could it be thanks to my intensified upper body training?

Masses of new stuff for the web site on the go. Start with a first draft on France?

Saturday 19th September 2009

By God. I don't know why, but I glanced at the maps of Swiss Normandy, and found a lot of stuff I had missed out on. While at it, I rearranged some. How else to spend a Saturday evening at home?

Saturday 12th September 2009

Today's riding zapped me back to US-like man-made trails, and I didn't even have to cross the ocean. I just went into it. That is, I went to a part of Holland that, if nature was allowed to reign, would be part of the North Sea. Artificial dunes, constant drainage and 9,000,000 cubic meter of household waste covered with dirt and vegetation have given rise to a recreational center in Spaarnwoude.

Driving here I thought it would all be a waste (!) of time. After all, the loop is only 3.5 km long. But how fantastic it turned out to be!

Sunday 6th September 2009

Continued rest day today, as I don't feel well. A cold approaching, maybe? Hmm ... So I spent most of my day going through information I collected on Spain this summer.

Saturday 5th September 2009

Rest day today. Browsing ideas for next year: Corse looks fabulous! Whomever I've met that has been there, has told it to be "the most beautiful place in the world". A birthday present to myself for next year? 8 days, self-guided, luggage transport. Hmmm ...

Monday 31st August 2009

Someone (JFK, I still remember you) once said to me: If you never go fast, you will never be fast.

Speedy-Gonzalez-on-the-flats

Saturday 29th August 2009

A productive day today. In the morning I finally hit target, after almost a year of searching ... a reasonable sports bra found! I had started to think I would need to import one from the US.

After ten days of either dumbbell sessions or quick dashes into the local forest, it was time to do a longer ride. Braine l'Alleud green trail was as fantastic as ever! It is such a pity the signage is really bad. I keep riding it by heart, but ... on my way back home in the car I saw some signs where there aren't supposed to be any. Have they changed the loop? Hmm ....

I have such a great life. Thank you, Mr. Tolle (and big thanx to Alan, for introducing me to him).

Tuesday 21st July 2009

WHAT A TRIP! Swiss Normandy? Oh no ... that was BORING, read here. But AFTERWARDS, I set off in a left-hand drive, UK-registered minivan, to hook up with a new acquaintance, working in connection with a European golf tour. And so we travelled through Switzerland, France and Spain before returning to Bruselas.

Back home, I was quickly sucked back into my bunker of an office at work: my one-and-only colleague is off for five weeks. In the meanwhile I bide my time; preparing for my next trip abroad ...

Tuesday 2nd June 2009

I started my day finding my bike with a flat: a thorn from the Lasne trails! *smile After that, a visit to beautiful Hallerbos, a paradise for hill training (now that my butt has gotten used to the saddle again!). A dense forest, training can be fresh despite hot weather.

Saturday 30th May 2009

Spin class Tuesday. Then a couple of days of household chores, and mapping out of a new kitchen. Yesterday a relaxed mixed ride, including the blue loop of Overijse. Today ... FANTASTIC Lasne trails again! Almost five hours of trail-exploring, and the number of trails that I simply love are so many, I cannot orientate myself without a map. I bow for the umpteenth time to the Lasne commune, for allowing these hiking and riding trails also for bikers!

Monday 25th May 2009

One week too early for the favourite organized ride, I decided to head out for some trail-exploring in Lasne before the forecast rain for tomorrow arrives. Despite stinging nettles and scratches from thorns, this area remains FANTASTIC with the highest possible grin factor!

Sunday 24th May 2009

Insolent waitress expected me to take for granted that it was the JUICE MACHINE that was broken when she said "Il n'y a pas de jus d'orange aujourd'hui" ... NOT that they had run out of oranges. So I couldn't have freshly squeezed lemon either. Whatever happened to manual labour? She was considerably older than me, maybe she forgot? Because I sure as hell remember the time before the kitchen assistants ...

Ah well, restaurant La Piñeta, although having lost part of its friendliness, now rather inviting dogs to pee on the trees amongst the customers, than to have a heap of dirty mountainbikes in plain view leaning against them ... and their prices having gone up considerably the more popular and well-known they have grown over the years (or is it my imagination?) ... it is still a practical place to hook up with the green trail of Braine l'Alleud. Not to mention that half way through the loop you go through Braine l'Alleud itself, it being a natural pit-stop before finishing off the rest of the loop.

