ClimachX MTB Night Ride

I haven’t posted a ride report for a while or any route guides. Mainly because I had a few months off the bike after being in hospital and the rides I’ve done over the past few weeks whilst trying to get back into it have been pretty hard work and not that enjoyable.

Last nights ride felt much better though. I’d done some sessions on the turbo trainer this week – 50 minutes fairly hard on Monday, 35 minutes on Tuesday and then an easy 30 minutes earlier in the day yesterday – and I think it must be paying dividends. Right from the start I felt much better on the bike.

It was a fairly chilly, windy night, so not that inviting out there but Dave, John and I met at the ClimachX trailhead at 6.30pm. After the initial pfaff as we got ready we set off up the long climb along the fire-road. I didn’t feel that fast but made it to the top within 12 minutes which isn’t too bad for me. We then did the first couple of sections of singletrack before heading off the marked trail and down the Builth Descent. This descent was a little washed out after all the rain we’ve had lately and there was a large Hazel tree down across the trail at the top so it was a little slower than usual.

Then it was up the long climb back to the top. We were treated to a bit of a lightning show on the way up and we hoped it would remain off in the distance. I’m not sure if Dave and John were taking it easy, but I was keeping up OK and felt quite good on the climb. Certainly a lot better than I had on previous weeks night rides. We then rejoined the ClimachX Trail and followed it around. The little climb after the section known as ‘Va Va Voom’ feels pretty different after the forestry work that has been going on there, but at least some of the deeper puddle have disappeared.

As we came out of ‘Better Late Than Never’ we were hit by a huge hailstorm, that hurt to ride through. We stopped for shelter under a tree just as the storm abated. Dave did think about doing the ‘Elephant’ descent and then climbing back up, but I was feeling a little cold by then and John wasn’t too keen to doing anything extra either so we missed out the section across the top (Where’s my Ball) and continued along the fire-road to the final descent. Despite all of the rain this was in pretty good condition.

Overall it was a good night ride. I felt much better than I had done the last few weeks and the 11 miles passed by pretty quickly.

Here’s a plot of the topography (blue shaded area) and my heart rate (red line). – Click for larger image

You can download a Google Earth file of the route here: ClimachX & Builth

The official results from Sleepless in the Saddle are available to download as Excel files on the Official Photographers website. Along of course with some really good photos. Hopefully more photos will be online soon and I’ll link to them when I find any.


Our teams lap times were:

Team 1   25 laps  24:23:03    Ystwyth Hillbillies

415    Ian Cowe    1    00:58:06
418    Martyn Teece-Round    2    00:49:53
417    Dan Field    3    01:02:18
416    Alan Cole    4    00:50:32
415    Ian Cowe    5    00:52:25
418    Martyn Teece-Round    6    00:48:03
417    Dan Field    7    01:03:21
416    Alan Cole    8    00:57:33
416    Alan Cole    9    00:58:30
415    Ian Cowe    10    00:58:19
415    Ian Cowe    11    01:04:05
418    Martyn Teece-Round    12    00:54:56
418    Martyn Teece-Round    13    00:53:30
417    Dan Field    14    01:16:48
417    Dan Field    15    01:18:57
416    Alan Cole    16    00:59:26
415    Ian Cowe    17    00:58:44
418    Martyn Teece-Round    18    00:49:18
417    Dan Field    19    01:10:05
416    Alan Cole    20    00:52:28
415    Ian Cowe    21    00:54:50
418    Martyn Teece-Round    22    00:47:23
417    Dan Field    23    01:11:33
416    Alan Cole    24    00:55:16
418    Martyn Teece-Round    25    00:56:44

Team 2 25 laps    24:23:03    Ystwyth Inbreds

585    Bernd Van Houten    1    01:06:50
584    Dave Reed    2    00:55:39
586    Gari    3    00:49:31
583   Guest rider    4    00:41:52
583    Guest rider   5    00:42:02
585    Bernd Van Houten    6    00:55:10
584    Dave Reed    7    00:45:34
586    Gari    8    00:51:42
586    Gari    9    00:53:09
586    Gari    10    01:03:05
585    Bernd Van Houten    11    01:01:42
585    Bernd Van Houten    12    01:05:35
584    Dave Reed    13    00:57:52
584    Dave Reed    14    00:58:36
586   Gari    15    02:04:34
586    Gari    16    00:58:04
585    Bernd Van Houten    17    01:02:28
585    Bernd Van Houten    18    01:09:48
584    Dave Reed    19    00:50:23
584    Dave Reed    20    00:56:42
586    Gari    21    00:50:00
583   Guest rider    22    00:45:16
585    Bernd Van Houten    23    01:00:55
584    Dave Reed    24    00:48:43
586   Gari    25    01:07:51

And if you want, you can click here to download a Google Earth file of the course.

