Tuesday 5 May 2015

Riding in the Clouds

Abandoned for the weekend I headed for Wales and some mountain biking. Over Saturday and Sunday the clouds were sitting down on the top of anywhere high in Wales and so rides on both days would be up in the mist with visibility right down.


Saturday was a ride on the Blorenge above Abergavenny, apparently a classic, with a big climb followed by a long and fun technical downhill singletrack. There were a number of navigation errors that meant that the climb was more protracted than it might have been, but eventually we made it on top in weather that had closed right in, meaning we could see no more than maybe 50 metres ahead. This made it tricky to find the way and to look ahead to read the track. Despite this the fun was definitely there. Dropping off the top of the hill on rocky singletrack that kept on delivering. Snaking round the hill the track swept past the Punchbowl lake and then we dropped back to Llanfoist wet and trying to hold off the cold.


In the end it’s an area I’ve always kind of ignored, but I’ll be back to do it again on a proper summer day to blast it out and actually get to enjoy the views, rather than the constant whiteout.

Less than a mile from the cottage I was staying in is the Raven Trail at Brechfa. Connected to the Gorlech trail I rode last summer, this starts from a different point and offers a tougher, black-rated challenge. Compared to the red trails this went more directly straight up a load of climbing, dropping back on trails that pushed to the top of what might usually be red-rated at least. So, fun swoopy bermed drops, roots, rock drops, and steep climbs were the order of the day, as we rose and fell into the cloud and the rain.


Back in the carpark and discussing the top quality of the riding we treated ourselves to a gigantic burger and then scuttled off to get warm and dry.

Wales offered up some excellent riding as usual and there was still Monday to look forward to.

A

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