Pont Scethin

More unavailability meant another weekend of solo riding for Hedd.

After a spin around the Malverns on Friday evening, I headed to Tal-y-bont near Barmouth on the North Wales coast to tackle the Pont Scethin loop on Saturday. This is a bit of a classic, and the fact that we'd never riden it had always frustrated me.

The weather was fantastic and this meant that despite the early start, I got caught up in a fair bit of traffic heading for the coast.

Early in the ride the climbing is fairly easy on good surfaces, and it's not too long before you're away from it all and enjoying great views back towards the coast.

A right turn takes you down a boggy trail to Pont Scethin (a packhorse bridge on the old London to Harlech coach route).

Pont Scethin

From here, the trail heads up a difficult climb to the highest point on the ride. There are fantasic views over the Mawddach Estuary from the top.

The descent was great, it starts steep and then levels for a while (Braich) before plummiting down again. My favourite bits were the burmed grassy switchbacks, and a no risk grassy jump!

A right turn after an iron gate led to a farm track through some beautiful scenery.

A nice spot on the farm track

The second climb of the day was another tough one, a long singletrack trail with a number of switchbacks. The view from the top was stunning in both directions, back over the Mawddach Estuary, or ahead to Tal-y-bont with the Lleyn Peninsula beyond.

The view of the Mawddach Estuary from the top of the second climb

The view ahead to Tal-y-bont with the Lleyn peninsula beyond

The second big descent of the day had everything, narrow singletrack at the top gave way to a rocky section before the trail turned grassy with a variable gradient. As if this wasn't enough, the trail then dropped through woodland before ending at the car park.

My route can be viewed here: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=8866

The stats are: 12.6 miles (20.28km); 2648 feet (807m) of climbing

The Pont Scethin loop definately deserves it's classic status, but it isn't very long. This gave me time to head to Coed-y-brenin and do a quick blast around the Tarw trail (the trail formally know as Red Bull) before heading home (and making my 6pm deadline!).

The Tarw trail route (including a diversion due to forestry operations) can be viewed here: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=8867

The stats are: 9.68 miles (15.57km); 1412 feet (430m) of climbing

Betws-y-Coed Rides

The unavailability of others meant that Hedd (fueled by new bike fever!) headed to Betws-y-Coed for a solo mission on Sunday 24 May.

I left Warwick at 6:30am and after a toll road diversion to avoid the M6 closure I arrived at Penmachno and was riding by 9am. The weather was absolutely fantastic and I decided to do loops 1 & 2 (we'd only ever done loop 1 before). Loop 2 was a bit of a disappointment - it included fantastic views of Moel Siobod, Snowdon, Tryfan and Bristly Ridge but the riding was a bit too cross-country for my taste with no real downhill sections of note. Loop 1 delivered as always though, especially the last few sections.

I headed to a very busy Betws-y-Coed for lunch (sausage, chips and curry sauce!) and then headed to the Marin trailhead. It was really busy and I was lucky to get a parking spot as someone was just leaving. The Marin trail seems to attract lots of beginners (at least it did today) and my confidence was given a boost as I passed many of them on the first climb!

The last downhill was once again the highlight and I felt I was really starting to get the hang of the new bike by the end.

I left for home asap and, despite some heavy traffic on the A5, made it back by my 5:30pm deadline.

All in all, a good day!

A photo to prove I didn't spend the day in the pub! A lake on the Marin trail where I stopped for some well deserved jelly babies!

Here are my riding stats for the day....

Penmachno loops 1 & 2; Distance: 18 miles (29km); Total ascent: 2186 feet (666m)

Marin; Distance 15 miles (24km); Total ascent: 2173 feet (662m)

Malvern Evening Ride

On Friday 22 May, Nev, Hedd, Stu and Ash headed to the Malverns for the first evening ride of the season. Hedd was very keen to put the new bike through it's paces!

That "new addidas" look! Hedd's new bike - Lapierre Zesty 514

Everyone was pretty punctual (for once!) so we were soon away and climbing North Hill.

Stu on the North Hill climb with Great Malvern below in the sunshine

We diverted away from our usual route to give a new descent from North Hill a try, which was pretty good fun although Ash took a tumble! In no time we were climbing to the highest point of the ride - Worcestershire Beacon.

