End of an era? lets hope not.

I don't know how many people realise, or sadly how many people care; this is the last season for the Afan Argoed visitors centre and for the Afan Valley Bike Shed.

I hope that a way can be found for these facilities to be saved, but as with several of the local primary schools, sadly those hopes are (and are likely to be) in vain; the Council is struggling to deal with huge year on year cuts in funding from the Welsh Assembly. The time for appeals and petitons are over, whats needed now is innovation, a way to help bring more revenue to a great, and unfortuantely underused resource.... or ideally a sponsor, anyone with some spare cash?!.

I must admit, I don't make as much use of the facilites as maybe I should, I live locally so quite often cycle to Afan and tend not to use the cafe as I normally head for home from other points on the trail. Though, on hot days it's been a real life saver with an ice cream and cold drink. Likewise, the 'Bike shed has helped in times of need, with the occasional inner tube or brake pad, but this alone won't keep a buisness running. It needs a lot of peoples £'s, come on guys and girls, support the local bike shop, it wont break the bank and will help keep these places open for when you REALLY need
them.

Here's a couple of thoughts, I guess a drop in the ocean in the funding gap, but to get the wheel turning as it were.

• Increase parking to £2 a day. (this would make the season ticket a much better buy) Parking is currently £1 for all day, it's £3 a day in Glyncorrwg.
• Discount at the cafe for parking season ticket holders.
• Use the cafe, even if it's just for a post ride brew and biscuit! also,
• Use the Bike Shed, even if you just buy a cliff bar or brake pad!
• Regular guided walks from the centre.

I'd like to see a revamp of the visitors centre, but that's just a pipe dream. IMHO, I think the cafe is on the 'wrong side' of the centre, there's the potential to have a cafe with a south aspect and great view down the valley and over some of the trails themselves.

I'll be trying to make more time to support Afan in what's likely to be it's last few weeks, using the cafe rather than rushing home, please everyone, can you do the same. Maybe with enough support, a way will be found to keep the cafe and the Bike Shed open.
   
Would you as a rider be prepared to pay a little more in parking costs if you knew that this was helping keep the facilities open and the trails maintained?

Pairing a Hero 4 Black with a GoPro Remote Control.

As you may have seen in some of my previous postings, the front LCD screen on my 2 day old GoPro Hero 4 Black was smashed.

Overtime the screen has become completely unreadable, which is annoying! A major plus point of the GoPro is it's wifi connectivity and smartphone app. The GoPro app allows pretty much full control of the GoPro and fortunately I'd paired the camera to my smartphone before the screen was smashed, so I've been getting by without the screen.

Unfortunately, I've now changed my phone, so the pairing has been broken. To pair a new phone to the camera a code is required, the code would usually be displayed on the LCD screen - no screen, no code, no pairing!

I've still got my old Hero 2 and Remote Control, Googling the pairing process for the camera and RC let me to YouTube. I found quite a useful video by Brynmag Productions, which I must have watched a dozen times to note down the key presses (as I'm working blind with no screen).

This process worked for me, I linked my RC to the Hero 4 successfully and was able to control the camera, it may not be the same for you - but if you are in the same boat as me, then it maybe worth a try! (I'm not responsible if anything horrible happens!)

Power on (wait a few seconds to start fully)

3 presses of power button to get to settings
1 press of shutter to select settings

1press of shutter to select wifi

2presses of power to get to RC
1press of shutter to select

1press of power to get to 'new'
1press of shutter to select

Make sure your RC is in pairing mode and they should connect.

Another useful tip, is if the camera is off, press and hold the settings button (the one on the side) for a few seconds and it will switch on the wifi.

Bontrager Twentyfour12

I've been pretty quiet on here of late, it's amazing how time gets away from you! I will have to try and get some 'post dated' posts uploaded.

