End of Month Ride – Brechfa in the snow

We had a good Ystwyth-MTB end of month ride today, even if I was the only person from Ystwyth MTB club.

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.

2 Responses

  1. Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

    In my haste to post about our days activities I forgot to mention a few things.

    I forgot to mention Jim’s dog that either followed us or led the way all day long. He was the best behaved trail dog ever, always there but not once did he get in the way even a little bit.

    I forgot to mention the fact that even though Jay and Brad are my younger brothers and a few years younger than me and Matt and Beale are pretty much half my age, the still couldn’t get up the hills as quickly as me! 😉

    Also forgot to mention the lovely curry and beer I had when I got home. Anna had cooked it for me so I could jump into the bath and then had dinner waiting for me when I got out… perfect… In fact I’m raring to go again now, anyone fancy a night ride!

    Al.

  2. Avatar forComment Author Jay says:

    I agree, a great day on yet another new trail for me.
    No such luck for me to have food on the table though. Jennie did get most of the roast ready, but was struggling as she had spen most of the day in the hospital as she sliced th top of her finger off.

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.

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