A gorgeous day! My fellow riders very much appreciated this favourite loop of mine, and there was hardly any mud at all! Signage seemed to have been improved in places, but it was still not good enough to ride without a map (or guide).

Thursday 21st May 2009

This morning I was browsing this very web site, a little bored, hoping for a riding idea to come and slap me in the face. As I love noticing when trails of various mountainbike loops interconnect with each other, giving you the possibility to ride a monster-like distance off-road, I cheered up realising, checking and confirming that yellow trail of Braine l'Alleud interconnects and overlaps with the blue trail in Braine-le-Château.

This reminded me that the trails of Braine-le-Château aren't mentioned on my otherwise favourite web site www.mtbroutes.be, and how disappointed I had been when I rode the blue loop quite many years ago. So disappointed in fact, that I never mentioned it anywhere on this web site.

But there is also a red trail in Braine-le-Château.

So I picked up my body, my biking gear, my car ... and headed off to have a look.

Wednesday 20th May 2009

BLOODY UCVHOST! When I kindly declined to renew my account with them, plenty of time in advance to give them proper time to work their administration, they cut my web site off IMMEDIATELY. Good riddens, now that Blondie-Minna finally had time to get aquainted to the technical setup of www.domaindiscount24.com (their servers are case-sensitive as opposed to ucvhost, that's why half of the pictures won't show ... aargh) ... it's been weeks for heaven's sake! *frustrated But FINE, I am here now ... and it's not like anybody's life is depending on my updating my web site ... which has been severely back-logged since July last year ... when I took that new job ... Hmmmm ...

GOOD NEWS: the next six months are dedicated to biking! I have settled details for a trip to www.rocazur.com, an event I've been dying to go to for years already. Before that I will do weekends in the Ardennes, finish off some local trail-exploring ideas, go for a week to Swiss Normandy (It was just confirmed: a day after I had given up all hope of finding accommodation!), and then I have another week in early autumn that I haven't decided where to go yet ... if I absolutely love Normandy I might go back there, but otherwise lift-assisted high-altitude biking in Métabief (Franche-Compte, France) has lingered in my head since I first brought my bike over here from the US.

And, I think I'll pop over to Sweden to say hi to Pop ... after all, it has been two years since last time.

Wednesday 13th May 2009

Hang in there folks ... Switching web hosts ....

Sunday 19th April 2009

Wohaa. Things have been hectic. Three amalgam fillings changed into plastic ... plague or cholera anyone? Osteopath appointment, lympatic drainage and infra-red sauna appointment, acupunture appointment ... and then a city-trip during which I enjoyed sunshine (YES!), several hours of walk every day, museums (first time in decades!), the national zoo (of course, where I love to go wherever I am!), plenty of good, organic food, and ... a break from my daily life in Bruselas being the most important.

Saturday 21st March 2009

Ten days of holiday coming to an end. I needed this. The past six months of extensive overtime and stress, I didn't really start relaxing until last Tuesday. I received the results of a follow-up hair mineral analysis, and was stunned by the WORSENED results, despite a year of an extremely healthy lifestyle. My sodium levels are low, though, and sodium helps to keep minerals and vitamins in the blood, so that could be one point. Another one is that amalgam fillings can mess up a lot of things. On Friday next week I have my first appointment to start replacing the oldest and biggest ones.

Lots and lots of exercise: gardening, tai chi, biking, weight lifting, walking ... and shopping! Don't underestimate the hours of walking there! *smile I FEEL GREAT!

By June I should be able to fix my biking calendar for the summer. Some six months later than usual, but still with the best months yet to come!

Sunday 15th March 2009

Yehaw! Short and very social dash into Hallerbos. Lots of forestry going on, but our route was flexible, and the Ardennes-like hill factor felt in our legs, lungs, and yes also in our butts! I learnt that at the bike shop Moving Store you can have your bum measured, to know which saddle-size you should buy to minimize pain: small, medium or large. Hmmmmmmmmm ....

Saturday 14th March 2009

Dilbeek trails, finally! I can't remember how long I've planned to try these! As soon as I got up on the highway, the first raindrops fell. No way in hell I was turning back home. After all, I only planned the 18k-long blue loop.

14k into the loop I aborted. Rain and wind was getting worse, but the main reason was BOREDOM. A pretty decent loop for introducing kids, though. Not many height metres, few technical sections, quite a lot of calm tarmac stretches to recuperate. While I wasn't challenged bike-wise, it was great to be out for a couple of hours ... even if it meant riding along the E40 for quite a stretch.