I foolishly agreed to join a team entered in the Bontrager Twentyfour12, basically it's an endurance mountain bike race. There are several races which sit under this umbrella, our team was entered in the 24 hour team race. This years event spanned the 26th and 27th July (this did put the dampeners on my attempt at this years Rapha Rising challenge on Strava)

I really didn't know what to expect of what I've gotten myself into, but what the hey!

The plan was to get down to Plymouth and setup camp on Thursday 24th July, leaving Friday free for a 'natural' loop on Dartmoor, then Saturday and Sunday for the race itself.

Thankfully the guys at Tredz managed to squeeze my full sus in for some repairs, it's been limping since a trip to the Quantocks earlier this year which resulted in a bent mech hanger and mech. I had it straightened shortly after, but it was never right.

Anyway, I decided as this was going to be my hols for this year that I would hire a van, I could then take my full sus and hardtail, plus camping gear, clothes etc and sleep in it if the weather took a turn for the worse. The journey down was hot, very hot! and it wasn't helped by a faulty electric window, according to the thermometer in the van it as 32 degrees.

Friday looked like it was going to be another hot, dry day, by the time we'd got ourselves sorted and up to Dartmoor it was almost 1pm and it was hot.

The ride itself was a mix of terrains including fast and flowing tracks, some long tarmac road climbs and a couple of really tough boulder descents (well I found them tough). A brief stop in the pub was called for, to refill our camelbaks and for a cheeky pint (soft drinks of course, but the ciders looked good) and packet of crisps.

Some tracks were very overgrown, and we had no choice but to push, but the views were well worth it. I'll definitely have to go back.

That evening we had a barbecue and that cider we were due from earlier!

The day of the race dawned, another bright, hot day, the nerves were beginning to kick in. On hindsight I think that we should have done a recon lap of the course! We had breakfast and before the children's races (which one of the guys children were entered in) we worked out what order we'd ride in. Jon would go first, he'd organised the team and had ridden the event before, so would be better prepared for the hectic start, I'd go second, followed by the other two guys. We'd each do two laps before handing over, then as it got dark we'd think about changing this, though we all wanted to do some night laps.

We estimated that our laps would be around 45 minutes, based on that we could work out when we needed to be in transition ready for the change over. I got my ht ready for the race and headed down, the nerves were on edge, was I fit enough? was the course going to be to technical for me?  We all realised that we weren't going to in contention for anything, which took some of the pressure off, but we weren't riding to 'lark about', we wanted to try and do our best.

After about 30 mins waiting, I was there early and we hadn't taken into account that the first lap was a little longer, I saw Jon coming into the Start/finish area, it was to late to back out now. I made my way to the fence and waited to be tagged, one of the guys kids had decided that we should handover with the title of that classic Glee hit 'Don't Stop Believing'! so as I was tagged with this, it did lighten the mood and resulted in an odd look from one or two of the other riders.

The course weaved out of the arena, across the stream then after a short track though a field then up a steep hill, from there a section through the woods which had a few technical, but thankfully not to tough sections, then back down to the camp site via a fast rocky descent, which was really good fun. I did manage to clip my handle bars at the end of this section on a narrow bridge as we entered the camp ground. Sorry to the guys I held up.

From here the course followed the edge of the campsite and into some trees to cross the stream once more, this time resulting in wet feet, which in the heat of the day was nicely cooling. After the stream crossing and some rooty sections through the trees we arrived on a fireroad which climbed to a area which appeared to be of use for clay pigeon shooting. There was a whacking great boulder in the middle of the track which had to be avoided! then a fast farm track section and across the stream for the final time of the lap. Some more farm track to a short steep climb which levelled off until we left the trees and entered the arena via a fast smooth grass descent (30+ mph), and onto transition.

The heat took it's tole, two of the guys got cramp and couldn't continue after their second stint of two laps. I found that I really didn't have the fitness for the hardtail on the bumpy course, where I really needed to stay out of the saddle and use my legs as shock absorbers, so swapped over to my full sus. What time I lost on the climbs, I made up for on the rougher sections of the course. Myself and Jon decided that we'd do another night lap and then call it a day until 8am, when we'd start off again.

