Sunday 4 October 2009: Cli-Machx Harder

On Sunday we headed to Machynlleth to tackle to Cli-Machx harder route from http://www.flattyresmtbroutes.com/ClimachxHarder.html. The Cli-Machx man-made route is good fun, particularly the final descent, but the addition of some natural stuff makes it a classic.

Since most of us indulged at the Zetland Arms in Warwick the previous evening, it was a rather slugglish start, particularly for Ed, Stu and Ad. Hedd was on reasonable form thanks to a taxi at a reasonable hour (thank you Haynesy!) and both Ash and debutant Spud were the picture of health and wellbeing!

We eventually got underway, and following a breakfast stop of Cafe Carys in Mallwyd (B'lliant), and a trip to a closed bike shop to cure Colgie's non-brake non-problem, we arrived at the trailhead, faffed for England/Wales and eventually got underway.
The first fireroad climb was as tough as ever, but after a pitstop at the trail junction we eventually arrived at the top of the first natural downhill section. Disaster stuck immediatly for Ed who found he had an incurable front fork problem which would see him limping around for the rest of the day - not good. For the rest of us, this first section was a bit of an eye-opener to what natural riding is all about (after a recent trail centre only diet!) and there were a few tumbles!

Ad takes a tumble on the first natural descent

After a brief bit of fireroad, and a singletrack section that countoured across a recently deforested hillside, we found the top of the second natural downhill section. This was an absolute blast, and Ash flew down - nearly making it all the way to the bottom!

Ash on the second natural downhill section

From here we headed to the Va-va-voom! section of the Cli-machx man-made trail before heading off to find a natural, slatey, bike wrecking section which was particularly inappropriate for a man with 1 inch of travel available on his front fork!

After that it was a fairly big climb back out again which, thanks to some forestry work, was a bit of a trudge through deep mud. We eventually found a singletrack linking section which took us to a reasonably long fireroad climb to the excellent (and appropriately named) "Better late than never" section.

Ash rides "Better late than never" on the Cli-machx trail

From here, we had more natural section to tackle. Discretion was the better part of valour for Ed so he headed for the top of the last man-made downhill for a long wait and a bit of a snooze. Everyone else headed up the hill in search of the trail.

The downhill starts seriously steep, and eveyone needed a few dabs to get down, but after that and a few muddy sections, the trail turns into a real rocky blast. This steepens at the end, and it was all too much for Spud, who managed a slow motion crash that seemed to last forever!

From here it was a big climb to the top of the last man-made downhill section to find a snoozing Ed. After a bit of a rest we were underway. The first section starts well but levels off and turns into a bit of an XC blast for a while. After a (very) short and technical climb, and a stop to take in the view over the small town of Corris, we hit the last downhill proper. This was a blast as always, with jumps and berms galore!

Ad on the final part of the final Cli-Machx downhill (with apologies for the lack of sound!)

All in all it had been another great day out on the bike. Ed managed to keep his chin up despite his bad luck, and we all promised to get another ride in soon - it's nearly night riding season again! Here's a summary of the day in musical montage form....

Cli-Machx Harder; October 2009 from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Cli-machx Harder

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19 September 2009 - Glentress & Innerleithen

Hedd arrived at about 6pm on Friday evening and managed a quick red route loop at Glentress before heading to Innerleithen to pick up the keys to the impressive "Spinners" apartment http://www.tweedvalleyholidaylets.co.uk/7.html. He then settled in with a bottle of red wine and the Home DVD and waited for the others to arrive.

After about 2 hours, Nev, Andy, Ash and Simon arrived and everyone started looking forward to some riding.

We got a reasonably early start on Saturday morning, and headed straight for the hub at Glentress for some breakfast. After Hedd had fitted a new tyre, and Nev had been back to the apartment for his new "Sam Hill" shoes, we were away.

Maximum faffing in the Glentress car park

We headed straight to the bike park, where Andy showed us his BMX skills.

Andy riding the Glentress bike park

After we'd all had a play, we headed up into the mist and tackled the Spooky Wood climb. Suffice to say, we were all pretty relieved to reach the top!

