We had planned to meet at the Bryngwm car park for 10am, so I set off from Aberystwyth at around 8:45 with Dave and John just behind me. The journey there was just as exciting as the ride itself. By the time I got to Llanrhystud there was quite a bit of snow on the ground, but I just made it up and over the hill. A car in front of slid off the road and into the bank a couple of times and gave up and as I pressed on I spotted a few other abandoned cars as well.

Dave and John couldn’t make it up over the hills because of the snow so gave up and headed back to Nant yr Arian for a ride there. I eventually made it and only about 6 minutes late too. Jay, Brad, Matt and Beale were there (from Bristol) getting ready and Kelvin, Jim and another guy from South Wales were there as promised as well.

We pfaffed for a bit and waited in case Dave and John turned up but in the end went off without them for a spin around the Raven Trail. I’d forgotten my phone so couldn’t contact Dave and John to make sure they were OK.

Despite the snow the trail was riding well. They’ve done some work on it and it is holding up well. It was a little sketchy in places but there was plenty of grip and the trail was easy to see most of the time. The climbs were just as hard as ever but it was a good ride. It snowed pretty heavily whilst we were out now and then as well, but it didn’t get too deep.

All in all a good day out and the journey back wasn’t too bad as I took a detour so that I could stay on ‘A’ roads. It’s a shame Dave and John didn’t make it but they had a nice ride at Nant yr Arian anyway and Brechfa will be there another day.

My photos aren’t great, as I’m not really used to my little compact camera and it keeps defaulting to program mode, but here they are anyway as the riders out there today will want to see them.

I had an hours drive along the coast in the sunshine to get to this job, invigilating an exam for a biology student, which is actually quite an easy job. When I turn up at her house, her Mum provides me with my usual bacon sandwiches and coffee and then I sit on the sofa for a few hours making sure the student has everything that she needs and doesn’t use Google or Wikipedia (or anything else that she shoudn’t)! It gives me a chance to listen to some podcasts and catch up with things. Yesterday I even had time to start watching a lecture from the Stanford University on ‘Space: The hunt for hidden dimensions’.

Once the exam was over, I headed off to Brechfa Forest for a Mountain Bike ride around the Raven Trail. The sun was still shining and the trail had dried out quite a bit, even in comparison to last week, so was riding really well. There weren’t many people out there, but I was using my Virtual Training Partner to keep me motivated and although I didn’t try too hard, kept up a nice steady pace and did the entire trail in just over 90 minutes.

Next up was a leisurely drive back home where I discovered that Morgan, Kia, Shaun and my parents had all had a lovely day out, crab fishing in Aberdovey, wandering around a nature reserve and playing in the playground. The all seemed pretty happy and Morgan certainly seems to enjoy having Kia and Shaun to play with.

The wind was blowing so I then headed off for a lovely windsurf session on the seafront at Ynylsas. Amazingly I managed to time it so that I was out on the water during the windiest part of the day. It was then back home for dinner which Anna had lovingly cooked for me.

An action packed day but I did manage to do a fair bit of work as well.

Raven Trail at Brechfa

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!

Topographic Profile of the Raven Trail at Brechfa