End of Month Ride – Joes Back Garden & The Chute
Sunday dawned and time for the End of Month Ride.
The weather forecast was terrible, but once up at Pendam although it looked pretty murly and was quite chilly all looked OK. I met Dave, John, Jimmy and James there and after the usual pfaff and chat in the car park we headed off. The first part of the trail takes in some of the waymarked Pendam Trail at Nant yr Arian, before heading off onto Joes Back Garden.
Dave had a flat before we even got to this though so a little more pfaffing ensued whilst he put a tube (which he borrowed from Jimmy) in his tubeless tyre. The first descent was more rocky than I remember and I was riding really cautiously for some reason. It was then off across a river and up along the rutted track to Aberpeithnant Rock Garden.
After some thought Dave rode it, but no-one else did. From here we headed up the steep climb and then along the road around Nant y Moch to the outdoor pursuits centre under Plynlimmon. It was then off along towards Hengwm, across the river and a stop for some food.
It was still quite cold out here, but the rain held off of most of the day. AFter some climbing through the forests we had the Chute descent to contend with and then the long climb back up and out. The sun was beginning to make an appearance now and once back up to Hengwm and heading off towards the Scalectrix track it was quite pleasant. John was suffering a little by now and I was slowing down too, but it wasn’t that far to go now. Back towards Angler’s Retreat and then down towards Nant y Moch again, before joining part of the Conti Trail, along Sidewinder and then back to the cars.
30 miles in total and a good day out in the hills. Loads of Frogspawn in the puddles and we saw a Hen Harrier in one of the valleys.
Here’s the topography:
Joes Back Garden & The Chute
Click here to download the Google Earth file of the route.