Simon, Andy and Ash near the top of the Spooky Wood climb

Ash taking in the warning signs at the top of the Spooky Wood descent

It was all going so well, when Andy parted company with his bike after a jump and landed heavily. At first, we thought he'd popped his knee, but unfortunately it was much worse. Luckily, a GP was not far behind us, and he diagnosed a broken femur.

We called the emergency services, and after a long wait for the ambulance to climb the fire roads, the paramedics reached Andy and were able to give him some much needed pain relief.

Disaster strikes on the Spooky Wood descent

At this point, we should say a special thank you to everyone that stopped to help us out with advice, equipment, traffic control and strecher carrying duties!

Eventually, Andy was safely in the ambulance and we decided to carry on with the ride back down to the hub.

Nev riding Hit-Squad Hill

I think everyone found this really difficult. We wanted to make the most of our trip, but everyone's thoughts were with Andy, just hoping his leg wasn't as bad as it looked.

We reached the hub and got some lunch before packing up and heading back to the apartment.

When we got back, Nev was able to call the hospital and speak to Andy - this helped us all, he sounded well all things considered. During this time, Helen also arrived to join us for our afternoon (early evening) ride on the Innerleithen red (XC) route.

After some more faffing, we were away and tackling the painful climb up to Minch Moor. As always, the short downhill section at about a third of the way up provided a much needed rest!

Helen on the short downhill section prior to the quarry

And the quarry section provided some much needed playtime!

Hedd on the small ladder drop; Inners XC from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

We were soon away and climbing again, first up a long fireroad section, and then back onto the singletrack through the trees.

Ash takes some much needed time out on the Minch Moor climb

At last we emerged out of the trees and the views opened up around us - not much further now!

Helen near the Minch Moor summit in the evening sunshine

Simon nears the Minch Moor summit

We rode to the summit together, and headed straight for the shelter for some provisions. We needed the rest, but we needed to get moving - Nev wanted to make sure he'd be able to get to Edinburgh with Andy's gear.

We headed off, and the top two sections were as good as always!

Nev rides the top section of the Minch Moor descent

Ash and Simon ride the Minch Moor descent

This was all over in no time, and we were on our way to Plora Craig with the stunning views opening up around us.

The top of the Plora Craig section at Innerleithen

It wasn't too late for shenanigans though, as Nev's saddle bolt snapped on the Oh Deer! section, leaving him standing on his pedals all the way home. At least it was downhill, and what a downhill - Caddon Bank did not disappoint, although a quick look at the end of the downhill course soon put us in our place!

We headed back to the apartment, Nev and Ash headed off to Edinburgh to see if they could catch up with Andy, and Hedd, Helen and Simon headed to the pub for a chinese takeaway!?!?

Nev and Ash eventually returned. Fortunately, they'd caught up with Andy and he was doing well. We could all head to the pub/chinese takeaway for a beer and to get to know a few of the flatulent locals - the perfect end to a very long day!

20 September 2009 - Glentress

After plans for an early start were scuppered by a combination of laziness and hangover, we dragged ourselves up and reached the hub at about 10am. Nev dropped Ash and Simon off and headed on to Edinburgh to meet Charlotte and Andy.

Hedd, Ash, Helen and Simon, fuelled by hub breakfast sarnies (with a STRICT maximum of 2 fillings!) headed out on the Glentress red route again.

Yesterday's riding appeared to have taken it's toll on Simon, who struggled with the early climbs. Fortunately, the bike park came to our rescue and a bit of playtime there brought everyone to life!

Simon rides the Glentress bike park

Recharged, we headed on to the Spooky Wood descent, which passed without incident this time, and on to Super-G and Hit-Squad Hill with saw some colourful riding (and language!) from Ash!

Ash and Simon ride Hit-Squad Hill at Glentress

We then headed on to the Pie-Run and after telling us she hated roots, Helen turned on the style and rode (nearly) all of it without a dab, easily clearing the tricky corners.

Helen riding the Pie-Run at Glentress

We were soon back at the Hub, but rather than lunching there, we jumped in the cars and headed over to watch Helen's mate Colin ride in the downhill champs at Innerleithen. We missed his first run, but after a long wait (and nearly giving up) we saw him flying down the steep, tight switchbacks and were able to give him a big cheer!

