Colgie, Nev and H headed to Nant-yr-Arian to ride the Syfydrin trail at Nant-yr-Arian, a good mix of man-made singletrack and remote natural trails. Suds was also supposed to join, but a night of overindulgence with Uni mates meant a no show!
It was a very cold and foggy drive and things weren't looking good, but just before we arrived, we emerged into the sunshine that would be with us for the rest of the day. After some faffing from Colgie as he donned his new winter gear, we were away and tackling the first singletrack section: "Italian Job".
Colgie rides "Italian Job" at Nant-yr-Arian (No sound)
From here we headed out on some natural trails which have a really remote feel. These trails also include some fantastic doubletrack descents, with a mix of loose rocks and bedrock to keep things interesting!
Nev and Colgie on the doubltrack at Nant-yr-Arian
We paused for some provisions prior to a large natural climb and had a good view of some sights common to Mid-Wales, Red Kites and windfarms!
Red kites and windfarms near Nant-yr-Arian
Picnic time on the natural part of the Syfydrin trail at Nant-yr-Arian
The climb was quite tough, with a bit of a headwind, and seemed to go on and on. We kept going though, and eventually we were back to the civilisation of man-made trails.
Colgie nearing the top of a natural climb at Nant-yr-Arian
The first of these was "Hippity Hop", which was a good blast in the sunshine.
Nev and Colgie ride "Hippity Hop" at Nant-yr-Arian
After another natural section, we moved on to the massive "Mask of Zorro" man-made descent, and the equally massive "Leg Burner" climb. It wasn't steep, but that was part of the problem.... It just went on and on at a steady gradient. We all found it really tough on tired legs, and were ready for a break at the top.
Colgie and Nev reach the top of the unpleasantly long "Leg Burner" climb at Nant-yr-Arian
After a bit more climbing, we were ready for the final two sections of man-made singletrack: "Drunken Druid" and "High as a Kite". Within no time, we were back at the visitor centre enjoying an excellent warm shower and tucking into panini / jacket potatoes prior to the drive home - another good winter ride!
On Friday 4 December, Nev, Ed and Hedd headed to the Malverns for the first night ride of the year. Unfortunately, it was foggy with light rain, which meant visability was not good - a point proved by the helmetcam footage below!
Ed rides a Malverns decent in the fog and rain
We all enjoyed it though, especially the detour to a rather posh post ride pub (our muddy faces attracting a few raised eyebrows!).
We (H, Suds, Spud and Colgie) headed to Coed y Brenin on Sunday 22 November to tackle a man-made / natural trail combo. We managed an early start from Warwick/Coventry and were able to stop for an inaginatively priced breakfast bap at Telford services.
Thanks to the genearal lack of pace of Spud's "A-team" van, we eventually arrived at the Coed y Brenin visitor centre at about 10:15am and were riding by 10:30am. After the opening climb, the first man-made section "Cain" warmed us up, and allowed Spud to get his first six or seven crashes of the day out of his system!
Sudders rides "Cain"
The real fun then started with the first natural section. Lots of rain meant an almost frictionless trail with lots of crash potential! The next vid shows Barry and Paul Chuckle giving it max....
The chuckle brothers - there is a great moment from 1 minute onwards....
From here we met with the closure of a man-made section and headed to tackle another natural section instead before breaking new ground with a steep natural section we'd never riden before....
Sudders rides a "steeper than it looks" natural section at Coed y Brenin
From here we faced a horrible hike-a-bike up what had become a stream and completed the "Plunge Pool" steep switchback descent (helmetcam footage ruined by water/mud on the lens), the "Ant Hill" descent and headed to the Dolfrwynog cafe for some refuelling.
We were all tiring by this point, so the next steep road climb was tough. The man-made descent was good fun though, despite the "dumbing down" that has occured over the last few years.
Colgie and Spud ride Morticia at Coed y Brenin
Hedd rides "Lurch" at Coed y Brenin
As we reached the bottom of the descent, the wind picked up and the rain began to fall again, so we quickly hammered up the last climb for some fun on the final descents. The next vid starts well, with Sudders hitting some good jumps and drops. Unfortunaltly we then hit some traffic, and it gets a bit dark. There is a bonus for those that stick with it to the end though!
Sudders rides "Begining of the end" at Coed y Brenin
All in all, a great day. Despite the rain, we rode until it got too dark to continue and whilst the rain made everything really slippy, this just added to our fun! Here's the GPS tracklog of our route....
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....
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!
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!
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....
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.
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!
