On Monday Emma, Jane and I went to see the awesome film Kick Ass. I laughed my ass off all the way through. So many great references throughout it and also just some really endearing moments. Incredibly well done. My favourite part has to be when Kick Ass and Red Mist are in the car bobbing their heads to Gnarls Barkley.
You should see it!
Just got back from 3 days of incredible riding in Wales with Matt, Graham, Marc as well as their friends Matt, Malcom and Bobby. Matt and I arrived at Afan on the Sat after the usual early depart from London with the other guys meeting us there on the Sunday.
Matt & I headed out to do the Skyline trail. Some say it’s boring and not as good as the rest. If it’s thrills you’re after then it’s not the trail to do, but Matt and I both settled on getting a few more miles in our legs. So 2000m of climbing and 44k kind of fits the bill! Really enjoyed the trail although certain sections were more like riding down rocky streams than trails. The views at the top were incredible! Matt and I were at the top watching a glider below us. Brilliant, although we didn’t hang around too long as it was pretty exposed. A few shots from Matt’s Flickr below.
On Sunday the other guys arrived and we headed out on W2. Another 44k and 960m of climbing which certainly took it’s toll after the previous days riding. The trails were seriously fast and riding really well. The last descent really was a joy. Rocky as hell and my legs, arms and hands were in tatters. The weather was just amazing on Sunday.
Monday we headed down to Cwm Carn for a quick loop before getting back into the car. All of the others had never ridden the trail before so it was a good chance to show them something new. Only 17k but felt like more after the previous few days. Certainly a bit more damp under tyre but still made for another great trail. We did the freeride area twice even though it was firmly in the clouds.
Overall a superb weekend!
Obligatory group shot:
The previous weekend Vaughan, Matt and myself headed up on a Friday evening to stay in Dolgellau to ride a few trails. None of us had ridden for a while. The drive was pretty arduous on the Friday (well for Vaughan at least – well done sir!) to get to the B+B. So after a decent breakfast and plenty of fettling with the bikes at Coed-Y-Brenin it was out to to ride the Dragon’s Back which is a great 30k route round the forest with about 700m of climbing although fairly evenly spread out. The trail is pretty varied and pretty rocky in places. I managed to rack up 3 punctures in total which was a little testing on all our patience really! Must remember that skinny tyres and a hardtail are not quite as easy to blat through rock fields as the 6″ travel full suss I used to have.
I can never remember the trail names but the section shown below is great. I think it comes after Gomez. You head through loads of switchbacks, rocky and rooty sections and then through a rocky stream into this rocky paved area which twists you down into more sweepy singletrack. Note the use of “rocky”.
Here’s another shot from Matt on Dragon’s Back. Can’t remember where though.
It was an absolutely beautiful day, crisp, clear and bright and actually warm once you got going. Nice riding in shorts and T-shirt again!
I treated myself to a larger rear tyre after we’d finished, hoping to stop the punctures for Sunday. Then it was back to the B+B for a quick shower then out to watch the rugby in Dolgellau. England vs Wales in the local pub! England won so we left fairly sharp for fish and chips then more drinks and then back to the B+B.
Sunday we headed out to Coed Llandegla which is kind of on the way back to the M6. It’s certainly a popular place with the car park rammed by the time we arrived at 11am. Pretty grim weather for it and all feeling it a bit from the day before. Still we got going heading out to the forest. Biting winds and plenty of snow left certainly made a difference to the warm feel of Sat.
We rode the black route again. This time it seemed to flow a lot more and I think I started to get the hang of riding again. Some of the jumpy sections were incredibly good even in the wet.
Here’s a quick group shot taken by Matt.
Anyway, a superb weekend and I think I found myself being interested in riding again. Must head up there again soon.
Emma kept one little extra for me for my 30th. We’re off at the end of the month for a stay in Margate on the North Kent coast. We’re staying in the Reading Rooms a recently created B+B which looks amazing. Apparently Kent’s best curry restaurant is next door. Sounds ok to me!
After spending a few days at home for Christmas I drove back down to see Emma at her Mum’s place just near Cambridge. Whilst we were there we took Snoopy for a decent walk in the countryside. The light was perfect and a real sunny winter day. Still a bit of a chill in the air but really fresh and a perfect opportunity for taking pictures as usual.
Emma found a few places to take pictures of her pretty feet.
And snoopy was as happy as a crazy thing just running around and playing in the remains of the snow.
I spent ages trying to find the right angle for this one.
It was great being in the countryside. If only I could balance a good job, local places to ride and a place to live I’d probably move out in a flash. We could also get a dog too!
…for SketchUp to do it’s thing I thought I’d write about a nice trip Emma and I had in the Park yesterday. After decorating the Christmas Tree went down to Dulwich Park in Dulwich Village which is much bigger than the one next to the flat. I’ve never seen so many dog walkers in my life. Anyway it’s a lovely park and here’s a few photos from our wander.
And this kid was hilarious. The bike was stuck in the waterlogged water and she just kept on pedaling throwing up this huge spray at the back.
Emma and I were lucky enough to try our hand at surfing the other weekend. We went down to North Devon with Vaughan and Shannon who have been riding the waves for a good five years now. That’s them below.
We drove down on the Friday and arranged for some lessons on the Sat. We stayed in a little campsite near Woolacombe. We had booked to stay in a couple of mini-caravan things called “Little Guys”. They’re mini trailers that are literally enough to sleep in and apparently 4ft wide. Not sure I’d be seen dead towing one but it was good fun staying in them. We couldn’t stop laughing when we saw them, I guess we’d kind of expected something err… bigger maybe? So after sampling the local fish and chip shop and making sure we hit happy hour at the campsite bar we were ready for a good sleep.
The next day it was up after an awful nights sleep, a quick trip to get some breakfast and then off to try our hand (balance?) at surfing. We’d booked lessons with Surf South-West down in Croyde. First was the basics, then more basics and finally a dip in the water. We all looked pretty stupid to be fair but at least we all had the same blue t-shirt on!
We both managed to catch a few waves and I even managed to stand up before shouting “wooo yeah” and promptly falling off. We were also both pretty sore by lunch, glad we booked the afternoon session too then! The afternoon session was pretty painful but still great fun. The best bit was just being in the water and getting more comfortable with the surf.
We both woke up on Sunday virtually unable to move. Everything hurt until the following Thursday. I had no idea it gave you such a thorough work out. I managed to spend some time on a board on the Sunday but it was pretty painful and I had kind of lost the will.
An absolutely superb weekend! A few pictures from Vaughan and the full set of mine here.
We’ll be back!
