Strava, MTB and a sunny day.

It was a lovely spring day today, the sort of day that makes you think that winter might actually be coming to an end (and it's been a very long winter, especially as we pretty much skipped summer last year and went straight from spring to autumn). I've been trying to get out on the bike a bit more of late, I need to build some fitness as I'll be heading off to Scotland in a few weeks. Six days of mountain biking, with a group of mates who can cycle me into the ground!

As an additional motivation to get out there on the bike (and put off the DIY, work etc) I'd joined the Strava Spring Classics Challenge, basically it's to ride the....

"cumulative distance of five of cycling’s most storied races that form the Spring Classics, adding up to a monumental total of 1,319 kilometers or 820 miles."
(For the full details, check out the challenge page in Strava.)

That's a lot of mileage to get through in April. I don't ride on road (where I can avoid it), so they'd be MTB miles.
I'd got a plan of cycling to several of the 'trail hubs' in the area, Margam Park, Afan Argoed, Glyncorrwg and Bryn Betws, the route was more or less planned in my mind and I'd set myself a rough target of 40 miles. It would be a lot of fireroad, but it's the sort of thing my Kona Kula takes in it's stride, despite it really showing it's age. I'm also waiting for my Frameskin tape to arrive to wrap my new Giant in a protective cover (yes I know it's a bike and it's going to get damaged, but...well, you know!)

I've been using the Strava app on my HTC to record my rides, despite fully charging the battery - to my great annoyance - the battery ran out before I'd finished the ride. My route was lost, I checked the phone for GPX files in the hope of finding my route, but nothing. I knew my start time, and the time I got home, plus, I'd ridden sections of the route a few times before so I was able to log the route with a GPX editor to get my distance. But my times were lost, there was no way to be accurate or fair in retrieving these, more frustrating was that I knew I set some fair times on a few segments. I incorrectly thought that Strava needed a 3G signal (in addition to the GPS signal) to work, after reading the battery tips section on Strava, I now know I was wrong! I just hope we get a summer this year so that I can do the route again. This time with 3G turned off and I won't use the camera on the phone, so hopefully it will make the distance.

I surprised myself to be honest, I completed the 38.6 mile ride! It took me 6 hours, a pace that certainly wasn't setting the world alight, but I did set some quite good times towards the start of the route. In my defence, there was over 5000ft of climbing in the route, and it was more about completing the distance than setting quick times.

My aim now is to repeat the route, but with a few additions to top the distance up to the 40+ mile mark, and to do it in a quicker time.

**As a thought, when I saw that the battery was running low, if I'd stopped recording the route, then straight away started a new recording, would the first recording have 'survived' the phone rebooting itself? - that way I'd have only lost the end portion of the ride, rather than all of it. Or maybe I should just get one of those battery booster gadgets you see now.

GoPro Fogging up issues - a cheeky fix?

Talking with a mate in work today, he's got a GoPro, but an older model, I suspect that the Hero 2 might run hotter than the Hero. He passed on a tip he'd heard to help stop the fogging issues. A small pieces of loo roll folded up tightly and placed in the sides and top of the case help absorb the trapped moisture and (I'll say reduce rather than stop) the fogging issues. I'll certainly give it a try next time I'm out with the camera, will have to keep an eye on the temperature of the camera.

GoPro fogging up issues.

Talybont Reservoir, Canon Powershot sx210 IS

Yesterday was a fantastic early autumn or late summer day, depending on your point of view. The weather was bright and sunny, but there was certainly a hint of winter in the breeze, which was quite keen. I joined a couple of guys from a local MTB club on a 22 mile loop in the Brecon Beacons, some parts of the route were quite technical and I can safely say my legs are shattered today! I'd not cycled this route before, but have walked a few sections in the past, the views were a definite reward for the hard work. The Brynore tramroad with spectacular views back towards Talybont Reservoir or The Gap, a well known mountain pass huddled below Pen-y-fan, with amazing views both back down the valley and the long climb you've justing ridden up from Pontsticill; and in front of you, towards Brecon and the decent that awaits you - a tricky, a loose surface of rock debris (some of which were pretty big!) winding its way off down the valley. Make sure you've got a spare inner tube or at least a repair kit - I ended up with a pinch puncture!