Nev on the climb to the Worcestershire Beacon summit

The first evening ride of the season means a mandatory photo at the summit! Stu, Ash and Nev

The descent from Worcestershire Beacon was a blast as always, although Stu suffered a puncture. The ride from here was relatively uneventful as we didn't take on "gumpy's drop"! Hedd's new bike performed admirably and the whole evening was rounded off with some chips with curry sauce in Malvern Link! We all agreed that there was no better way to wash away the stresses of the working week and that we needed to repeat soon!

The Nan Bield Pass

On Sunday 3 May, we (Hedd, Ed, Ad & Stu) headed to the Lakes to tackle the Gatescarth and Nan Bield passes. After an early breakfast at Hedd's, we set off and after a reasonable journey were ready to get going at about 10.30am.

Hedd had a Lapierre Zesty demo bike for the weekend and was looking forward to putting it through it's paces!
The first climb started on road, but that soon changed as we headed across some boggy ground towards Kentmere. The going soon got rockier as we enjoyed the first descent of the day, alongside Hall Wood and down to Kentmere Hall.

Next was some tarmac as we headed through Kentmere and climbed towards Stile End. We endured our only rain shower of the day as we began climbing. We hit the fun descent down to Sadgill in no time and enjoyed our first mildly techie downhill sections of the day.

Ed on the more technical section of the descent to Sadgill

We found a nice spot by the bridge over the River Sprint and enjoyed some lunch in the sunshine. We couldn't put the climb to the summit of the Gatescarth Pass off any longer and headed north up Long Sleddale. After some undulating track on the valley floor, and an inexplicable puncture for Ad, the valley sides closed in and the track headed skywards. Some sections were rideable, but the steepness combined with momentum sapping loose rock meant that others were not, and we did a good deal of pushing.

Ad pushes to the top of Long Sleddale with Stu and Ed following

From the top of Long Sleddale, we forked left for even more painfull pushing up steep switchback trails until eventually we reached the summit of the Gatescarth Pass.

Ed takes a breather on the climb to the summit of the Gatescarth Pass, with a fantastic view down Long Sleddale

From the summit of the Gatescarth Pass, we could see our trail disappearing down to the shore of Haweswater and couldn't wait to give it a go.

Ed on the Gatescarth Pass descent with Ad ahead in the distance

Stu and his distinctive knee warmers on the Gatescarth Pass descent

The descent was 100% rideable, but challenging in places. It's sheer length meant that by the time we were forced to stop by a locked gate near the bottom, our arms and hands were really suffering.

Stu approaching the gate near the bottom of the Gatescarth Pass descent

We continued to drop after the gate and the trail got less rocky and therefore much quicker. Ed had a close call as he just managed to stop short of a family out for a quiet Sunday afternoon walk.

We had reached the Haweswater shoreline and that could only mean one thing, we were about to embark on the infamously painful climb to the summit of the Nan Bield Pass. Things started pretty well and we were able to do quite a bit of riding during the early stages of the climb. Unfortunately things soon got steeper and we were forced to push and carry. The scenery did provide some consolation, we were enclosed by huge mountains and had waterfalls along our pathway and the view over Haweswater behind.

Ad and Ed on the climb up to Small Water

We were all tiring by this stage, and promised ourselves a lengthy break at Small Water, a tarn (ask Ed what that is!) on the Nan Bield climb.

Hedd reaches the Small Water shoreline on the bright, shiny Lapierre

The team relaxing on the banks of Small Water, with a camouflage tent in the background!

The sun eventually disappearing behind a cloud and it was time to get moving again. The next section was comfortably the toughest of the day, in fact, it would be the toughest on most days! It was a steep carry on mountain paths up to the Nan Bield summit, with a series of walkers questioning our sanity ("You're going to have to explain this to me?!?!" was our favourite). At least the views back over Small Water with Haweswater below were enjoyable.

The view from the climb to the summit of the Nan Bield Pass with Small Water below and Haweswater in the background

Does this look steep enough? Ed and Stu on the Nan Bield climb

The lesser spotted lakeland mountain cat - on the prowl!

