Llandegla in an afternoon

Hey, been to degla with Jamie today. Was great, hardly anybody there. Which is a rarity. Anyway I was right about being able to loop back and do the new black again. Me and Jim rode the new black twice. Takes 3-4mins to get back to the start. Brilliant! Had problems with my back brake again. So I perservered and did my front braking before the berms. I was going round the berms faster and leaning over more, so its not all bad. Forks had problems with rebound today, think a service is due.

Past week of welsh riding

Hey, just got back from an unplanned week of riding throughout Wales. Rode Penmachno, Marin and Coed-Y-Brenin (cyb) with Ian and Llandegla with Matt.

Did Penmachno last saturday which was crazy. The high winds had brought trees down onto the trail and the trail was generally in a mess. I think their resources have been used in developing the second loop which is due to open shortly. I don't think I will be back anytime soon. Repairs need to be done.

On monday we rode the marin trail and it was cold. Me and Ian actually brought skull caps to wear under our helmets! Got some good photos of the snow.

On wednesday me and Ian attempted the beast at cyb unaware that there was a trail diversion. We should of read the notice! Its a tough trail. Imagine the mbr and then havin to go further, to a total distance of 24miles. We realised though that it would be posssible on either the mbr or the beast to do the pink heifer section twice. Worth noting for future excursions. Did have a few braking problems though. my back brake had pumped up that much that it was nearly stopping the wheel going round! Anyway when I got back to the cottage i noticed that the pistons were being stubborn and the pads were low. So I got the WD out and a screwdriver and got the brake temporarily working. Allthough a tiny bit of fluid came past a piston......

Today me and Matt have ridden Llandegla (twice!). Can't get enough of the new black section. Like the mbr you could do similar and loop back to do the start of the black and have another go. It was a bit of a scary day. Due to loosing some brake fluid I wasn't getting brake pump up but I was having to pump up the lever to get the brake working. Just what you need when you are flying into a downhill berm!

Machynlleth (mach 3 trail)

Been out today to mach' to do the mach 3 trail (18miles). It was proper mountain biking. Over 1000m of climbing and the 'chute' descent to look forward to. The wind was blowing hard, real hard. It blew dad of his bike and I came off twice because my rucksac was catching the wind, just what you need when you are riding narrow ruts. No surprises for guessing how I fell off. The notorious chute is mad. Iv never seen such a warning sign in the middle of nowhere. It was v steep and v loose with some tricky turns. The trail consisted of welsh slate, it was like riding down a ffestiniog slag heap. You couldn't ride it fast because there were loads of random steps which would soon have you over the front if you were going too quick. So slow and steady was the way. Arms soon pumped up from dragging the brakes. we lost a lot of height quickly. The best thing was we saw nobody accept a local farmer in the feeding his livestock.

There is a video of the chute on this page: http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/machynlleth_mach3.html
It isn't as rough in the video as it was for me and dad and we also didn't crash.

Also, my forks were playing up. Talas was difficult to move and they locked out. Great considering they don't have a lockout. Brakes are dragging and gears aren't great. Ahwell!

Fox Forx (not Muddy Fox Mr KamioRed!)

Just got my Fox's back from LL. Looking mint. Like new. Also have an extra 1cm of travel compared to before I sent them in. Hmmmm now measure about 155mm of stantion showing. Also the "click" of the talas seems to have changed. Far more precice now and defined. They claim to have only changed a seal, but I think not - seems like there was a talas problem in 05 that they have sorted (like you mentioned J).

Anyway chuffed to bits, not only have they cleaned them they have touched up, with Fox Brown paint, the bit of cable rub I had on the legs. Mint. I love Fox again.

No charge and they definately changed the oil so wont need to service for a bit longer at least.

Big :) from big hands.

Shimano riding shoes

Anyone tried those Shimano shoes (I know that Jim was going to at Rourke's)? Reason I ask is that some sizes are reduced on Chainreaction.....