Sleepless in the Saddle Course

I went on my recent trip to the Isle of Man with high hopes of lots of quality mountain biking. I had heard that there were a couple of purpose built trails in the South Barrule plantation and that someone from Coed y Brenin had been there to consult on the building of these. I also had lots of routes printed out.

As it happens, the weather wasn’t great, I forgot to take an OS map with me (despite having several of them) and many of the routes involved quite a bit of distance on the road so I didn’t get around to doing nearly as much as I would have liked.

I did manage to explore the routes within the South Barrule plantation. I actually did them both several times. They are both very short. The ‘Kipper’ route is only 1km long and is a simple loop up a fire road and then down through a short (300m) piece of relatively simple single track. An ideal starter for someone new to mountain biking I guess and graded as a blue trail. For the more experienced it only takes a few minutes to do and isn’t really that exciting.

The longer ‘Viking’ route is graded as Red, but is still only 5km long and again not too challenging (although I did manage to come off on it once!) Again it follows a loop through the forest on fire road with one short piece of single track on the way up and then has a longer single track descent back down through the forest where it joins up with the end of the Kipper trail. The single track is nice enough with a few tight corners and some nice bits of ‘north shore’ woodwork to negotiate. Nothing too challenging though if not attacked and some of the corners would probably benefit from some berms to improve the flow. I managed to come off on the first bit of woodwork in the rain when it was a little slippery.

As well as the marked trails there are also loads of other likely looking trails through the forest and I spent some time exploring some of these. Some of them are better than the waymarked trails. They are more natural and a little more tricky and some are full of slippery roots.

All in all, the waymarked trails are a great start, but are far too short to really encourage people to visit them. Some longer trails would really help and there are plenty of natural trails to explore. Some of these can easily be joined up to make a much more interesting route.

Here’s a you Tube video of the singletrack that I found.

I didn’t explore much further due to lack of time, but I did do a nice ride around the Viking Trail and then off into the Corlea plantation and onto a muddy track around the southern side of South Barrule, just above the Whisky Run that came out at the top end of the Whisky Run itself. This bit of track was well used by bikes and a little too muddy to be fun in places but rideable most of the time. From here I headed up to the crossroads and down along a greenway (The bridleways of the Isle of Man) towards Glen Maye. This descent was good with lots of banked water bars to act as ramps and some rocky sections along with a river crossing. From the bottom of this descent there would be many ways to go to make a more interesting route but I simply headed back up a steep lane and back on the road to the South Barrule car park.

There’s certainly plenty of potential and I’ll be back soon. Hoepfully this time with a map and more time to explore properly.

The busy week here continues… We’ll tell you more about some of the things we’ve been doing later, but I did manage to squeeze in the weekly Ystwyth MTB club night ride last night and actually remembered to take some photos too. So, for those of you who wonder why we put ourselves through the pain and discomfort of mountain biking at night in West Wales, then just check out some of the views.

OK, there are days when even I feel as though the last thing I want to do is put on my waterproof gear and head out into the freezing cold, wet and miserable Welsh Hills, but I almost always do and I always feel better for it and enjoy myself when I do. There are also those occasions when it isn’t cold, it isn’t raining and you have a great ride with good company and some of the best views in Wales. It can be really beautiful up there.

Last night we started on the track just above Angler’s Retreat and did our usual route out through Hyddgen to the top of the ‘Chute’. Down the descent of the Chute and then up the nasty climb back to the top. We had planned to then drop into Artist’s Valley, but Dave had no brake pads so we simply headed back to the cars.

Click here for Google Earth file of the Angler’s Retreat – Chute route

Just get out there and ride!

This weeks Ystwyth-MTB night ride was in the Dyfi Forest. Just Dave, Jon and myself this week and as Dave and Jon are pretty fast I had a pretty hard ride doing my best to keep up.