We managed a total of 22 laps of the 7.5 mile course, at a fairly consistent time of between 40 and 50 mins during the day over the 4 team members, and around 55 mins for the night lap.
We were firmly near the bottom of the tables, but we all enjoyed and even before the event was over we were discussing entering it again!

Wentwood 50K, Goshawk Challenge, 2014

What a cracking day! Warm sunshine and no rain. My thanks again to Robert Storey for his time during a hectic day. Had a good chat with a fellow photographer, who has had simular issues with their 7D and water ingress.

I'll be uploading my photo's of the Wentwood over the coming few days to my flickr site, please check it out http://www.flickr.com/photos/trackandtrails/sets/72157642113291905/
I've watermarked the images, If you'd like to have the high-res, unwatermarked image, please get in touch (you can also find me on Facebook), all I ask is that you make a small donation to my Tribute fund in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Please feel free to comment, I'd like to hear how the 'Wentwood' went for you.

Managed the 100km milestone!

My mind works in imperial - give me miles over km's! However, I think it's fair to say that 100kms is a milestone in anyone's distance, and a distance I would have never considered attempting this time last year. I attempted the Strava Festive 500 challenge (Christmas week), due to the nature of the challenge, long rides were required and a 100km ride seemed like a target to aim for - unfortunately, I never managed to reach the 100km - I managed 96km - but ran out of time and daylight.

Roll forward a few days to 2014, more rain and another Strava challenge. The wet December has been followed by an even wetter January, in fact the wettest January since records began. Since my New Years Eve ride I'd not used the bike, a new garden fence has taken most of my spare time. DIY mixed with the weather, I'd not thought about entering any of the Strava challenges and quite a challenge (for me) it is. The Gran Fondo tasks you with riding 130km in a single ride; motivated by a dry day off work, excessive competiveness (one of mates completed it on Wednesday) and a rush of blood to the brain, I thought I'd give it a go!

I maybe foolish, but I'm not stupid, well not entirely! I made sure I put some extra psi in the Nobbly Nics and picked a fairly flat route. I based it on the 96km route I'd used previously.

Making sure I had a full Camelbak and some energy bars (thought I'd try the chocolate orange Mule Bar), I set the Trance's suspension to climb and set off. After an hour I was 20 miles in, time to stretch my legs and take my obligatory photo of my bike at Mumbles pier.

Back on the saddle and time to weave my way past the people walking on the seafront cycle track, though been midweek and the cold wind meant for much quieter route than my previous weekend loop. Turning off the seafront, I headed up the disused railway line in Clyne, my target was the Loughor Estuary. As with most railway cycle tracks, it wasn't steep, just a steady uphill gradient, but at this point I really wasn't feeling my 'mojo'. Passing the Railway Inn, I was down to a snail's pace, thankfully the gradient was levelling and the going was getting easier. Soon I was heading downhill and left the trees and emerged into a housing estate. At this point I got lost and ended up in some playing fields in Gorseinon. The pleasant downhill section of cycle track, also meant a long drag uphill for the return leg. I decided that rather than trying to find the Estuary, it was time to head back to the seafront, but first, time for some Mule bar to boost the energy for the climb. Choc Orange, it was okay, but I prefer (I really like) the Apple Strudel version.