Lynn Brianne and the Doethie Valley

Have been out all day. Long drive but def worth it. Rode very near to Llantwryd wells (or however you spell it). We were a long way down, were actually in Carmathenshire! Anyway the ride.... Me and dad rode, started from the reservoir on forest tracks until we came to an old road. when i say road I mean in the loosest terms. It was too steep to ride and you would need a landrover to go up and over it. Anyway, we pushed up the steep incline and across the top and soon started the descending. The view was breathtaking, you could see miles of nothing but my gaze was soon back in front of me as the descent became more technical. We soon deviated off the old road and onto singletrack above the river doethie. This section is amazing, the scenery is superb and the trail is a narrow ribbon set against the towering hills. It was very wet with alot of river riding and crossing. Some sections were unrideable but I didnt mind because they were only short. The riding was very technical but that gives the impression of rock gardens. This is not the case. The trail as mentioned previously was v wet and narrow. It was also off camber in places and due to it being sodden, v slippy. To break up the tricky singletrack there were the odd bedrock sections and also the river crossings to mix it up. The terrain was very steep and dodgy in places as there is nothing to stop you going right the way down into the river. Dad did slip off at one point on a wet climb. I also collapsed a river bank and ended up on my front. Eventually you come out onto a double track some 3.7 miles later! You soon ride up to a farm and get attacked by collies with crazy wild streaks before a climb back out of the valley in the direction of the reservoir. I punctured here and it was chuffin' cold but nethertheless we were soon back where we started some 3hours and 15miles later.

We also had chance to check out Coed Trallwm as it was just round the corner from where we rode. Looks ok just needs some longer sections of trail putting in. Not reallly worth the journey yet for what it has to offer.

Llandegla improvements

Hey, just got back from riding at 'degla with Ad. We got soaked but it was worth it. He hired a bike and gave it a good seeing to. "nothing corners like a hire bike" (shawn denny-drop in tv). There are now alot more black sections. If you have ridden the black section which opened in the summer (the downhill which was stupid slippy but occasionally brilliant with the climb back up to the red trail), then you are in for a treat. On the climb back up from the dh black you reach a junction with timber stacks around it. If you go left at the T you see signs for the new black sections. The 1st section is similar to the previous black dh but quickly flattens out and sends you up onto a north shore style ladder bridge thing which is about 10ft high. The good thing is its also a metre wide but its still a little disconcerting at first (there is a pic of somebody riding the ladder on the gallery section on coedllandegla.com). After riding the ladder theres a quick climb which puts you back on the fireroad. You carry on for a short while on the fireroad before you drop back into singletrack. This section is similar in style to the black dh but hasn't got any tricky off camber parts. The jumps are also slightly bigger but all still rollable. This carries on for a good way and is so much fun. It really flows and is very smooth, there is hardly a need to pedal, ideal! You get the feeling that theres a climb coming and luckilly its not that bad. You soon get up the singletrack climb before you are going downhill again. The new section finishes with a climb back up to the red route which you join after the steep climb and before the original black run. I spoke to jimmy in the bike shop and they are revising the trail map shortly. Give us a shout if after reading my description you are a bit lost, Im well up for goin again soon.

Happy nu year

Well thats xmas over for another year and another year of riding to look forward to. Already planning the next excursion and it looks like we are going to Scotland. Found plenty of accomodation in and around peebles. Be good to get bruv round glentress before he goes back to uni. Am going to have to get out riding soon, done far to much drinking and eating recently and the riding withdrawal symptoms are kicking in. I'm sure you all feel the same so Im going to suggest does anyone want to ride this weekend? As you will of noticed, I have given the site a new template with more colour to cheer us up when we are in front of a screen instead of in front of our handlebars.

Heres a link for when you are bored at work http://www.mtbmovies.com/ Its always good for a laugh! look at the vid titled '1.5m drop'.