It was a good ride in lovely conditions, hot and sunny. A little too hot really but we shouldn’t complain about that. We started out along the ClimachX trail, up the long climb and then along the first two bits of singletrack, then up the next little climb, by which time Dave and Jon were starting to leave me behind and I was struggling at the back. We stayed on the ClimachX Trail for the next two bits of singletrack before leaving it and heading off down the steep, muddy but lots of fun 3 in 1 descent.

From here it was a long climb to the top, back onto the ClimachX Trail and some more singletrack. Then on the rocky climb, instead of turning left and onto the singletrack across the top, we carried on up before heading down a steep descent into the next valley. From here it was a traverse around the valley to the first climb of the Dyfi Enduro. By now I’d come alive a bit and actually climbed this really well, overtaking Dave in the process and doing my best to keep up with Jon. I did of course know that it was the last climb of the evening so did put in quite a bit of effort.

All down hill from here on the final descent which was really good. It changes everytime I do it and tonight was no exception but I did manage to stay in touch with Dave and Jon and had a really good ride.

Click here for a Google Earth file of the ride.

I took my new camera along for the ride as well, getting a photo in before the ride an one halfway down the final descent.

I first did the Raven MTB Trail at Brechfa, not long after it first opened in August 2008. There were a few of us on that ride and it has to be said it was quite a mudfest! Some sections were closed due to the surface breaking up and others were barely rideable. It was fun and certainly showed promise, but it took us ages to complete it (over 3 and a half hours), we had several mechanical issues and although it was fun, it was quite a slog at times. You can read my complete session log from that ride here. I enjoyed it but as you can see finished up by saying:

Definitely a trail to do if you can, but it may be better when not quite so wet and muddy.

Well, last week I had the chance to do it again. Unfortunately it had been raining heavily for a week or so beforehand so it was going to be wet, but I’d heard reports that much of it had been resurfaced and the mud wasn’t so much of an issue.

I set off from the car park and the frist sections (that it shares with the blue trail) were all riding really well. Then when the trail split, the first climb was just as brutal as before, but it has been re-surfaced and lots of extra drainage has been put in, so although it still drags on and I was in the little chain-ring it is now rideable. It is still quite a tough climb though. The muddy, slippery descent is still pretty much the same, but they have re-jigged the final bend onto the fire-road to make it a little easier. It’s still quite a challenge though which is good and I don’t mind some mud in the right places. I’m not sure how long this descent will stand up to abuse from MTB tyres though.

Then it was into the trail proper, lots of climbing for the first half, but everything was much better than last time. Quite a bit of easy single track climbing and quite a bit of time spent in the little chain-ring for me, but all OK. The descents all seemed a little easier than last time as well. Maybe I’m getting better, or maybe my new bike helps, but last time I felt as though I was close to my limit much of the way around, this time it was just fun. The bit through the woods across the top has had quite a bit of work done on it and was much better and the section that we missed last time due to trail closure was really nice. A nice flowing section weaving in and out of the trees.

The final third of the trail is much more un-natural with some big man-made structures, lots of big berms, table tops, log balances and bridge crossings to really mix things up and by now I was feeling good and enjoying the ride. By the time I got back to the car park (1 hr 45mins after starting), I felt as though I wanted some more and did contemplate popping back up to do the final bits again.

Its a good trail. The black grading is probably justified, but it is all perfectly rideable. I might even get back next week for another go.

Here’s a Google Earth File of the Raven Trail at Brechfa.

And here’s the topographic profile, complete with my heart-rate trace!

I’ve kind of vounteered myself to guide a few people on a MTB ride tomorrow and people have been requesting the planned route, so here it is.

Route for tomorrow

Of course, the weather may well dictate otherwise.

The plan is to start from Nant yr Arian Visitor Centre and head out on the Conti Trail, Italian Job, out towards Llyn Blaenmelindwr and Spaghetti Junction, past the lake and on to Llyn Syfydrrin. Across the bridge and out on the Continental Trail, until it bears right at which point we’ll go left through the ford and out towards the Bont Goch descent. We do most of the Bont Goch descent and then turn off right towards the mines before climbing all the way back up to the Nant y Moch road and then up a tricky litle climb towards Angler’s Retreat. From there we head down the MXer trails and back towards the Nant y Moch Road and join up with the Conti Trail again. We’ll then retrace our steps back through the ford and across the bridge back to Llyn Syfydrrin and then around to the Hippity Hops and then off onto the Summit Trail. Moorland section, Mark of Zorro, Leg Burner. Drunken Druid, High as  Kite and back to the visitor centre… Phew!