Wednesday 11th March 2009

Post-surgery examination over and done with. All is ok! *SMILE Now looking at ten days off from work: trail-exploring tomorrow morning???

Sunday 8th March 2009

Sinus problems hampered me going out on me bike Saturday. *sigh Once the pain subsided I counteracted with some indoors tai chi: have to practise hard now for the weekend in June, aye? In the evening I went to the cinema for the first time in ... oh ... two and a half years? Good old Clint Eastwood in a classic good/bad theme: this time him acting the elderly man he is ... taking on a Korean Hmong gang hassling his neighbours. His final touch was just that - final.

Today I attended a photography workshop, and only five minutes was needed for me to re-find my inspiration and love of my camera. Not only this, Trevor also made me realise that I am my own worst enemy, and that I should dig out a pile of photos that probably never should have been filed without pardon.

Friday 6th March 2009

Was it almost two weeks again? Darn, time flies. Things seemed stale and routine, so I flagged up to meet some new people. And, gosh, life threw me straight into the deep end! Friday, and I am happy: finally fixed the dates for at least ONE trip this year. A combination of tai chi and biking (not at the same time) in the Ardennes, the former in an ancient monastery. Can't wait!

Sunday 22nd February 2009

Awesome! First ride of the year! It was pouring down rain, but who cares! I was out there!! A couple of minutes into the ride, just about to go off-road, I ran into old biking friends of mine. Rain pouring off my helmet, into my face, off the tip of my nose. Protective eye-wear going all misty. Awwww ...

Saturday 14th February 2009

Valentine's. I remember another year when I tried to collect all singles of Bruselas, in contempt of the general idea that they should not go out on such a typical couple's evening ... HA! It's a sad day for singles, only if you let it be so!

Yesterday brought me into a personal meltdown at work. Now contemplating, for the thousandth time: is it not time to leave? Move to new pastures? So I spent today with myself, cooking, eating healthily, napping, reading, doing laundry, doing dishes ... trying to reconnect with a higher purpose than this earthly load of shit ... Angels, shine your light! *smile

Saturday 24th January 2009

Fantastic! Did my first spin class in months this week, and I didn't get too beat up from it. Now preparing a long hike onto Forêt de Soignes foot paths: venturing into an unexplored area as I've always been up on the bike before.

Sunday 18th January 2009

Hrmpf. I was punished immediately at work: doing 11-hour shift, plus weekend work, only to keep the documents at bay while my one and only colleague had extended her Xmas holiday. And here I am, breathing non-office air properly for the first time in a fortnight. Our superior has been notified that the situation is not going to work in the long run. Now we wait and see if anything happens, or I guess I will start looking for another job. *smile Which reminds me, *this* job got official as of last Friday. I am a bit shellshocked: I never thought I'd leave my old job. I suppose sometimes you have to step out of the box to realise you are not fully content.

I bumped into a karate friend the other day, twice in the same day, and we got into an engaged discussion about endometriosis; a painful, inacceptable condition in women that doctors do not inform properly about .. they let us suffer, them bastards.

Another bible added to my library: The Life You Were Born to Live. Only the title is cocky enough for me to read it!

Starting slow with sports: sit-ups, dumb-bell lifting ...

Sunday 4th January 2009

Never assume that all Scandinavians love cold weather! That part of being Swedish I really don't miss. Even when it rains here in Belgium I am pretty happy, because it implies it's not cold enough to snow! *smile But, of course, I am the most happy with trails gone dusty after weeks and weeks of sunshine.

Having been way to lazy over the holidays, I dragged my sorry a** around the corner to watch the international cyclocross event that seems to come off every year (this year I made it in time). And it was cold. Not -42 (the coldest I've experienced ... and no, it was not the North pole), but cold enough for my teeth to clatter me home after four hours, just before the Men's race. What, I missed the main event?? you may say. Not necessarily. The men's, I suppose, is the most impressive event power-wise, but still I think I enjoy watching the Junior's and the Women's more: the struggle to get better, the frustration if you don't. Mediocre? I would say: if you haven't been there, if you haven't loved it to bits, tried your heart out in exasperation ... you cannot possibly fully understand.

Bracing myself for work tomorrow. I've missed it terribly, I do love my job very much ... which kind of worries me .. *laughing ...

Blog of 2008
Blog of 2007
Blog of 2006