The 3 of us finally left Buckingham shortly after 2 pm on Friday the 13th and without a lucky rabbits foot or black cat to hand, we headed off "up North" (well North West). Luck was, as a result not on our side and despite the use of a road map and a Tom Tom we hit bad traffic and later bad weather.
We arrived at the camp site at 7.45pm and met a chap who needs to go on a people skills course. Had it not been late and raining, I have a feeling the usually calm Garry would have told him where he could stick his campsite rule book and we would have found an alternative site. When we unloaded the car, the rain had eased a tad and we quickly got the tent up, the now traditional "Speckled Hen" opened and Garry firing up the camp stove. After another few beers and some interesting chat it was time to get some z's.
The morning was overcast but at least it was not raining, in fact the weather steadily improved throughout the day. Following breakfast we "saddled up" and headed off down the road to the trail centre.
The first trail was a short one at just under 9k's called Temtiwr. This was basically a warm up, however the start is fairly technical for the uninitiated. Also the end of the trail was a hard fire road uphill and a fairly technical downhill back to the centre. This would be re-visited later.
A quick snack at the centre and it was off to tackle the Dragon's Back, 31k's in length and graded as Severe. The start was the same but after about 10 minutes into the trail it branched off from the Temtiwr trail via a bridge over the amazing white water rapids below. A section of the trail called "Beefy" was interesting as it was basically a stream. Half way round we stopped off for a cuppa and a cake at a Cafe. At this stage we took a short cut and both Garry and myself decided to walk up the extremely steep road, Bruce on the other hand spun that granny ring all the way up, so the fitness is back.
We then rejoined the trail at several downhill sections named after the Adam's family. We had missed out Gomez and rejoined the trail at Morticia which merged into Pugsey and this is the most difficult cycling I have done so far, in fact I along with 3 others we had met from Bristol decided to walk our bikes down, rather than risk broken bones. Back on the bike for Lurch and then Uncle Fester which was a man made section and rather like a roller coaster, and very enjoyable, and I know "Dave" would have had fun on this section of the trail.
The next part of the trail was called the Pink Heifer, and as ever I rode at the back and about half way down I met the other two and what looked like an incident. Garry had misjudged a jump and hit the bank with his right ankle taking the worst of it. We had a few k's still to go, mostly familiar territory as we rejoined the Temtiwr trail, and this was the hard slog uphill and the technical downhill.
We had a hard ride back to the camp site but had the beers and dinner to look forward to.
Saturday evening was fantastic, good weather, good beer, good food (even Bruce rustled up supper) and good company. Sunday was wet and Garry's ankle was looking like an elephants foot. Time to call it a day and drive home.
My highpoint from this weekend was the fact I did not struggle with climbing up the hills and I am pleased with my overall fitness level.
Can't wait for the next outing, and we really do need to take some more photo's !!
Showing posts with label Speckled Hen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Speckled Hen. Show all posts
20 May 2007
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.
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.
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