Four hours and 45 miles in and to steal a phrase - I was in a dark place! Shattered, hungry and a rear puncture, despite the incredibly wet weather, I couldn't find any standing water to try and find the puncture. I finished the mule bar and pushed up to the crest of the Briton Ferry bridge. From there I rolled down to McDonald's, I could feel the carcass of the wheel flexing, most off putting! A quick McD's and a hot coffee and I was feeling better. Time was getting short, so I drank the coffee on the move (when they warn you its hot liquid, they're not lying!) With some more air in the tyre I set off once again, I hoped that the puncture was slow enough that I wouldn't have to deal with it on route.  However, I was wrong, I had to stop a 2nd time to add more air, so decided that the best course of action was to get into Port Talbot and the Tesco petrol station. I could change the inner tube in a safer spot and use the air compressor there to inflate it. Amid calls of 'puncture is it?', I started to change the inner tube. Wheel stripped down, I got the spare out of my bag, only to find it was from a road bike?! WTF! I've never owned a road bike, so how/why did I have a spare inner tube for one. Ho hum, I guess I'd have to make the best of a bad situation, I knew at this point the 130km was not reachable, but maybe the 100k was possible.

I was 50 miles in to my route, cold, a puncture (very possible two now, as I couldn't find the cause of it and unless I was incredibly fortunate to put the wheel back together in exactly the same position, it could puncture again) and really, really tired. Choice, head home or keep going? Home was 6 miles away, I needed 14 miles for the 100k. 8 miles from somewhere. To fall short so close to completing the 100k for a second time didn't appeal.

I set off once again, the saddle wasn't a friend! Another disused railway line and I was going slow again, but finally I got to Rhyslyn. In the carpark, some other riders were fitting their lights and heading off. Time for me to do the same, lights fitted and tyre inflated again (and would need to be done another four or five times before I'd get home). By the time I was in Cymmer, it was properly dark and cold, I was really thankful I had the Hope Vision with me. I was surprised how busy the trails were, the glow of the lights weaving through the forest was quite eerie!

Home, and oh boy was I tired, but I'd done it, a 104km on my full sus.

Could I have done the 130km without the puncture or if I'd used more XC orientated tyres? (most of the route was on tarmac) I don't know, but I guess there's only one way to find out!

Galaxy S4 Mini - the brave new world.

Finally upgraded my trusty old HTC Wildfire, to be honest, I'd have replaced the battery and kept using it, except for the lack of memory to use Strava.
I took the plunge and went for the Samsung over the HTC one mini, 3 issues swayed the choice in favour of the Samsung:-

replaceable battery - if I do go bike packing, this could be useful.
SD Card - photo's, maps etc.
and no bink feed - really not sure about this feature of the HTC.

I like the Sense interface 'flavour' of Android, but I am starting to get used to the Galaxy, I have installed the Sense Clock widget!

My main gripes about the Samsung:-

The softest vibrate I've had on any phone I've owned
No notification LED
The stock browser isn't the best

Considering the price of the handset, I hope I can get the 3 years (and more) use out of it that I had from the HTC.

Strava Festive 500

Managed the 50% waypoint on the Strava Festive 500 challenge, but only just, 251km reached on the final day of the challenge. A killer 40 mile loop of the Gower, well it almost killed me, just edged me over the distance needed. I had my rear light, but not the front light. Cycling back on the road, in the dark, isn't full - and I would whole heartedly not recommend it. Lesson learnt.


A windswept Wormshead, Rhossili.

Considering a Polarising filter for your wide angle lens? - think twice.

I've had a Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens for a while now and use it quite a lot, for the type of photography I've been trying to do it's a great lens for getting close to the action. (be careful not to get to close!) And of course, if you want to get those big sky landscape shots on a cropped sensor body you need a lens like the 10-22.

For as long as I've had the lens I've considered getting a circular polariser for it, it has a 77mm filter size, and we all know those filters are expensive! But I saw a Hoya Pro filter on sale in Amazon, so took the plunge.

I'd researched different brands and suppliers, but I missed one important piece of information, a polariser fitted to wide angle lens can create some dark bands in the image. I only discovered this after I'd bought the filter and spent a gloriously sunny Autumn day photographing some castles.

As you can see from the shot below, there is a dark 'cone' in the sky at the top centre of the image. You can alter the effect on the image, based on your position, lens zoom and the rotation of the filter.