Stu and Ed reach the summit of the Nan Bield Pass

Eventually we got there, and one of the most technical descents in the Lakes was ahead of us. After a short break we were away and into the top section, which is essentially a series of narrow, rocky, switchbacks. Nobody managed a clean run, but we all had fun trying.

Ed on the Nan Bield switchbacks, with the trail heading into the distance

Ad and Stu on the Nan Bield switchbacks

After this initial technical section, the trail levels out and gets easier, although there is still plenty to catch you as Ed found to his cost, taking a tumble!

Stu on the next, more open, section of the Nan Bield descent. The shelter at the summit of the Pass is just visable on the horizon

After some contouring around a spur, the trail heads downwards again with some grassy sections to pick up pace and rocky sections to catch you out!

Stu on the last section of the Nan Bield descent

We had considered adding the Garburn Pass to our ride, but when we got back to Kentmere we were all pretty tired and agreed to head back to Stavely and our cars. Rather than use the road, we headed back to Kentmere Hall and back tracked along what had been the first descent of the day to give us an enjoyable grassy drop to end the day.

Stu on the final climb of the day, near Hall Wood

We all agreed it had been an epic day!

Distance: 22.1 miles (35.56km); Total ascent: 4184 feet (1275m).

The route can be viewed on bikehike (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=7231) or GPSies (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=gbadxoogkfmvukml).

Spring Residential 2009 - Day 1: Innerleithen & Glentress

We finally arrived at the our accommodation in Innerleithen http://www.mountainbikeapartments.com/ at about 7pm after a long drive in heavy traffic on Wednesday 8 April 2009. Nev, Hedd, Ed and Stu unpacked quickly and headed out to have a look at Glentress. Given the time, we drove straight up to the Buzzard's Nest car park and had a little play around in the Freeride Park before it went dark. This gave us all the chance to polish up some skills which had gone a bit rusty due to the lack of recent riding! It was great fun and put us all in the mood for more.

Soon after we got back to the apartments, Ash joined us and we watched the dirtschool skills DVD http://www.dirtschool.co.uk/. This gave us all far too much to think about, so we relaxed with a bottle of Sloe Gin, a shot glass and Neville's uncanny Bruce Forsyth impression!

We managed an early start on Thursday 9 April and cycled the half-mile along the road to the Innerleithen trail head. We got chatting to some downhill boys at the Freeride Park the evening before and they had recommended the Innerleithen Red Route, so that's what we decided to do! The climb was pretty brutal and Hedd was really feeling the pace having been unwell the day before.

Ash gives the Innerleithen climb the thumbs up

The climb includes some technical rock steps which we all found pretty tricky. At about halfway up, the climb is punctuated by a a shot downhill section which lightened the mood considerably as the rain fell.

Ed having fun in the rain on the Innerleithen red route from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

It was pretty chilly, and this meant that the battery in Hedd's camcorder cut-out just before Ed got to the small ladder drop. Whilst playing around here, we all spotted some steeper lines down, and Ed just couldn't resist giving on of them a go.

Whatever you're thinking - that is definately steep! Ed at Innerleithen

We pushed on into weather that was getting worse and worse, just as we were getting above the treeline to the most exposed part of the route. Eventually we reached the summit of Minch Moor. The views are apparently pretty good from here - but not today as the photo below demonstrates.

Stu, Hedd, Ed and Ash at the Minch Moor summit. Rain on the lens is hard to avoid when it's coming in horizontally!

Hedd was really struggling with illness at this point, but there was some good news - a fantastic downhill section was next up - the Minch Moor Descent. This transformed everybody's mood and showed us all what we'd been missing. Fast and flowing with jumps, berms and small drops. Why hadn't we come up to Scotland sooner?

We headed on and were soon decending again. Not so much speed and flow on Plora Craig but still great fun.

Stu and Nev descending Plora Craig at Innerleithen

Since it was the first morning, we chose the red graded Oh Deer! instead of the black graded Razor Rock, but this still included a short steep black graded drop which was good fun.

Stu takes on the black graded drop on Oh Deer! at Innerleithen

From here the trail just seemed to get better and better, culminating in the Caddon Bank section with all manner of jumps, drops and berms. It was a frantic finish - none of us could remember a better section of trail anywhere and none of us had ever spent so much time in the air.