GoPro HD Hero 2

I used my GoPro on some of the latter stages of the route, and you have to admit that the quality of the footage is outstanding on a bright and clear day. My biggest issue (besides looking a bit weird with the camera stuck onto my cycle helmet) was the fact that it kept misting up. Alot of my footage has been spoilt by varying levels of blur caused by the lens of the case misting up from the centre outwards. I'd noticed this previously, once when 'Going Ape' (at Margam Park Go Ape) and then again during the WRGB, Margam Park was an especially wet day, so although frustrated at the lack of viewable video I put it down to the very humid weather. However, WRGB was predominately dry and the Brecon ride yesterday was a fine, dry and not very humid day. As the camera warms up during use, it causes the moisture trapped in the case to condense on the lens of the case. I've empty the cupboards to look for small packs of silica gel, but even the smallest won't fit. So it looks like I'll have to pay the fairly expensive price for the GoPro Anti-fog inserts. ** A Fix?!

MBR have a write up of the route on their website HERE

Top of the World ma!

The view from the top, was it worth it? Hell yeah!

The weather forecast was cold, but mainly dry, the prospect of getting spectacular views was to good to miss. So last minute, I decided to throw caution to the wind and join the rest of the guys from the MTBPigs on a weekend assault on the highest mountain in England and Wales, Mount Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa).

There is a voluntary ban on cycling on the mountain during the summer months between the hours of 10am and 5pm, I think this is to help avoid incidents between bikers and walkers. We were outside of the ban period, but still set off early, leaving Llanberris at around 7am. Initially the route was on a section of tarmac lane, which became quite steep and was a good warm up! As it levelled off, we turned left off the road and through a gate and onto the trail proper.

The first of many push sections!

To say last minute is possibly a little misleading, the ride had been on the cards for several weeks. I'd been considering it, but I'm not a downhill rider and I'm certainly not in top condition - I didn't want to be the guy slowing everybody down. With this in mind, I'd been doing some hill climbs to try and build my fitness backup.

To climb any mountain, however small in the food chain of world mountains can be dangerous. We all took the task before us seriously and took sensible precautions, including, emergency whistles, survival blankets, extra layers, plenty of water and of course, some cash for the cafe at the top!

At first the route was rideable, surfaced with large stones and some natural rocky outcrops until a little way past the halfway cafe (which was closed), after that point it climbed steeply and the surface boulders became larger and further apart, time to push and carry our bikes! We saw the occasionally early rising runner heading back down the slope, other than that, the amazing views were all ours!

As we climbed, it became colder, with patches of snow at the side of the trail - snow angels anyone?! but with the effort of man-handling your bike over the trail you didn't notice the temperature until you stopped to take in some more of the views. The path levelled slightly as it came up to crossing the, via a short tunnel, the track of the Snowdon Mountain Railway.

Tunnel under the tracks of the mountain railway, taken using a GoPro HD Hero2.

As you walked out from under the line, the view and the drops open out in front of you, certainly not a section for those who are not to keen on heights! the path then followed the route of the railway far more closely and far more steeply. The route climbed sharply from this point, even if it hadn't been slightly icy underfoot, I'd have been seriously impressed if anyone had manage to cycle this next section! At this point, more than any other I was thinking "what have I done!", I was pretty tired, unsure of how much further there was to go, and worrying a bit about the prospect of the way back down on my Kona Kula - hardly a downhill beast! But, much to my surprise, I wasn't at the back of the pack (partly because I didn't spend as much time as others playing in the snow!) and partly because my xc bike does have it's advantages.

At last, the trail starts to level.

I stopped for a breather and watched the train taking the first of the visitors up the mountain - the sensible way. Pilau had now caught up with me, and after a few minutes trying to get my GoPro HD Hero 2 to take time lapse pictures, we set off again. The path now started to level again, and as it turned to the left, it fell into shade and became lined on either side by a heavy frost.