Brecon Beast 2013

This year I've decided to try and be a bit more proactive in trying to raise some money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. My idea had been to enter a 12 hour enduro MTB race, fortunately the Dusky Valleys 12hour Enduro is fairly local to me. The race started 8pm Saturday night through to 8am Sunday morning, a real challenge and the opportunity to my AyUp's and Hope lights to the test. Sadly the event was cancelled due to the low number of entries. This left me in the position of having sponsorship, but no event!

I needed a substitute event, step forward the Brecon Beast. I photographed last years 'Beast, but it was time to set aside the camera and roll out the Giant Trance. It's always a tough choice between photographing an event and attempting to ride in it! (Wentwood 50k is a case in point!)

I'd missed the cut off for online entries, so it was an early start Sunday to get up to Brecon and join on the day. There was a choice of two routes, the short 67KM route or the long route - a leg aching 97km. For some reason I went for the long route, but you had the choice to swap routes at the split point.

I was riding with some other members of the Mynydd Du MTB club, having a few familiar faces and a laugh waiting for the start helped settle the nerves. The start was just after nine, it was a tight squeeze exiting the sports field, but once out on the road the race spread out and set a good pace down the hill an through Brecon. At this point I feel I should thank the drivers in the area for their patience as several hundred cyclists blocked their way.

Once out of the town and into the narrow country lanes the ride closed back up, with little space you needed to be aware of who was around you to avoid a collision. This was the case for several km, until once again the ride started to spread out. There was alot of tarmac riding, split up by short section of XC, until the we all turned left off Heol Senni and over the mountain towards the feed station and then Sarn Helen and Ystradfelte. At this point the guys (and girl) from Mynydd Du were out of sight, I'd dropped back finding that maybe I'd pushed to hard early on to keep up with them on the Heol Senni climb. It was a tough climb, the start line banter seemed along way off, so focusing on a point just ahead of my front wheel I gritted my teeth and kept pedalling - I find this helps on a long, non-technical climb.

The feed station wasn't quite at the top, there was around another 10 minutes of climbing ahead. I took the opportunity to top up my Camelbak, stretch my back - which was quite painful (must remember to adjust saddle) and have a bite to eat. Apple Strudel Mule bars are Heaven sent! There are really nice! Whilst at the feed station I meet most of Mynydd Du, who were just setting off again - one was awol however! Finishing off the Mule bar, it was time for a scenic pee (maybe to much info!) but despite the weather closing in, there were still some amazing views. Getting ready to set off again I found the awol member of the club - who had bumped into his brother and a mate on the route - small world!

Thinking there would be safety in numbers I waited for them to fuel up and then tagged along with them. Their fitness showed and I was soon at the back of the group for remaining part of the climb. As the track levelled out and then started to drop, I could stand on the pedals and stretch my back and legs again - a welcome relief. The pace soon quicken and the Marshall promise of a good downhill was kept! Starting to pick up speed I was faced with a rider going in the wrong direction - there'd been a crash, heeding his warning I slowed and passed a rider supporting his injured arm. He had a couple of other riders with him, so I pressed on down the hill. Passing bottles and inner tubes shaken from peoples bikes and packs and even some other riders, the climb was worth while - it was fun! I was surprised by the number of people suffering from punctures - the bane of many a ride recently for me. I easily passed half a dozen people changing inner tubes.

Giant goes 650b

Giant have released details of their 650b (27.5 inch) wheel bikes, this is something I've been waiting to see more details about for sometime!

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/globalstartpage/giant-27-5/

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/talon.27.5.1.2014/14783/66102/

I've tried a few 29ers, and I didn't like them (certainly not an exhaustive test, just a few rides around when I was picking my new bike at the start of the year). I've felt that the 650b was something that would really suit me, but certainly there's been nothing available in my price range until now.

