WEC 2000 - Compiegne - preride

[Leonard.LIESENS@cec.eu.int]

Hi,

So the last week end, we were able to go to Compi�gne for pre-riding some part
of the circuit.
The last weeks (probably the last 3 weeks), the weather has been very bad in
Belgium as in Compi�gne and we were quite concerned with the state of the
footing. In fact, we were surprised by the good quality of the trails, probably
because of the nature of the soils there_ quite light and sandy.

So we did pre-ride first, second and third loops 
- first loop : this was not permitted, as one can imagine, to take the start
from the racetrack, so we started at the famous _Avenue des Beaux Monts_, which
has been historically made for Eug�nie who was not able to find her way back to
the Compi�gne Castle_ Lots of up and down and zigzags in the forest, then a long
flat portion along the Aisle river that one cross and again lots of zigzags on
_Mont Moyen_ and _Mont Renard_. But long flat portion with excellent footing
where one can canter easily.
- second loop has as major difficulty the _Mont St Marc_ where one has a nice
scenic view on the whole forest before to go down and have a long portion of
flat and easy footing, back to the race track
- third and fifth loop go from Compi�gne to Pierrefond and is probably the most
difficult part with several up and down where one can see that one has looked
for difficult parts to slow down the race.

Generally I may say that the footing is everywhere excellent, not too soft, not
hard at all, very few rocks but sometimes holes made by the heavy rain from the
past weeks.

So voil�_ Enjoy the pictures as if you were with us on the trail on
http://www.endurance-belgium.com

Leonard



Bonjour les amis

Vous trouverez sur le site quelques photos du parcours des 3 premi�res boucles.
Nous avions quelques craintes de rencontrer un terrain boueux du fait des pluies
qui n_ont pas cess� de tomber durant les 2 derni�res semaines. Main non, le
terrain est excellent : souple et bondissant. Il faut simplement faire gaffe
dans les c�tes et les descentes aux petites ravines creus�es par les pluies.
Nous avons donc reconnu les 3 premi�res boucles :
- premi�re boucle (Compi�gne..Compi�gne) : on n_a �videmment pas pu partir de
l_hippodrome, et on a d�marr� le circuit � l_avenue des Beaux Monts (que l_on va
emprunter 6 fois au total). Cela commence � serpenter dans la for�t avec des
c�tes et des descentes aux environs du Mont du Tremble, puis on longe l_Aisne
que l_on traverse, puis on entre � nouveau dans la for�t de Laigue  o� l_on a de
tr�s bonnes portions entrecoup�es des mont�es/descentes des Mont Moyen,de
Chatillon, Mont Renard_
- deuxi�me boucle : une difficult� majeure qui est le Mont St Marc o� l_on
pourra admirer une superbe vue sur la for�t avant de redescendre vers une tr�s
longue portion de terrain plat avant d_aborder des Beaux Monts et le retour �
l_hippodrome
- troisi�me boucle (qui est aussi la cinqui�me) : l� on va vers Pierrefond en
empruntant apparemment tout ce qui grimpe aux alentours. Les portions de plat
avec un terrain excellent sont cependant longues et nombreuses.

Voil� !  Photos comme si vous y �tiez � l_adresse
http://www.endurance-belgium.com