Not the best weekend of riding for obvious reasons, but as always Scotland did not disappoint - the riding was awesome. It's also worth noting that the weather was really good - Helen's advice is that May and September are the months to go for. Perhaps next year we need to head even further north, and check out Nevis, Golspie, etc.?

The only thing left is to follow the "Team America: World Police" example, and go with a montage....

Glentress & Innerleithen September 2009 from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

22 August 2009 - Helvellyn

Hedd, Ad and Stu headed to the Lakes on Saturday 22 August to tackle Helvellyn for the first time.

It was an early start from Warwick/Coventry for Hedd and Ad, and we arranged to meet Stu at Knutsford services on the M6. Stu was a bit late arriving, owing to a night out with Ross (now back from Oz) in Worcester.

We eventually rejoined a busy motorway and headed north. The section from the M6 to Glenridding was a nightmare, with loads of drivers sightseeing instead of driving, but we eventually got to Glenridding, and after a bit of faffing, parked in the overflow carpark.

The ride starts gently enough, but soon turns from tarmac to track near a youth hostel. The first few miles were fine, although the fact that Helvellyn was hidden from view was a little unnerving!

Sudders relaxing on the easier part of the climb

Stu struggled witht the early sections, with his strategy of carbo loading on Guinness and kebab meat in tatters! We reached a fork in the track, and unfortunaltly we had to take the right hand steeper trail. This is where it got tough, with a fair bit of pushing as the trail zig-zagged. Althought this was tough, it wasn't too bad and there were a few sections that we could ride up.

Colgie on one of the steeper sections of the climb that we couldn't ride up!

At this point, we also had the compensation of the view opening up behind us back to Ullswater, and our first view of the Helvellyn summit. This was pretty spectacular, but also a little daunting - we still had alot of work to do!

Our first view of the Helvellyn summit

The final section was rideable, which was a real boost as it allowed us to pretend to passing walkers that we'd ridden all the way up! After a final blast up to the summit of White Side, we enjoyed our first descent of the day. Although this was brief, it was a great way to blow away the cobwebs before the final part of the climb up Lower Man to the Helvellyn summit.

The descent from White Side, with views of Lower Man and the Helvellyn summit

As we were climbing up Lower Man, we realised not only that the wind was very strong, but also that it was gusting such that occasionally it was completed still. This should make the Lower Man descent pretty interesting!

Sudders nearing the top of the Lower Man climb

The views from the Lower Man summit were absolutley fantastic in all directions - time for a few photos!

The view towards Thirlmere from the Lower Man summit, with Skiddaw and Bassenthwaite Lake beyond

The view back to Ullswater from the Lower Man summit

And we were pretty pleased to be there! Sudders triumphant at the Lower Man summit

From the summit of Lower Man, it was just a quick spin to the Helvellyn summit, which is actually a huge plateau. We wandered about and enjoyed the view for a while before heading to the shelter for some well earned M&S flapjack and phonecalls home to get the cricket score!

Colgie and Sudders looking huge in the Helvellyn summit shelter

After a bit of rest, we headed back to the trig point for a few more triumphant photos....

Team orange at the Helvellyn trig point, with Ullswater beyond

Hedd and Colgie at the Helvellyn trig point

Sudders takes in the view of Red Tarn below

The wind meant we didn't hang around for too long, and we were soon heading back across the summit plateau the way we came to tackle Lower Man as a descent.

The stunning Lower Man descent - with apologies for the pause at the top (front wheel caught between rocks)

We then headed back over White Side, and climbed up to the summit of Raise. This was fine, although it got really rocky at the top, making it difficult to find a line. The initial descent from Raise was also good fun, starting rocky but soon settling down for some tight switchbacks. Stu had a minor off, as you can see below....

Stu descends from Raise towards to the top of Sticks Pass

We all agreed the next (and final) descent was probably the best we'd ever done. It was really long and included absolutley eveything.

Sudders riding Sticks Pass, Helvellyn from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

The top section looked as though it had been resurfaced, it was fast with some little rises to jump off. Just as you gained confidence to go faster, the trail got steeper, and then degenerated into a grassy, rocky mess.