I can't justify buying another new full sus bike, though the Anthem and Trance are lovely looking bikes. But, and its a big but, I might be able to stretch to replacing my hardtail with a new 650b hardtail with the Cycle to work scheme. This does of course rely on them been under £1000, I'm hoping that Giant price the bikes for the UK with the scheme in mind. I've also seen a couple of Jamis 650b hardtails, the 2013 Nemesis is a good looking bike, but was sold out in my size. I'll be interested to see what 2014 brings from Jamis, unfortunately, I think that it's going be out of the £1000 C2W limit.

I took a couple of screen shots of the Giant Trance's to compare the geometry and crank heights (I keep hitting my pedals!) Overlaying them in Paintshop Pro (non scientific test) it appears that the crank height is actually lower on the 27.5 Trance. Only time (or more details from Giant) will tell!

I'd really like to give then new Anthem and Trance a try out an see how they ride, time to annoy my LBS again!

Rapha Rising: La Centième

I use Strava on most rides these days, it pandas to my 'inner geek', recording my routes and the distances, something which I used to do with a paper notebook and cycle computer in my younger days. It's also quite a good aid to training (not that I really do any proper training!), it gives me a bit more motivation to keep going when I'm feeling tired. Strava run challenges most months, I give some a go, with limited success.

This July they ran the Rapha Rising Challenge, basically the challenge to is cycle a total climbing distance of 7,235 meters in 8 days.

To celebrate the 100th edition of the Tour de France, and the mountains that have made it legendary, Rapha and Strava are proud to announce Rapha Rising: La Centième.
To quote Strava:-

"In the week which starts on Bastille Day (14th-21st July), Rapha is challenging participating riders to climb the combined height, from sea level, of the Peyresourde, Ventoux and Col de Sarenne, all of which feature in this year’s race. Just as the pros will have to scale Alpe d’Huez twice, Rapha is challenging riders to scale the Alpe once more, making a total climbing distance of 7,235m (23,737ft), the combined elevations of the Peyresourde, Ventoux, Sarenne and Alpe d’Huez from sea level to top."

I'm not particularly skillful or fit, but I am quite determined and (strangely) I do quite like forestry fireroad climbs. The challenge also had a set target - which I prefer to the open ended style of challenge (and you also get a woven badge - even more incentive!) So this seemed like a Challenge I could really give a go at completing. I'd be doing the rides on a full sus MTB, with all my routes been planned off road, I think my mates were pretty sceptical!

The Challenge started on the 14th July, and for a few weeks leading up to this I'd got a route planned out in my mind, roughly a 80km loop of the Margam and Afan forest fireroads, with some 9000 feet of climb. As the date approached, so the weather improved, to the point where it has been hotter here than it's been for over 8 years, not ideal of a chubby chap wanting to do a long XC ride!

The 14th was a boiling hot day, despite setting off early, it was far to warm for me. SWMBO was concerned for my health (aw bless), so I had to be back by 12 noon or face her wrath! At the half way point, I'd emptied the camelbak and a 750ml water bottle with an electrolyte drink in it. It was close to midday so called it quits and headed for home. With only been able to complete half the climb I'd hoped to have been able to do, I'd been left with a real up hill struggle (excuse the pun)

The hot weather continued all week, this left me with the choice of cycling in the heat of the early evening or waiting until later, when cooler but the midges were then out! I couldn't cycle any earlier as had to be in work for 8am. I chose the midges....


The nights had been difficult, the house to warm to sleep, most mornings I was awake in the early hours. So on the morning of the 20th, with some 45% left to do, I took advantage of been up at 5am and set off early. It was actually very pleasant at this time in the morning, and I made good progress, trying to pace myself, I certainly wasn't going to beat any speed records, but there was a long way to go! I needed to do the ride I'd planned for the previous Sunday.

