Afan Forest 11th - 13th May

I had spent all week looking at the weather forecast, and it didn't look good. Friday came and we duly set off just after noon and the weather was overcast but at least it wasn't raining. The journey to Afan was fairly trouble free but not long after we crossed the seven the heavens opened. Garry and I now had the task of pitching the new tent in the rain as quickly as possible. The dry run of pitching the tent in Bruce's garden several weeks earlier paid dividends, and within about 10 minutes we were under "canvas" so to speak, with a brew on the go.

We both decided against going for a short ride on the Friday due to the lousy weather and instead I enjoyed Garry's legendary cooking skills, washed down with several bottles of Speckled Hen. Following several more beers in the Cafe, we settled for a fairly early night.

Saturday morning and the rain had stopped, and following a quick breakfast we headed off to the trails. First up was Penhydd. Garry typically made climbing look far too easy, but we had both put on too many layers, so a quick pit stop half way up the first climb was needed to remove 2 layers. I found the climbs at the start of the trail tough. Following this seemingly endless session of climbs we were rewarded with a great downhill section called the hidden forest or something like that. It was an amazing decent, not fast but really enjoyable especially for a novice like me. After this, several more climbs led to another downhill section called the Sidewinder. WOW what a ride, banked curves and unlike the previous downhill section the surface was fairly loose and very exhilarating to ride on and down. This trail was an excellent introduction to proper mountain biking.

After lunch we headed off on the second trail, named the wall. The early stage of the trail was a fairly gentle uphill section, nothing spectacular but the rain that had threatened all morning was now upon us. This trail was, in my opinion, more technical than Penhydd especially the downhill parts, in particular the "Graveyard" which had me off the bike a couple of times. The final downhill section went on and on as did the "Graveyard" and by the end of these runs I was as tired as I was when I had to go uphill. Of the two trails I preferred Penhydd, and I think Garry did also.

Saturday night was spent in the Drop Off Cafe, where the food is fantastic as is the hospitality.

Sunday morning was wet, but the Whites trail was there to be conquered, even though it was slightly shorter than normal due to forestry work on part of the trail. I suffered on the early stages of the uphill sections, my legs felt weak from the previous day. It was worth it however, after a slight hesitation we did the black run and this was maybe the highlight of the trip, but as ever Garry made the descent look easy. In addition to this very technical part of the trail, a section of North Shore followed and this was yet another first for me, and the concentration needed to avoid falling off was immense. The rest of the trail was pretty much downhill back to the camp, but the rain had made the rocks quite slippery. This trail was on a par with Penhydd, but may have just edged it with the black run section.

Time to pack up the tent and the rain was now pouring down, however, we were both already wet so it didn't matter.

A great weekend, but I need to work on my climbing skills and fitness before the next trip.