Stu and Hedd have a ponder at one of the drops on Caddon bank

No pondering from Ed as he flies over

After that, we cycled back into Innerleithen and headed for the Co-op for some lunch which we took straight back to the apartment.

Timing was crucial here, we all needed a break, but wait too long and we knew we wouln't get back out. After a shower and some food (sausage rolls and Scotch pies) we loaded the cars and drove around to the Glentress trailhead.

We had decided that we still had time to complete the Glentress red route. It was 3pm by the time we started riding so we needed to get a move on!

The initial climb was steady enough and we all handled it pretty well. We stopped by the Freeride Park for a rest and then headed onward to the Pennel's Vennel section. Ed got an inexplicable puncture which slowed out progress for a while, but we were soon away again.

The sun comes out as Ed fixes his puncture

After more climbing, we found ourselves at the top of the Spooky Wood descent. This was absolutely fantastic and rivalled the Innerleithen descents for thrills and spills. Ed really found the zone on this section and sped away. The section had some jumps which led straight into fast berms and really was great fun. From here, the fun continued with Super G and Hit-Squad Hill.

The view from the top of the Spooky Wood descent

It had been a wonderful descent, but now we were all starting to feel it. We decided to take a short-cut (Pie-Run) at this point, but even this delivered, with some boardwalk sections and tricky roots. It was at this point that a fall from Nev on the roots held Stu up and led to a fantastic strop, the likes of which we haven't seen or heard for a good few years - brilliant stuff!

Not happy! - Stu after an argument with some roots

From here it was a steady ride back to the car. We packed up and headed straight back to the apartment. Hedd was really struggling with illness at this point, and after staring at his chips and curry sauce for 10 minutes he headed straight to bed.

Nev, Stu, Ash and Ed headed out into Innerleithen and were impressed by the hotel / pub / resturant / chinese take-away combo! After a few beers it was back to the apartment to catch up with the US Masters golf on TV and off to bed.

Spring Residential 2009 - Day 2: Kirroughtree

After a great nights sleep, we were all up early to have breakfast clean and pack. We managed to get away soon after 9am, and after a short detour to allow Ash to get some fuel (the local station had closed down the previous day!), we were on our way to Kirroughtree.

We made some good progress initially, but then got stuck in some traffic and it all became pretty painful. Nev's cd collection (wall to wall metal with one indie cd that came free with a newspaper) was exhausted pretty early in the two and a half hour journey by Ed and Hedd. Fortunately, just as the combination of heavy metal and cautious driving was becoming unbearable, we arrived at the Kirroughtree trail head and met our local guide for the day Helen.

We headed straight for the cafe for some stress relieving tea and toasties and we were away. The initial climb was really steady, and therefore perfect for getting back into it after a tough one the previous day.

The team enjoy a breather on the Kirroughtree climb - Ash, Hedd, Stu, Ed and Helen

The climbing was steady, with a few rocky obstacles to catch the unwary (Nev). After a bit more climbing, we had some fun on The Nut Cracker and the White Witch. There were a few burms and jumps, but it wasn't quite the same as Innerleithen or Glentress. Soon it was decision time: do we head back to the trailhead along the red route, or push on and follow the black route? We decided to push on and were immediately rewarded with a beautiful spot by the river for another of those breathers.

The gun show! Ed flexes one of those huge pistons by the river at Kirroughtree

The black graded singletrack sections that followed included some more technical rocky obstacles which upped the ante a bit. Hedd's illness meant that the going was already slow, with lots of "breathers", but we slowed even further when Ash started struggling with some mechanical issues. If Helen was getting a little impatient (it would be very hard not to), she was polite enough not to show it.

Silence.... except for light birdsong and a tirade of swearing as Ash struggles with a few mechanical issues!

When we eventually got moving, we soon reached the famous McMoab, a giant monolith of granite with some natty blue arrows painted on to show you the way. We all struggled on this, but the granite was surprisingly grippy and rewarded a bit of endevour.

Stu on McMoab at Kirroughtree

Hedd about to lose control on McMoab at Kirroughtree

We all made our way around to the final steep drop from McMoab, but Ed was the only one to take it on.