Thankfully I managed to complete the ride, unfortunately, the battery on phone did not. It ran out some 6 miles before the end of the ride, this left me with a bigger ride on the 21st than had hoped. Thankfully the final Sunday of the challenge was a cooler day, but I still had to get out early to try and avoid the midday heat. I managed the to complete the challenge plus a little bit extra! I just waiting to hear from Strava about sending them my details for the woven roundel.

Thanks Strava and Rapha for a really tough challenge and for the roundel - which was extra incentive to keep going!

British Cross Country Series 2013, Round 4. Margam Park

For some of my pictures from the days racing at Margam Park as Round 4 of the BC National XC Series, please check my flickr site. I'll post more as I get time to sort through them (work & sunny weather allowing!). So please check back again in a few days.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14306776@N08/sets/72157634531071387/

Wiggle Dragon Ride 2013.

The Dragon Ride took place today, it was a last minute decision to go along with the camera. my leg was pretty sore after yesterdays crash on a ride in the Black Mountains, and I still hadn't downloaded the photo's from the memory card in the camera. But it was a lovely day and I had DIY to avoid!

I picked a spot near the top of Cimla hill, but my last minute decision to watch the ride meant that I left most of my camera kit at home. The bright sun meant lots of contrast, and with no flash to 'fill' the faces of the riders, the photo's lacked impact. I set off to find somewhere different, there were lots of, what appeared to be, minor incidents along the route, cuts and grazes etc.


I settled on a spot on a long climb near Glynneath, the sun was coming through the trees to give a dappled light, and where a tree had been felled, a spot bathed in sunlight. After a while here, I moved off again, this time to the top of the Bwlch descent, only having a few shots left on the memory card I tried (and failed!) to get some panning shots.
After watching the riders from the top of the hill for a while, I set off from home. Making my way carefully down the Bwlch (riders were over taking me!) I approached the cattle grid at the start of Abergwynfi, I could see that there was something wrong. Just past the cattle grid there was a group of people on the opposite side of the road, with maybe one or two cars backed up. I stopped the car and put on the hazard lights, I could then see that there was a rider laying on the road, having CPR. I asked a rider (who was signaling other riders to slow) if an ambulance had been called, he said yes and that there were some doctors with the rider. I tried to assist with signalling traffic to slow, shortly afterwards a steward on a motorbike arrived at the scene. I think it was one of the doctors (who were actually taking place in the ride), asked the steward if he had oxygen and that they needed the Air Ambulance. From what was said, it sounded pretty serious. I asked if my car was assisting or hindering with the traffic situation. He said that it was probably hindering at this point. Should I have stayed and taken some photo's of the Air Ambulance, maybe, maybe not. But without having actually seeing the incident, limited space to park and be out of the way of the emergency services, and without been able to help in anyway, I felt the best thing for me to do at this point was to leave and let the professionals deal with the situation. I was also genuinely concerned about he survival of the rider, and I wouldn't have felt comfortable photographing the scene should the worst have happened. I was relieved to see later that he was in hospital and was apparently OK. 

The photo's I did take of the Ride are in the process of been uploaded to my flickr site.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14306776@N08/sets/72157634052053395/

If you'd like to purchase any of my pictures please let me know (contact details are on the flickr site). It's not my usual charrity, but I'll be donating any money from the sale of the photo's of this years Ride to the Air Ambulance.

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.

Welsh Mountain Bike Series, Rd 4. Margam Park.

2013 Welsh MTB Series Rd 4. Margam., a set on Flickr.

Day 4 - Innerleithen.

Day 3 - Glentress.

Day 2 - Kirroughtree

Day two - The remainder of the group arrived during the course of Friday, so a full complement set off for our second destination - Kirroughtree. The weather was far better than yesterday, sunny spells and high cloud. After another good breakfast and some faffing (increased the pressure to my shocks and reduced the pressure in my tyres!) we set off. I didn't know where Kirroughtree was, but I expected it to be closer! Quite a long journey, but the beautiful countryside made it worth while. When we got to the car park, the pay and display machines weren't working, so we parked for free.
Fortunately the small bike shop on site was open, so the quicker amongst us at getting ready headed off there for a coffee and a bite to eat. The rest of us joined them once we were ready, I took the opportunity to get an inch removed from the seatpost.