Colgie going well on a steep section near the top of the Sticks Pass descent

Colgie descends Sticks Pass

The descent then levels out for a while on singletrack and then through the remains of a mine before speeding up again, first on good tracks and then on the most challenging rocky section, where Hedd managed to bend his rear hanger (beyond repair as it turned out!) and get a puncture!

From here, things speed up again all the way back to the youth hostel we passed on the way up - absolutely awesome!

From here it was downhill all the way to the Car Park. It was 4:30pm, and Colgie needed to get on the road. It was too late to tackle the planned extension, so Hedd and Sudders headed to the other side of Ullswater and tackled the Ullswater singletrack - out and back stylie!

A taster of the Ullswater singletrack

This was good fun, but the "out and back" nature meant the the "back" bit was always on our minds, especially with tired legs. We carried on for about 45mins before about turning and heading back to the car.

We were away by about 6pm after another great day in the mountains!

Here are the details of our Helvellyn route: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=16980

Helvellyn

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16 August 2009 - Malverns

Hedd headed to the Malverns on a solo mission to test drive his new helmetcam early on Sunday morning.
Here's the footage of the descent from the summit of Worcestershire beacon.

3 July 2009 - Day 1: Glentress

It all started very badly! The good news was that Ed's roofrack fitted Nev's car, so with the towbar rack we were able to get 4 bikes and 4 people comfortably in. The bad news was that thanks to some shocking M6 traffic, the journey was going to take 8 hours, getting us into Innerleithen at 10:45pm and wiping out any prospect of a quick evening ride to get things going. Instead, we headed straight for the local pub/hotel/restaurant/chinese takeaway for a couple of quick beers.
The weather on Friday morning was stunning, making an early start easy. We headed straight to the Glentress trailhead and were away and riding by 9am. The first climb passed easily enough and we found ourselves at the Freeride Park for some playtime!

Colgie in his new kit - a vision in green!

Freeride Park Gump from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Freeride Park Stu from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Ed having some fun at the Glentress freeride park

After getting some confidence, we were off to tackle the climb up to Spooky Woods. This involves a bit of fireroad, followed by a singletrack climb with a few reasonably steep switchbacks to keep it interesting.

Ed and Nev emerging from the Spooky Wood climb

The Spooky Wood descent was absolutely fantastic, with Hedd performing particularly well on his new bike, even keeping up with Ed for a while!

From the bottom of the first section of the Spooky Wood descent, we detoured off to the blue route to descend Betty Blue. This was fun, but lacked the trail obstacles we'd been enjoying on the red descents. This allowed us to pick up the black route for the first time and descend Deliverance, which was awesome. Some tight switchbacks at the top gave way to some rockier sections, all taken at great pace.

The bad news was that we now had the Redemption Hill climb ahead of us. This proved to be pretty tough, and after punctures for "tubeless" Hedd and Ed earlier, Colgie now had a problem with his spd - the clip had slipped on his shoe making it difficult to disengage.

Ed on the long Redemption Hill climb

Colgie had to detour back to the bikeshop to get his spd fixed, so we took a shortcut and headed back to the red run to tackle the Hit Squad Hill descent. To avoid Colgie having to wait too long, we then headed for the Pie Run short-cut. This was good fun, but we hit further trouble as Ed's rear brake pad fell out! After some searching, we found it and were away, but he too had to detour back to the shop leaving just Hedd and Nev to complete the ride.

Hedd getting air on the final downhill of the morning - Falla Brae

After some great help from the bikeshop http://www.thehubintheforest.co.uk/Bike/index.html(new tyres for Hedd, Ed's brake and Stu's shoe fixed without charge) we headed to the hub cafe for some excellent lunch.

It was during lunch that the rain started and we were to be introduced to a new concept in mountain biking - the hub rat! This is someone that had all the gear but just appeared to spend all weekend at the cafe (with very brief interludes out onto the blue route).

After a long lunch break during which Hedd mastered his new tubeless tyres, we were ready to head out again, this time in the rain. Hedd's new bike had been an absolute revelation during the morning both up and downhill, although the fact that the hire centre had a fleet of them did mean they were "as common as a ford focus".

