bikes and things

I’ve been meaning to write this up for a while now as it was such a superb weekend. We left London on the Friday after work and headed up to Abergorlech where I had booked a holiday cottage for the five of us for the weekend – Vaughan, Matt, Marc, Graham and myself. The cottage is owned by the guys who run the Black Lion which is just a few doors up.

Our trip from London was fairly epic, but a lot easier for myself and Matt, as Vaughan had kindly offered to drive in his newly converted VW van. After escaping the Hammersmith traffic we headed up the M4 leaving icy cold London behind, cue impromptu singalong to The Smiths, Hatful of Hollow as well as a few old 90s rave tracks. We reached the end of the M4 by around 10pm and the route I had plotted with my phone was sub-optimal at best crap. I managed to take us the back route which included a a snow covered peak with drifts of snow and ended in sheet ice on hills we were trying to climb and not forgetting a narrow ford crossing with sheet ice either side. The van handled it all with ease with the only concern being that we might miss last orders. Fortunately we made it just in time to sink a pint of Guinness and meet up with Graham and Marc who had travelled earlier – and taken the main road route which was far less exciting.

M4 – lots of it.

Lazy Sat
After a decent sleep, in what was a surprisingly well appointed and comfortable little cottage, we got up early, ate a hearty breakfast, dusted off the bikes, faffed for a bit and finally made it onto the trails.

Pre ride faff – new bike means I’m allowed to faff more.

Whilst there wasn’t much snow at the lower levels we quickly reached a fair bit of the white stuff during the first climb. By the time we hit the first downhill at the top we could barely see the trail. There was a vague line with what appeared to be series of jumps and tables but all covered in a good few inches of snow. I managed to wash out on one of the corners – I think it was a corner anyway. Whilst the ride down wasn’t particularly fast it was pretty good fun just being out in the snow and ice in a kind of “this is a bit stupid” kind of way.

Looking amazing in the snow.

On the last section of trail I was riding behind Matt on what turned out to be a pretty slippy section of gravel descent. Matt’s bike went right, then left and then promptly ejected him from the bike for me to watch him rag doll down the hill in a fairly alarming way. He dusted himself off and climbed out of the bushes and was fine. Turning the corner we met a fella who hadn’t been so lucky on the same stretch and had taco’d his front wheel and put a hole in his cheek with his tooth. He looked a little pale but his mates were close by so we moved on.

By the time we reached the end of the trail it had started raining and there wasn’t really much appetite for getting any wetter and colder than we already were. So we got back, showered and went to the pub for lunch and a pint. No one felt like getting wet after lunch either to we went back to the cottage, lit a fire and watched the rugby and had a snooze. By 7.30 we were back to the pub! A fairly lazy day to be honest but we had been riding in the snow for at least two whole hours. A bit more TV showing the unfolding snowpocalypse in the rest of the UK and then bed.

Well Vaughan you say that but…

One very good reason to stay indoors.

Sloshy Sunday
After another decent sleep and hearty breakfast we stopped at Afan for a trip around Whites level. The air was definitely warmer than the day before which meant a bit more sloshy wet trails and snow melting in places but then still slippy and icy in others. Confusing to know which bits would grip and which bits wouldn’t.

Matt kindly riding it “one more time”.

Upwards.

There was no hanging around at the top as it had got much colder. It was saddles down, feet out and riding the snow down the first section. Completely sketchy and took a while to get back into pointing the bike downhill again. Things were starting to come together again though and I had started to get the feel of the new bike. I’d got used to the suspension a bit more and was happier to push it a bit more in places. It certainly helped keep a lot more speed through the twisty rocky sections. I was actually a bit shocked at how much difference it made after thinking I had been riding a hardtail pretty quick round there before.

Team photo with whiskey & energy bars.

Berm shot © Matt Noble

The last descent was by far the most enjoyable for me. I was surprised to ride into the start of it and not entirely recognise the trail as there had been forestry works to remove most of the tress around. What was once a shaded and woody trail through the trees had become much more open and flat out pedally feeling. Different but still the same trail once you were into it. The down all seemed to end too quickly and it was back to the carpark, some clean clothes on and then a good feed, back in the van then home.

A superb weekend. Planning the next one now, probably Coed-Y-Brenin then a bit of Llangelda. I’ve also been looking for dog friendly holiday planning for my friend John. The dogs may not be able to chase us on our bikes all over the mountain but more on that soon!

Some more pics from Vaughan, Matt and the rest of mine as well as a few Instagrams below.