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Post by thistle on Jun 20, 2009 20:13:56 GMT
Went on a bit of a mission today and had a go at the Cadair Berwyn flattyres route with a few extras added in. The route is here up until the point when my mobile battery died. The rest of the intended route is easy to guess, however it turned into a walk/push through boggy heather for about an hour as the bridleway was pretty much non existant. I had 3 over the handlebar offs in about 200m trying to ride an 'easy' bit  The weather was wet and horrible all the way to Llanarmon DC, warm and sunny all the way back to Llangynog, then miserable but mostly dry on the last leg back to Llandrillo. I set off about 10, and didn't get back to the car until 5  . My GPS reckoned that from the top of the Wayfarer up until it died (about half of the route) I'd done 2000m of climbing  Memory Map said the whole route was only 2000m! The clouds on top of the wayfarer path  Ceiriog Valley  Looking in the direction of Oswestry/Shrewsbury  Trying to dry out over lunch in Llanrhaedr ym Mochant (unsuccessful)  Llanrhaedr valley  Dropping down to the Tanat Valley  This hill was similar in steepness to that one on Halkyn Mountain that's destroyed Campbell's knees  (The bridleway zig zags around it)  Should have brought my lights for a closer look in here  My route goes up the other side of that thing  Some freeriding for next time (if there ever is one)  |
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Post by Russ on Jun 20, 2009 20:55:07 GMT
That drop down the grass towards Llangynog is bloody super steep in place, bets it's a mote sketchy when damp. You missed out on some super sweet singletrack later on thou. Instead of carrying on down the bridlepath to the road you should have taken the one to the left on the map. Here >> www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=306240&Y=326650&A=Y&Z=120 Things get fun just as you enter the woods and it'll put a big grin on your face all the way down. |
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Post by thistle on Jun 20, 2009 21:11:09 GMT
That was the way I meant to go, but I ended up on the wrong side of a fence and just hopped over and followed the path down that other bridleway. I'll make more of an effort to find the right path if I go out around there again. The route was pretty good apart from the wet and the last hill where the paths all disappear into the bog or stop at the top of a deep gorge. I think I managed to ride all the way down that grassy hill and only slid the back end once  I was going pretty slow the whole way - brakes were squeaking all the way home afterwards |
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Post by campbell on Jun 20, 2009 21:52:43 GMT
Don't mention the knee, went to the docs this week, she said it was a minor/level one tear of the medial ligament, advised three weeks of rest, then manipulated the fooker, making the pain 10 times worse and setting me back 4 weeks of a three week rest period  Off to Kos on Wednesday (if I hadn't mentioned it ;D) a week of all inclusive JD should see me right, hopefully I'll be back fully fit (as long as I don't have to do the traditional parent sprint at the little uns sports day). Moan moan, ramble ramble ;D Nice pics by the way Pete, may look into that one, obviously not the steep bit, i'm off down hills forever, its up hill all the way for me... |
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Post by flattyres on Jun 21, 2009 7:14:55 GMT
You ended up on the wrong side of a fence? Which one? If it was the route text at fault let me know and I will correct it.
