Dragonsback, Coed y Brenin

It was the last Sunday of the month at the weekend, so it was the Ystwyth MTB end of month ride. Usually we travel a little further afield for a longer ride but this time it wasn’t too far, just a short drive north to Coed y Brenin. There weren’t many of us either, just Dave,  and myself which was a shame.

The weather didn’t look great and the MBR trail that we had hoped to do was closed due to felling operations so we decided to do the Dragonsback trail instead. We started off slowly and had quite a few stops to chat. We had also decided to miss out the loop at the far end that is mainly a fire-road climb and then fire-road descent.

Dave was shooting off ahead and we gave him a couple of minutes on each section so that he could take some photos as John and I approached him. We were lucky with the weather, there was the odd bit of drizzle but it stayed mainly dry, and the trails were riding well. The new, heavily armoured sections are going to last a while, and we went back for a second go on lurch.

Before we know it though we were at ‘The beginning of the end’ having had a thoroughly goof day out in the hills and forests of North Wales. Its just a shame there wasn’t a few others out with us, we’ll have to work on that.

Dave and I then went to the visitor centre cafe for a well deserved hot chocolate and blueberry muffin before heading home. Back at home I cleaned my bike only to find that I had snapped 3 spokes in the rear wheel. Oh well, more repairs, and maybe a new wheel so that I have a spare!

Although it was the Boardwise Demo weekend at Aberdyfi, there was no hint of wind so after taking Morgan swimming in the morning I met Steve and Darren (Bad Excuse for a Sailor or BEFS) at Coed y brenin for a MTB ride.

It was a warm, sunny day and the car park looked quite busy so after pfaffing for a bit of time in the car park we headed off for a ride around the MBR trail to start with. This was Steve’s first mountain bike ride since his knee op so he took it easy on the first rocky bit out of the trail centre but seemed OK. BEFS and I waited at the end of the section for him, and I checked my spokes in my rear wheel at every opportunity after snapping a couple last week. I had since had the wheel checked over and all spokes re-tensioned properly. My bike also started its annoying squeak again and I can’t work out where it is coming from as all seems OK when I’m not on the bike… I don’t think its my joints!

I hadn’t done the MBR trail before so was a little surprised by how rocky it was, but soon got into the swing of things. Steve punctured farily soon and joined the ranks of other people lining the trail fixing flats. I was to join him later too. My first puncture for about a year since going Ghetto Tubeless, and all because today I was riding with the rear wheel in standard tubed format because I hadn’t had time to go tubeless after fixing the spokes. Just goes to show how successful the Ghetto Tubeless system has been for me beause as soon as I have a tube in there I get a pinch flat.

The ast section of the trail is still closed so we were soon back at the visitor centre having done about 9 miles. We then headed off for a trip around the Tarw trail. The first couple of sections were closed so this started off with a farily steep climb. BEFS then took a spectacular tumble on the first section of singletrack (Heart of Darkness) and Steve followed suit soon afterwards. Steve also had another puncture later on and started cramping up so was taking things easy. This all came to a head on the final road back to the visitor centre where his legs seized up and he fell off his bike in the middle of the road and then couldn’t get up as he couldn’t move his cramped legs!

BEFS and I obviously found this quite funny and were unable to help him as we were laughing just a little too much! We did eventually help him up and we all made it back to the cars in one piece. Although i did seem to have sustained some chafing which will probably put pay to a ride today as planned. Never mind, I can play on the beach instead.

Anna and Morgan seemed to have a good time too as they had been to the Aberystwyth Show (I’ll let her blog about that!) and then we all had yet another weekend BBQ. This could be the summer of BBQ’s before long.

Map and topo section of Dragons Back

Thanks to the fact that I have a lovely and very understanding wife (does that earn me some more brownie points?) I was able to get out for a MTB ride on Sunday. Rather than head to the usual trails around here I headed north for a ride under the mighty trees of Coed y Brenin.

I stopped off on the way to get a first to find on a new geocache at the Dyfi Osprey Project and then continued on my way to Coed y Brenin. It was raining when I got there and although there were a few people getting ready in the car park it wasn’t that busy. I got changed and soon found myself slipping and sliding over the click rocks and roots of the Dragonsback trail.

I overtook a few people on the first couple of sections but as I got further away from the trail centre there were fewer people about. At about 5 miles into the ride I snapped a spoke in my rear wheel. I didn’t have a spare with me so I stopped and removed it just as the heavens really opened and gave me quite a soaking. I then continued on my way taking it easy so as to minimise any further damage to the rear wheel.

I did overtake a couple more people on the climb after the little cafe and then stopped (once again in a torrential downpour) for a mars bars and to check my rear wheel just before the rocky and more technical sections of the Adams Family. The people I overtook earlier caught me back up whilst I stopped so I rode with them for a little while before leaving them behind again. I’ve only ridden the Adams Family sections once before and that time they were really difficult, slippery, slidey, steep and with big rocks in the way. They have now been completely rebuilt and rode much easier this time. A little too easy in a way, but still good fun.

The last few sections of the trail were closed for repair and re-building so all trails were re-routed along a nice easy route back to the visitor centre. There were loads of people going along here which gave me a little motivation to pick up the speed and overtake them and before I realised it I was back at the visitor centre and the ride was over.

Only about 6 mile in total as the last few bits were missed off, but good fun and definately worth the drive there. I bought a new spoke in the shop and will have to dosome work on my bike tonight. Not only does the spoke need fitting and the wheel truing, but the rear shock could do with a service as well. Oh, and the bottom bracket has seen better days!

Topo section, speed and heart rate

Long time readers of this blog will know that is know a family tradition to go Xmas tree-hunting in the run up to Christmas. Previous posts here will show that we usually meet up for our annual Xmas Tree Hunt at Brockley Combe Forest, cut down a tree, wander around aimlessly for a while and then drive all the way back home. All very nice, but now that none of us live anywhere near Brockley Combe it is quite a trek and there isn’t really much to do there other than cut down a tree. Yes, its a nice walk, but even that is over ground we have trod on every year, so we thought it would be good to do something else this year.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time mountain biking in the forests around here and they are having a Christmas Market at Coed-y-Brenin this year so we thought that would be the perfect place to go. The market will provide a craft and food fair for the girlies, Santa’s going to be there for the children and there will be elves in the forest, there’s a cafe for lunch and plenty of walks to do on new trails with new views and of course a few of us will be able to go mountain-biking too. Hopefully it will be a good day out for everyone and it looks as though everyone will make the trip up from Bristol too.