Strava Challenges - The May Massive.



I've tried a few Strava challenges in the past, I usually end up pretty near the end of the table. The same is more or less true this time round, but I did manage to reach my target of 250km and get a 'challenge badge'. With only a few days of the challenge left to run I still needed around another 60km, I'd done a 60km ride last month, so I thought I'd try for a 100km MTB ride. That would get me to my target distance of 250km and also it would be a distance I would never have imagined riding.

It was a mostly dry day, but the wind was awful, with some sections having a brutal head/cross wind, I never seemed to find a tailwind though! In Margam Park, I took a slight detour to my planned route to ride a section of the XC route from last weeks WMBS race. I continued along the track (rather than turning left), the track zigzagged through the clumps of trees on the hillside to a steep descent back down to the main track. I've watched several MTB races at Margam, many of them have used this descent, and I've seen a lot of people crash or decide to carry their bikes down it. I was worried about the descent, I didn't consider the trail through the trees, as it turned out the section through the trees was tight and rooty and I found it quite tricky. I had second thoughts about riding the descent when I was at the top looking down, but thought I'd give it a go. The surface was loose soil and rocks, I was braking to heavily and the wheels locked and slid on the surface, releasing the brakes the bike straightened up, but picked up speed quickly. I managed to find the right balance and then I was at the bottom and back on track.

At about half way, my route took me over some moorland towards Cymmer and then Blaengarw, it was at this point I realised that I wasn't going to get to the 100km. I reached the top of a small hill, with views down to Maesteg and over to the Afan trails (where I was heading). The soft-ground, cold headwind and spits of rain sapped my strength, I thought it would be better to finish than ride past the point of no return. This was one of the few places on the route where I would have used the same section of trail twice, I turned around and followed my tyre tracks back to the relative shelter of the forestry road.

Once out of the wind, I fuelled up and set off again. My route followed parts of the old (but hopefully soon to reopen Penhydd trail) and the start of Y Wall - Alpha, Elevator and the fireroad climb. Rather than turning left up to Rhiwgregan, I continued onto Glyncorrwg where I had a rest and a bite to eat. Then back down to do Y Wall - where I had a brief chat with a fellow group of riders, I got the impression the thought the climb from the visitors centre to Rhiwgregan had got me to my current b****y knackered condition!

76.5km, just under 7000ft of climbing and 7hours in the saddle, not exactly a blistering pace, maybe I'd have got further, quicker with the Kona Kula (but she's in need of TLC). But if anyone asks, "Can I use the Giant Trance for a long XC ride?", my answer would be Yes!

This challenge, it seems to me like most of the Strava challenges, is very much road bike biased, my MTB 250km target for the month, is ridden by some on a single ride. It would be nice if they would have some challenges which have a MTB bias - though I don't know how they'd achieve this.

Day 1 - Dalbeattie.

A good nights sleep and a full English, Scottish breakfast, ample time spent faffing and we were all set to travel the short step down to the trail at Dalbeattie. Today was cold and wet, a harsh introduction to MTB'ing in Scotland. We spent a little time on the skills park adjacent to the car park and then headed off for the Hardrock Trail, a Red graded loop with some black (very black!) features.

I'm still getting used to the Trance and I didn't have the suspension setup correctly (this was only my 2nd proper ride on the bike!) It's quite a technical trail which I found tough going, the constant pedal strikes began to get on my nerves and some of the features were out of my league - Kudos to the other guys who rode them (maybe even enjoyed them!)


'The Slab' at Dalbeattie

After the Qualifier and the Slab, were the Twins, two slabs of granite with a short transition between them. The Twins were far less kind than the Slab, the granites legendary grip let two of the guys down with a bang. I was already in two minds, so after seeing better riders than me loosing out to the damp stone, I decided to take the 'chicken run' which looped round to the right.

By the time we'd got back to the carpark, the drizzle had stopped, it was now just pouring down! We were soaked, cold and some of us bruised. On the way back to the B&B we stopped into a small bike shop, a few minutes drive from the trail head. While some of the guys looked for a new Sram rear mech - (victim of the Twins) I took the opportunity to have a look at a new Kona Kula - I do still like Kona's.

Personally, I didnt enjoy Dalbeattie!

Some tweaks I need to get done on the bike -

the brake leavers need to have their reach wound back slightly.
More air in front forks
More air in read shock
Check the tyre pressures.
and find someone to shorten the seatpost.

The frameskin arrived today for my Giant Trance X2, I took a gamble and bought the 'skin' for the 2011 bike. My Trance is the 2013 model, but I've been told that the frame is basically the same. Only time will tell!
The film itself is Avery automotive film, checking their website for information shows that it's got a 7 year guarantee. So it should resist yellowing and cracking, which was a concern. There's also a video on the site with instructions on fitting the film. I'll post some photo's if the installation goes well.