A much needed weekend in Wales
A much needed escape from London was had last weekend. I managed to leave work at 5 after a fairly eventful week. Matt and Dave joined me in the van to head up the M4 to Afan. Fortunately there was hardly a soul on the motorway and ended up fairly quickly at a fish and chip shop at Port Talbot feasting on the local treats. After a few laughs at the local nightclub advertising a “sauna night” we headed up the valley to set up tents, sink a beer or two and turn in for the night.
After some torrential rain during the night, which always sounds worse under canvas, we woke up to surprisingly good weather. Breakfast was made, bikes fettled and energy bars purchased. The usual discussion of flats vs clips and suspension vs hard tail was also had and the usual inconclusive outcomes drawn. They’re bikes – they’re good.
We went for the W2 option as our trail of choice for the day. Whites was likely to be too short, Skyline too dull so W2 seemed about right. We set off at a fairly decent pace, mainly due to me having not being on a bike properly for a while and wanting to rid myself of some energy.
I’d taken the GoPro and mounted it under the saddle with the idea of getting plenty of footage. Unfortunately I hadn’t rally accounted for the wet weather and mud on the trail. The last time I had shot like this it had been bone dry on the Surrey Hills. For some reason I persevered with it and ended up with lots of useless footage so had to edit it down to something funny as per the below clip.
Had a great time on the trails and as usual once you’re out there you hardly see anyone. A few wet moments but generally the weather held. Plenty of stops and chats and lots of food consumed to get us round. We even found a new cafe to sit down and admire the view at.
Back to the trails and down to the end of The Walls descent to meet that awful slog back up. By the time we’d got back up that, round past the wind farm and out the other side of the energy trail I was pooped and regretting the fast pace I had set to start with. The same trail diversion was in place to it was back up to the top of the first hill and round to the Skyline descent. Great descent but we got stuck behind a few newbies who were struggling to stay on the bike.
After finishing I ate my own weight in lasagne, sank a beer and then enjoyed a crap shower at the campsite. The evening consisted of a trip to Maesteg and all the interesting thing that small Welsh towns hold. A big curry was consumed and the day dissected in great detail. We headed back to the campsite to watch some Olympic action and managed to see Mo win the 10,000m. As per the previous night we were in bed by 10.30. Too tied for massive drinking sessions and the midges were driving me mad.
We packed up the next morning and then headed down the M4 to do a natural trail round Cwmcarn. This idea was soon shelved and we decided to do the marked trail as the weather looked like it was closing in. The climb was pretty painful at first but we warmed to it and the trails at the top are well worth the effort. The final descent was also well worth the slog. I followed Matt down and got some slightly better footage than the day before – this time using the chest cam strap.
A superb weekend but I think it might take a while to get rid of the stench in the van – wet kit and farts still hanging within it.
