Rhayader - 17 April, 2011

Headed to Rhayader today for a blast around in the sunshine. The initial climb up the Old Aberystwyth Road was tough as always, and it was good to have a rest at the top before tackling the off-road bit of the first climb.

Having eventually reached the top, the grassy drop down the other side was good fun, with the first view of the Elan Valley, with reservoir levels looking very low!

I climbed again and descended to the foot of the Miners track. I stopped for a sarnie and then pushed to the top of the Miners track. The descent was a real challenge and it took about 5 attempts to get the gulley right!

I made my way up the Elan Valley trail before taking the Roman road bridleway back over to the top of the Old Aberystwyth Road, with good views of the nearby windfarms.

The Golf Links descent was awesome and I was back to the car in no time. Great weather, dry trails and lots of Red Kites meant a very enjoyable day!

Snowdon - 9 April, 2011

I managed to get a really early start on Saturday 9 April, leaving Warwick at 6:15am. I was heading for the Marin trail at Betws-y-Coed, but as I got closer and closer and the weather looked better and better, I decided to give Snowdon a go.

I parked at LLanberis and headed up the LLanberis path. There was a fair bit of pedalling until Halfway House and lots of pushing/carrying after that.

The views from the summit were fantastic though....

I descended via the Rangers Path which was one of the best downhills I have ever done. I had to stop halfway down due to the arm pump!

Soon after reaching the bottom of the Rangers Path, it was uphill again briefly and then a great blast back to LLanberis via Telegraph Valley.