Kirroughtree is a trail that a dropper seat post is made for! Short techy climb followed by short descent followed by techy climb..... with fresh legs, may not have needed quite so many seat adjustments. Strangely, we actually sessioned an uphill! a steep, rutted slab on a sharp left turn in the trail. I didn't make it to the top, but a couple of guys did, some making it look easy!


Screen shot of Strava Gradient map.

After the initial singletrack sections we dropped down onto some forestry road - black was up, red was down. I really was in two minds about attempting the black and McMoab - whatever the hell that was! The terrain up until now had been not to dissimilar to home, but as we climbed the fireroad, it began to look more like what I expected Scotland to be like, the hills had become rougher and heather covered with patches of snow remaining from the heavy falls earlier in the year.
The trail turned left, off the fireroad and onto rounded granite outcrops - this was going to be interesting!
There is a line marked on the rock with blue arrows, I tried to follow them, until my back wheel got pulled out of the dropouts, this almost sent me flying down the slope. I can't have tightened the QR enough, but word of warning, check your QR's before riding this section!
We weaved our way back and forth over the granite until one of the guys had what appeared to be a really innocuous fall off. He fell over to the left into a pool - a soft if cold landing. But he had done, was hit his head on a tree stump, this had broken his helmet in 3 places - without the lid, it would have been his head - yet another example of why you'd be foolish to ride a bike without one! A quick change of wet clothes and we continued along the granite. The scenery was dramatic - and the closing weather made it seem even more rugged and remote.

The final section of granite before McMoab.

After several zigzags on the granite we dropped onto a short loop of single track, this lead us around and back up onto McMoab! A 15 to 18 ft lump of granite, with a steep drop down onto the fireroad.

Over the top - McMoab.

I looped round to the bottom of McM' and watched the more adventurous of us ride the slab. I was getting quite chilled, so decided to ride up the track to have a look for some photo opportunities, but only a short way up the track I came to a tarmac road, the A712 - it was a bit of a surprise to find the road, as the area had felt so remote.

The trail crossed the road and headed up a steep climb, which seemed to go on forever! At the top we took a forced break for a puncture, whilst it was been repaired, the rest of us had a bite to eat and tried to shelter from the cold wind. Tyre repaired and we set off, a short section of fireroad and then back to the singletrack. The track twisted round some rough terrain of short climbs and descents, by now I was struggling, I didn't have much left in the legs and was beginning to worry. The amazing views from this section of the track did a little to raise the spirits. But the fact that we were only about 50% of the way round, meant there was still a lot of riding left to do. The singletrack eventually dropped back down onto the A712, which we had crossed earlier. The rest of the guys were here waiting for me - this was one of my concerns before deciding to go - I didn't want to be the guy holding everyone up. I used the rest of my energy drink up and had some more to eat, before setting off. Two of the guys had held back, whilst I fuelled up, they set off and I followed on what I hoped would be the long downhill back to the car. If I've not already mentioned undulating - then I will now, as that's certainly the best way to describe the final 'descent', for tired legs this wasn't good! It was difficult to get in a rhythm, and once again it was seatpost up, then seatpost down etc. I was glad to get back to the car park and sit down.

Today was our last day in the B&B, tomorrow we up camp and set off to the forest lodges in Glentress.

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.

Made it to Scotland

We're north of the border - weather not quite as nice as when we left home, but it's dry. Time to 'bag' the best rooms before the rest arrive. The other guys from Swansea set off earlier, so they've managed to fit in a ride at Ae. It's a bit late for us to go for a ride, but even if there was time, we're tired from the journey and pretty hungry. Time for some pub grub!