EPIC WEEKEND IN WALES

2007-12-17T06:42:00.001-08:00

EPIC WEEKEND IN WALES

A fantastic training weekend was held in Brecon over the weekend 15th to 16th December. Those in attendance was; myself (Simon Fellowes), James Brayshaw, Trevor Longhurst, Tracey Armston and Christos Tsakiris – all a little bit the sorer for a weekend of serious cycling.

The weekend started circa 7pm on Friday night with team Jag departing Clapham Junction with the Newport Xmas party as the first destination. Whilst Trev and I were on the M4 hurtling towards Newport – James and Christos were firmly in the Christmas spirit making the most of the free wine and open dance floor and having a grand old time. Arriving at Newport around 10pm we met Paul Davies who unfortunately wasn’t able to take part in the Challenge itself although he did make the initial team. Both Trev and I could sense Paul’s disappointment in not being able to take part and felt for him as he certainly seems to enjoy his mountain bike riding and although having a number of extra years of experience on all the other members of the team – certainly looks as tho he’d ride most of us into the ground!!

Dragging Christos and James from the Newport Christmas party (and then the accompanying Wedding marquee dancefloor) we finally made it to James’ pad in Cardiff which was to be base camp for the first night. After a couple of games of Tiger Woods golf on the Wii and a sobering up cup of tea it was off to bed by 2am

Early doors start on Saturday morning had us setting off from Cardiff by 8:30am – with a slight detour through the back waters of Treforest to pick up Trace who had been sensibly holed up with her brother and his girlfriend for a quiet night in front of the fire with a bottle of wine in preparation for a big weekend.

Arrival in Brecon at 10:30 had us welcomed by Keith from BikesandHikes.co.uk who had our 5 sparkling clean Gary Fisher mountain bikes there and ready for us - as well as a couple of maps with detailed tracks for us to explore over the next couple of days. A quick check-in and change saw us on the bikes by 11 and hitting our first of many many hills. Day 1 saw a couple of very sore heads (Christos and James), lots of hills and a bit of mud across the moors. Some spectacular scenario was on offer and the temperature was well below zero as evidenced by the fact that all the puddles were covered in a thick layer of ice. The track we’d chosen for the day was pretty much all up hill – offset by one big decent on tarmac about halfway through which would have been great fun on a nice warm day, but due to the temperature making it feel as though we were riding through a cloud of needles felt more like a tortuous waste of all that uphill climbing we’d done in the 3 hours prior. All enjoyed very much the final run down the hill and back into Brecon – however I know that there were a few broken hearts over the last few miles as each hill we crested across the moors only seemed to reveal a slight dip leading into yet one more monster climb into the distance.

After a quick change, a nice warm shower (and for some of us a quick power nap) we were off to the local pub…. For a cup of tea! The local Chinese catered dinner with more than ample serves of prawn crackers and numbers 11, 131, 145 and 165. The numbers might not sound appetizing but the food certainly was and it seems that the service crew don’t understand any English other than numbers (even if they were Welsh!). Portion sizes were sufficient to allow us to replenish energy levels whilst leaving sufficient to feed a small 3rd World nation. We departed to the local pub where the locals were all cheering on local boy Riardin for the X-factor final and had a couple of pints and a few games of pool until it hit 9pm and we decided that was late enough to head home to bed. I think we all watched the conclusion of the X-factor final (how exciting are we) before catching some well earned zzzz’s.

Another early start for 8:30am breakfast and after a quick stop at Morrison’s for lunchtime supplies we were on the road by 10:30 only to be held up by Trev and a flat tire…. 300m into the day’s ride. At least he could have waited an hour or so to make it a worthwhile rest stop!!! The Sunday morning was ALL up hill. The track was called the GAP and was through some Lord of the Rings style scenery with us heading up a valley with our destination firmly in sight…. Way, way, way up the hill and some tricky terrain. The terrain was made all the more tricky by the frequent ice with all puddles and run-off covered in a thick layer of ice making some sections difficult to even walk across. Somehow we made it and the reward was awesome – with not only the view magnificent but a thrilling section of downhill ride over some nice little pebbly bits with a few little jumps thrown in. A short little climb back up across the top of the hills (in a freezing cross wind) saw us enter the forest and a nice little bit of sheltered calm with cold pies and sandwiches for lunch and what was left of my lucozade frozen in my drink bottle. The next section was all single track down hill and a great little ride which made all the uphill worth it. Through the forest and through the mud made for some very challenging riding and saw most of us off the bikes at various stages (often in the middle of a mud puddle!). The boys all loved it and although Trace was a little anxious at times – she put on a brave face and was never far behind.

The White Hart pub appeared almost by magic at the bottom of the decent and we couldn’t resist popping in for a bit of a warm up and a ½ pint of Guinness before hitting the canal track for a smooth 10 mile trek back into Brecon. Feeling a bit tired and broken from the prior two days riding we all lined up for a bit of slip-streaming and put our heads down in an effort to plod home as easily as possible…. That is until Trace got bored and powered ahead to set the pace.

All in all we covered plenty of ground (circa 50-60 miles) and feel as though we’ve climbed just about every hill in Wales in some pretty extreme conditions (which unfortunately are nothing like the heat we’ll experience in Costa Rica but all we’ve got to work with). We each got some good team time and got to know each other where previously many of us had only briefly met. It was a great weekend and we’ve all walked away a little bit sorer than we started, but feeling good in the way that only some serious exercise can provide. We’re aiming to repeat it all again sometime in January and anyone who would like to join us is more than welcome to come along!!

Padded cycle shorts definitely recommended.

Til next time!
Simon.