As for the stuff after Llangynog, I do have it on one route but it does say to only ride it after a very long dry spell and that you will be going though about a mile of boggy heather. I'd only really contemplate doing it the other way as well, where you at least get a long sweet descent back to Llangynog
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Post by thistle on Jun 21, 2009 10:43:59 GMT
You ended up on the wrong side of a fence? Which one? If it was the route text at fault let me know and I will correct it. As for the stuff after Llangynog, I do have it on one route but it does say to only ride it after a very long dry spell and that you will be going though about a mile of boggy heather. I'd only really contemplate doing it the other way as well, where you at least get a long sweet descent back to Llangynog i didn't really follow the text of the route so i can't blame that! I just followed a random track rather that the bridleways. I was expecting the top to be a bit boggy from the description on your route but didn't realise the paths were so vague up there! It would definitely be a great long downhill the other way around. |
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Post by thistle on Jun 21, 2009 10:47:10 GMT
Don't mention the knee, went to the docs this week, she said it was a minor/level one tear of the medial ligament, advised three weeks of rest, then manipulated the fooker, making the pain 10 times worse and setting me back 4 weeks of a three week rest period my shoulder's hurting after yesterday's mishaps. I don't think i'll bother the doctor with it in case he makes it worse! ;D |
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Post by mtbman on Jun 21, 2009 18:57:33 GMT
Christ! I feel tired just looking at the photo's There's come serious hills around those parts How are you finding the Giant, now you've had time to break her in |
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Post by thistle on Jun 21, 2009 20:50:53 GMT
How are you finding the Giant, now you've had time to break her in Crap. I'm still having problems with it which doesn't help, hence it's still in the boot of the car all muddy Luckily my complete set of bike tools now lives in my car. Forks have also gone a bit rubbish. My mate reckons it might just need topping up with oil so I'll give that a go and see if it fixes it. The dérailleur keeps loosening itself, and the rear cassette had worked itself loose on Saturday morning. Main problem is the saddle keeps sliding down. I bent the QR in a fit of rage after it came loose for the second time in an hour and even though it's tight it won't stay put - hence it really hurts my knees until I stop and put it back up. The front brake is also squeaking like hell when just riding along  New clamp and the fork oil coming tomorrow and I'll go an buy some threadlock (or Bostik) for all the stuff that won't stay done up. At least I only break one bike a day, rather than 4 like my brother ;D |
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Post by campbell on Jun 22, 2009 7:43:28 GMT
How are you finding the Giant, now you've had time to break her in Crap. I wish all magazine reviews could be restricted to one word ;D |
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Post by flattyres on Jun 22, 2009 9:17:01 GMT
The text would have helped on that bit. I remember pacing backwards and forwards a bit trying to join the trails up with the map the first time I got to that section. As Russ said though, it is worth going in the right direction because the slatey singletrack to Llangynog is fantastic.
As for the trails on Hafod Hir, it is quite difficult to get across quite how vague the trails are. I tried to back up the words with the pictures, especially the one with the big red line painted on to at least give you some kind of idea of the direction to take.
As for the bike issues does you seat post have shim in it? If so the slot in that needs lining up with the slot in the frame or no matter how hard you close the seat clamp the saddle will slip. I learnt this after doing the same until on ride when my seat clamp shattered. If you don't have a seat post shim then I don't know.
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Post by mtbman on Jun 23, 2009 19:51:35 GMT
How are you finding the Giant, now you've had time to break her in Crap. I'm still having problems with it which doesn't help, hence it's still in the boot of the car all muddy Luckily my complete set of bike tools now lives in my car. Forks have also gone a bit rubbish. My mate reckons it might just need topping up with oil so I'll give that a go and see if it fixes it. The dérailleur keeps loosening itself, and the rear cassette had worked itself loose on Saturday morning. Main problem is the saddle keeps sliding down. I bent the QR in a fit of rage after it came loose for the second time in an hour and even though it's tight it won't stay put - hence it really hurts my knees until I stop and put it back up. The front brake is also squeaking like hell when just riding along New clamp and the fork oil coming tomorrow and I'll go an buy some threadlock (or Bostik) for all the stuff that won't stay done up. At least I only break one bike a day, rather than 4 like my brother ;D I've got a huge bottle of thread lock if you need some? |
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Post by thistle on Jun 23, 2009 20:21:40 GMT
Might take you up on that...
The new seat clamp is doing the trick ;D and nothing else fell off it tonight (well, apart from me)
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. My GPS reckoned that from the top of the Wayfarer up until it died (about half of the route) I'd done 2000m of climbing 
Memory Map said the whole route was only 2000m!
(The bridleway zig zags around it)
I was going pretty slow the whole way - brakes were squeaking all the way home afterwards 
"Guess I must be trying then"