Post by roger on Jul 13, 2015 20:43:40 GMT
I gave the Red Kite Events Techie Devil a go on Sunday down in Llanwrtyd Wells which used some of the Mondraker Enduro series descents so thought it would be interesting to try something harder & I certainly got harder 
The area is very similar to the Dyfi with the same kind of shale rock & tracks going everywhere, but most of the descents were freshly cut & as it had pissed down all night the first was a complete waste of time which no one rode - I slid down dragging the bike with me & ended up carrying it the last bit as the clay soil jammed up both wheels. Impossible to stand up & the bike was too long to go around some of the turns
After clearing the wheels it got better with stuff I could ride but sort of double black standard, really steep, slippy, roots, rocks & hairpin bends.
A couple of the drop offs landed on steeply angled slabs of shale which I bottled out of.
Just before the halfway point came another freshly cut descent with a very steep entry & mud to stop on before the hairpins started. Lots of people trying to decide what to do - so I slid the bike down the steep bit & was amazed what I rode after, just the last drop onto the fireroad I had to crash to stop & slide down on my arse
At the hallway mark a lot of people moaning & a lot went home which was a mistake as everything was rideable after with some really good descents & really pushed my riding! Nothing mega fast like the Dyfi though.
Big problem which spoiled it bit was the climbing, because most descents were straight down, they didn’t take long so the climbing started again. Also miles & miles of fireroad 
A lot of complaints this morning on the Red Kites Facebook page, several got lost after markers had been moved & overall did 50.5k & 2046m of climbing.
I think the event did what it said on the tin & I’d like to try the downs again in the dry but not with all that fire road & climbing.
The area is very similar to the Dyfi with the same kind of shale rock & tracks going everywhere, but most of the descents were freshly cut & as it had pissed down all night the first was a complete waste of time which no one rode - I slid down dragging the bike with me & ended up carrying it the last bit as the clay soil jammed up both wheels. Impossible to stand up & the bike was too long to go around some of the turns
After clearing the wheels it got better with stuff I could ride but sort of double black standard, really steep, slippy, roots, rocks & hairpin bends.
A couple of the drop offs landed on steeply angled slabs of shale which I bottled out of.
Just before the halfway point came another freshly cut descent with a very steep entry & mud to stop on before the hairpins started. Lots of people trying to decide what to do - so I slid the bike down the steep bit & was amazed what I rode after, just the last drop onto the fireroad I had to crash to stop & slide down on my arse
At the hallway mark a lot of people moaning & a lot went home which was a mistake as everything was rideable after with some really good descents & really pushed my riding! Nothing mega fast like the Dyfi though.
Big problem which spoiled it bit was the climbing, because most descents were straight down, they didn’t take long so the climbing started again.
Also miles & miles of fireroad 
A lot of complaints this morning on the Red Kites Facebook page, several got lost after markers had been moved & overall did 50.5k & 2046m of climbing.
I think the event did what it said on the tin & I’d like to try the downs again in the dry but not with all that fire road & climbing.
