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Ashton
MTB Enduro 2004 |
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Well
it all kicked off for me when I left the house @ 07:15 on the Saturday
morning, loads of time to get to Cwmcarn I thought! Picked Paul up @ 07:45
he was ready and raring to go been up since 06:00!! Left Aston @ approx
08:00 then onto Tony's place, Ah road closed, UM I think I know a way
round, Yep arrived in one piece in Lenchwick, Tony was nearly ready so we
moved around the bikes and added more roof carriers fitted the bike and
after Tony had finished his yoghurt we were on our way. Stopped at the
service station to fuel up both ourselves and the jalopy, then hoooray we
are actually bombing down the motorway. At
10:00 sharp Tony's phone rings "Where are Ya?" Ah that'll be
Brian then after all the preparation and leaving very early I we were
running 10 minutes late!! As
we arrived the usual 'what time do you call this??' 'You'll
have to catch us up because we're leaving now' echoed
out across the car park at us. Oh great we thought the first trail we get
to we have to ride like loonies just to catch the others up! We
caught them up right at the top of Cwmcarn nightmare climbing after Paul
had broken a chain Tony falling off and myself throwing up twice as I went
through my max heart rate by what felt like 50bpm!! Once at the top
all that was forgotten as the twisty turny singletrack lay in front of us,
the first section we got the pecking order way out as some of us were
following the slower more careful riders down at more reserved steady
pace. The nasty little climb was attempted and ridden by most of us
which was quite satisfying. Loads more singletrack downhill was to come,
this is where myself and Paul took a lot of our photo's. On the last bend
of the day Brian and Martin both ran out of talent as the came off (Please
see photo's). Back to the car packed up really quick and onto Afan, some
of the others went for lunch and Martin and Anna departed for a more
leisurely afternoon. Afan.....
um Nuff said.....!! We
arrived at Afan just gone 13:00 knowing time wouldn't be on our side as we
wanted to ride both Whytes Level and The Wall here. The others (John M,
Clive, Luke, John, Brian, Matt, Ruth) arrived a nearer 14:00 with the
car park attendant jogging up the car park after Pete and Brian who
drove straight past the poor bloke without paying no doubt nearly running
him over! As we we're all lined up discussing what time we had left and to
which trail we were going to ride Tony decided to fall off again! Ah well
we're all used to that now so Whytes Level won the vote, so we left into a
very strong headwind riding up the valley stopping by a waterfall to take
a group photo. After what seems an eternity we took a left turn up some
very rough singletrack and through one of those anti motorbike gates (Pain
in the arse) We all climbed at a very high pace until I saw Paul stood way
off the track in undergrowth with a funny look on his face, Ah Ouch he hit
a big boulder with his bar end ripping the end off of it then hitting his
plumbs on the stem ripping his shorts (See photo). Ah well onward and
upward myself, Tony and Paul screamed up the rest of that track and whilst
waiting for the others at the top Paul pulls out his injury where he finds
it has been cut and bleeding (No photo!!). At the next gate Tony decides 2
offs for the day isn't enough so takes a great dive into a bramble bush,
he refused to stay there whilst I got the camera out! After
finally reaching the top it was time to regroup and take a breather but it
was very chilly up there so couldn't wait too long. As we left a bloke
appeared on a knackered old GT wearing no helmet but that wasn't the scary
thing, he had wellies on, Um Wales, Sheep, Mountainside?!?! Descending
on singletrack with sweeps and jumps and rocks and BIG drops off tot he
side is just what its all about. Later on in the trail there is a section
where I thought is was only right top warn the newbies to this trail that
there were some big slabs of rock with drop offs on the other side of
them. When riding these very fast the amount of time spent in the air was
great the only downside to this is you tend to loose the braking
capability and steering of the bike which with tree roots and rocks coming
past you is very scary indeed. At the bottom of one of the singletrack
descents John had a Trek moment a fairly rare occasion for John as
normally he doesn't notice anything wrong at all until it dies!! That's
it back to the start a fantastic singletrack that we WILL be going back to
ride sometime soon. Now all we had to do is ride back down the valley this
time with a tail wind, Nice we were back in no time at all. After getting
changed, eating the cake and for most of us attaching the bikes
onto the car most left for the M4 to drive home. It took some longer than
others due to the fact Pete noticed the bikes on the back of his car
weren't actually on the back of his car anymore! Brian's decided to take a
lay down in the outside lane whilst Pete's was in the middle! That said
there wasn't too much damage to either bike or on coming traffic! Imagine
hitting an Orange bike at 70mph, that'll defiantly trash an artic truck! Myself,
Tony and Paul headed North on a three hour journey taking us through the
depths of Wales, we saw plenty of sheep, boarded up houses and the fattest
kid on the planet, he couldn't even put his arms down by his side he was
that large! We arrived at the guest house www.tynygroes.co.uk
very welcoming with good food, the room wasn't too bad except the shower,
this was very poor. 08:00
the alarms sounds we're feeling a little fragile after Tony's 3 offs and
Paul's sore ******* and of course the hard days riding before! Anyway down
for a full English breakfast to kick start the day off. Unlocked the bikes
from the secure storage and put them onto the roof for the two mile drive
to Coed Y Brenin. Just
the three of us today so we decided to ride the MBR trail first the Red
Bull later, off we went climbing again feeling battered from the day
before. They have changed some of the trail so didn't really know where we
were for the first few miles. Once we were back on familiar downhill
trails it was time to get some speed up...........Crash.........'Tone
are you alright?!' Wooooops a blow out on the front whilst riding down
slippy wet rock at speed sir? Oh suits you sir! Tony walked to the end of
the section where myself and Paul took care of the blow out and Tony
looked at the hole on his elbow which had a river of blood oozing out of
it. (See photo) It was suggested that we cancelled the rest of the ride to
seek medical attention but Tony being 'Ard' he declined the offer and
wanted to finish what we'd started. The trial was absolutely fantastic for
views and good techy singletrack but is in much need of repair, this in
mind made Afan a much better place to go and ride. When
we finally arrived back at the car Tony's arm was getting sore and his
bike needed a service and gear tune up because he managed to bend the rear
mech/hanger on the final tumble. So we entered the cafe and ordered
lunch, this is when we decided that The Red Bull will have to wait until
another day and Tony's arm needed fixing. After lunch we drove home then
Tony took himself off to A&E for a stitch. I
had a fantastic weekend cheers to Paul and Tony and also everybody who
made the Saturday's ride too. (John M, Clive, Luke, John, Brian, Martin,
Anna, Matt, Ruth) Sheldon
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More photos from Brian and Sheldon including close-ups of the nasty bits! Web
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