Should be about 27 miles in total.

Waterproofs will be needed judging by the forecast!

For a change from our usual Ystwyth-MTB weekly evening ride we headed off to Pennal Woods last night for a little guided ride by Shem.

Shem, martyn, Dave, Simon, Dan and I met in Pennal (which was looking a little grey) and headed off into the woods where we met up with Tegid and Andy. A little climb and then it was onto some slippery grassy downhill where Simon managed to snap his deraileur hanger so had to end his ride prematurely.

We then had a relaxed ride doing the usual fire road climb followed by grassy or muddy descents. I saw Martyn go over the bars once and then it was my turn on a dark, root descent my front wheel went into a dip and didn’t come back out again so I had a little excursion of the handlebars too.

Shem had built a couple of little wooden jumps on the final descent so we played around there for a bit before heading out of the clouds and back down to Pennal. It was a nice change from the usual trails at Nant yr Arian, Angler’s Retreat or ClimachX, and I’m sure we’ll be back for some more soon.

Click here for a Google Earth file of our route in Pennal Woods.

I’ve had a few people ask for the actual route that we took on the Dyfi Enduro at the weekend.

So here is a Google Earth file of the Dyfi Enduro route.

Just download it and open with Google Earth. It includes the punishment loop that the top 200 riders had to do.

With one week to go until the Dyfi Enduro, we had planned a pre-event ride around the course as part of our training schedule. We didn’t quite do the whole distance as we missed out the bits on the road, instead starting and ending at the ClimachX car park. The course does change a little each year as well, so we weren’t sure what would be the exact course but it was pretty close.

Our party was 12 strong, Me, Dave, Myles, John, Mark, James, Jon, Matt, Stu, Paul, Pete and David who was about to go off on his own but I spotted him in the car park and invited him to join us. We started with the long climb up to the top of the final descent of the ClimachX. I soon ended up towards the back of the pack, but was pacing myself for a long day in the saddle.

At the top of the climb, we headed off down the first descent, through the forest and then out onto and across the open field. Thankfully it was all pretty dry and therefore easy going, but if it has been wet then this bit up to and across the fields could be quite tough, especially for those of towards the back!

We then dropped down over the very rocky descent from the field where we had the first incident of the day. James took an unplanned excursion over the bars, landed on his face on the rock, broke his glasses and cut his nose and face. He also had a swelling to one eye and was pretty shaken by the ordeal. After some first aid, the rest of us continued down the descent whilst James walked for a while. He did get back on his bike for the final couple of sections of the Baileys Descent, which also claimed a few victims further down with punctures, 3 or 4 on this descent alone!

Mark, John and David headed off to get James’s car and help him home. Mark and John ended up driving with him as far as Llangurig, and David headed back into the woods and caught us up later. The rest of us continued on the route, up the climb from Baileys Bridge, down a nice descent and then back up to the feed station where we stopped for lunch and were re-joined by David.

After lunch we headed off again, down one descent and up another climb, then down another descent and up another climb, and then down another descent and (do you notice a pattern yet?) up another climb. This one was pretty tough, steep, rocky and seemed to go on forever, but it was worth it for the three downhill sections after. Another stop for puncture repairs and then up a long climb back towards the ClimachX Trail.

We stopped again to discuss where to go next and ended up heading along the ClimachX Trail for a bit and then down the Elephant descent, before cycling across to the Builth Descent for the final bit of excitement for the day. From here it was back along the road and up the short but steep climb to the cars.

A good day out and its going to be tough next weekend with 700 hundred people on the course! Lets hope for nice weather.

Click here for a Google Earth file of the  Dyfi Enduro Route. Download it and open it with Google Earth.

Distance: 27.38 miles. Total Time: 6hrs 5 mins. Moving Time: 3hrs 20 mins. Total Climb: 5395 feet.

Please comment if you found this helpful.