Windsurfing really is a silly sport! Regular readers of this blog will know that I’ve set myself a challenge of reaching 40 knots before I hit the big 4-0. To that end I’ve bought lots of new toys in order to do it, but since buying them all there hasn’t been any wind so I’ve as yet been unable to test them.
Mountain Biking is so much more sensible. You get a bike and can use it whenever you want!
Anyway, there was finally some wind today. Not a huge amount and in the wrong direction for my new speed kit but I did at least get out on the water. The wind was very gusty and the first half an hour or so was spent trying to get going and losing lots of ground downwind. If I did get going in a gust I then had to use it to gain some ground upwind so it wasn’t a great start!
After a walk of shame back up the beach, the wind did fill in a bit and i was bale to have a good 40 minutes or so well powered up in decent winds. I did take my GPS out with me even though it wasn’t a speed session. It was never going to be fast as I was on wave kit not speed kit and sailing on the sea front in the waves and chop. I thought it would be interesting to compare though.
Here’s my GPS track from the second half of the session.
WIndsurf Session March 18th
Top speed was only 22.33 knots. I guess that just shows that I really do need different kit and different conditions to get anywhere near 40 knots! GPS details of the session can be seen on sportstracklive.
On my way home from Conwy at the weekend I stopped off at Penmachno for a ride around the trails there.
I hadn’t been here for over a year and had fond memories of it from last time so was looking forward to it. This was helped by the fact that it was a lovely day, sunny and cool and not too busy by the looks of the car park.
I was soon ready and heading off up the long hill at the start and then onto the singletrack. It all came back to me as I started making my way around the trail and each little bit reminded me of what was to come.
It really is a good trail, not as up and down as most Trail Centres, instead, after some climbing it tends to hug the contours of the hills with endless miles of single track. There are a few more climbs throughout and even the flat bit can feel a little uphill by the end of it, buit as far as cross-country trails go it is really good. It has a bit of everything, fire road climbs, technical climbs, flowing forest singletrack, rocky singletrack, open flowing anf rocky singeltrack, even some raises boardwalks across the top and a couple of nice descents towards the end.
Both loops come to a total of 18 miles, which took me 2 hours 12 minutes at a steady pace. All in all, it is definitely a trail to try if you haven’t already, and one I’ll be looking forward to visiting again, hopefully in the not too distant future.
Penmachno Topography