How hard can it be? Hedd with his first new bike upgrade - decent tyres!

The afternoon involved a repeat of the red run (no black or blue options this time) and by now we were starting to find our mojo despite the rain, especially Ed who flew down Spooky Woods in 3 mins 20secs this time. The rather surprising highlight of this run was being passed by a load of Scottish lads that had hired bikes for the day. They were heading down the fireroad climb to Spooky Woods and one of them pulled a rubbish bunnyhop as we rested by the side of the trail - rad!

We were back at the flat (http://www.mountainbikeapartments.com/) in no time and heading to the traquair hotel (http://www.traquairarmshotel.co.uk/) for an excellent meal, a few stories and a few pints of "The Stuart". We bumped into the hub rat again - he'd found a new home!

Residential trips of the past have always featured a guest drink or "a little bottle of something cheeky" and this was no exception! We managed to find a bottle of demarara rum in the supermarket. This led to a bit of drunken tension as Colgie struggled with the tv on/off switch and Ed made his dislike of Nev's Rippling Yarns dvd perfectly clear!

4 July 2009 - Day 2: Innerleithen

We woke reasonably early again on day 2, despite the effects of the demerara rum, although there were some sheepish looks in the kitchen after last nights fall-out!

We got ourselves together and headed to the innerleithen bike shop (http://www.alpinebikes.com/shops/innerleithen/) for a few bits and pieces. The highlight of this expedition was definately Nev's purchase of some Troy Lee "stormrtrooper" pads, although Colgie also got himself a new camelback.

The stormtrooper!

From here, we cycled down to the Innerleithen XC trailhead to find there was an uplift day and the place was pretty busy with downhillers. We watched them come down the final section for a while before starting the challenging climb.

Watching the downhillers from the Innerleithen XC climb

The first part of the climb passed reasonably easily, although Ed suffered another puncture just as the trail started to head down. We had a bit of a play in the quarry section, although it was really busy!

Colgie on the quarry section descent

Nev about to tackle a small ladder drop on the quarry section

After a bit of a rest, we carried on along the fireroad climb. This was particularly nasty as the day had really heated up by now!

Hedd messing about on the fireroad climb

The singletrack climbs from here were pretty tough, and much longer than we all remembered.

Nev on the singletrack climb up to Minch Moor

Ed, Nev and Stu arriving at the Minch Moor summit on a beautiful summer day!

At the summit we had a break in the storm shelter before starting the downhill - and what a downhill! The top few sections were our favourite of the entire trip. There are some great burms, drops and jumps at Inners and Glentress, but this section seems more open and much faster.

We continued down and stopped for a quick photo before tackling the next downhill section.

Awesome foursome! Nev finally gets his camera timer to work!

The great thing about Innerleithen is that once you've conquered the big climb to the top of Minch Moor, it's pretty much downhill all the way, and we arrived at the top of the Caddon Bank descent in no time at all.

Hedd jumping over the rocks on the Caddon Bank descent

Ed gets great air over the Caddon Bank rocks

First Inners drop Ed from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Second Inners drop Hedd from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

Big air for Ed on the biggest of the three Caddon Bank drops

Big Inners drop Ed from Hedd Roberts on Vimeo.

We played on the drops for a while, and unfortunately Colgie had a big fall attempting the first drop. He landed on the front wheel and headed into the bank. The good news was that it was just cuts and bruises, and after the obligatory puncture for Ed we were back in the car park and heading for the apartment for a lunchtime BBQ.

Ed the BBQ king, with the Caddon Bank descent visable in the distance

The Inners XC loop is quite tough, so it was hard to decide what to do after lunch. However, we'd all enjoyed it so much that we decided to give it another go. The climb was tough but the descent was absolutely fantastic again and we all loved it.

Ed rails a burm on the first downhill section from Minch Moor

Colgie on the final part of the Caddon Bank descent

As we were cycling away from the car park at the trailhead, there were a bunch of youngsters cycling towards it. Hedd's day was finished off in style as two separate riders shouted "nice bike mate!". Cheers lads!

It was a relatively quiet evening after the shinanigans of the night before, another meal at the Taquair Hotel, a few beers at the versatile pub and back to the apartment.