Ed taking on the steep drop from McMoab

With all those delays, a short-cut along the road was in order (particularly when the alternative is a section called "Heartbreak Hill"!). After another short break, we were heading along more black graded singletrack with some rocky obstacles to keep things interesting. This was good fun, and so different from Innerleithen and Glentress. We soon reached a jump and stopped to have a bit of a play.

Chocks away! Ash gets air at Kirroughtree

It was all reasonably steady from here, although Helen was right to warn us about one "brutal bit" that we still had to climb. Just as we were easing to the finish, disaster struck as Nev's rear wheel siezed. He walked back to the trailhead and took it straight to the bikeshop while we sat in the cool sunshine and enjoyed a beer while we picked over another great days riding.

Unfortunately, the bike shop couldn't help Nev quickly and had to close, so we packed up and headed off to find a campsite leaving Nev's bike behind.

Luckily, after one false alarm, we found a great campsite with a pub in nearby Creetown. We pitched the tent in the last of the days sunshine and headed for a shower. It was then straight to the pub for a meal and a few beers - great stuff!

Spring Residential 2009 - Day 3: Dalbeattie

On the morning of Saturday 11 April, none of us were claiming that we'd had our best nights sleep of all time! We had to contend with the cold (there was a reasonably heavy frost) and Nev's snoring (with it's upward inflection).

A frosty morning at the campsite near Creetown

The cold meant that a lie in was simply not an option, so we got moving reasonably early and headed off to find some breakfast and collect Nev's bike while the sun came up. After failing to find anywhere for breakfast in Creetown itself, we headed to Newton Stewart and were lucky enough to find the Chatter Box cafe, where we enjoyed a great breakfast and our first haggis of the trip!

After breakfast, we headed back to the Kirroughtree bikeshop, but the news was not good. They had been unable to fix Nev's back wheel! We headed back to the campsite to pack the tent and work out what to do next.

Whilst we were packing the tent, Ed suggested that with Ash leaving before today's ride, Ash's back wheel may fit on Nev's bike. This was an inspired suggestion and it worked a treat! Ash headed back to Cheltenham and Nev, Hedd, Ed and Stu headed for Dalbeattie.

We tried a few of the skills sections at the begining of the ride, but this led to a long delay with Nev and Stu getting inexplicably lost. Eventually we were away though on fire roads for the first climb of the day. At the top, there was a steep section of granite to practice on, and we all had a go.

The sun comes out as Ed completes the steep granite drop at Dabeattie

Stu on the first steep granite drop at Dalbeattie

The view from this point was pretty good, so we wasted even more time with a quick detour to the viewpoint.

Ed takes in the view at the Heart stane viewpoint at Dalbeattie

By now, the sun was out and it was feeling warmer than it had all week. We headed for the first downhill section of the day: Moyle Magic. This section was great and much closer to what we're used to riding in the Peak District, Lakes or Mid-Wales with technical, rocky, singletrack. We had a few mechanicals at this point, with Nev losing Ash's back wheel on the descent (maybe it wasn't such a great fit afterall?!?!) and Hedd needing to replace a front brake disc that had worn down to the metal backplate!

This didn't take too long though, and we moved on to the Barnbarroch loop and eventually to the qualifier and the slab.

Hedd descending The Qualifier at Dalbeattie with Ed at the top of the slab in the background

The Qualifier was reasonably straightforward, just a steep drop of pitched rock, but The Slab was definately worth a look before ploughing over. It's a 15 metre section of steep granite without much of a runout at the bottom.

Stu tackles the slab at Dabeattie from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Ed, Hedd and Stu took it on but Nev wasn't keen. Eventually we persuaded him to take it on from halfway down, and he nailed it!

Nev tackles the Dalbeattie slab from halfway down from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Hedd on the slab at Dalbeattie

With our confidence up, we headed on with more great technical, rocky singletrack. There was a diversion in operation, but fortunately we didn't miss the Terrible Twins, two steep granite sections in close proximity. From here, Jacob's Ladder provided a bit of interest, but it was mainly steady stuff right back to the car.

What a trip! Hedd, Ed and Stu talk about coming back to Scotland, and soon!

We were soon packed and away with Nev doing a legendary job with the driving once again, we were home between 9.30pm and 10pm.

What a fantastic trip!