Drum and beyond!

[psycholist]

I went on a tough ride today. I aimed, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to do a 25-mile (plus?) ride up to Garnedd Uchaf (some 970 metres). I planned to go from home (Dwygyfylchi) up above Rowen to the Roman Road, up Drum then on to Foel-Fras onto Garnedd Uchaf right down towards Bangor to return into Aber and then home along the A55. I don’t know if this planned route is even “cycle-able”. However, I’ve done Drum in the past but just didn’t have the legs to do the Foel-Fras peak next.

So, with rucksack packed (clothes, flask, tools, food etc) I headed up the Sychnant pass then towards Tal y Fan and up onto the Roman road. There was a really strong headwind today and it turned into a real battle, (I began to wonder “do I really need all this weight in my pack?!”). I was at the foot of Drum in 1¾ hours and then turned up onto the 2-mile ascent of Drum, which usually takes 40 minutes. Thinking that the wind would be behind me to push me up I set off. It never turns out that way though, does it? Part way up I passed a walker who had to turn back because of the wind! I was being blown sideways by gusts. I was eventually outdone (or saved!) by my rear derailer being ripped completely off.

In a hasty repair at the real limits of my ability, I shorted the chain to middle ring front and back and got her working again to get me home (via Llanfairfechan), which is probably about 5 miles. Thank god for the well-stocked rucksack! The shortened chain got me home (I do have some photos, which I’ll try to up load) but I’d read in the MBR last month that this repair isn’t possible.

The Garnedds, however, are going to have to wait for another day!

Lee

[Oggy]

Class report mate, definate one for a calmer day, it can get pretty wild up there. How did you do ya rear mech in?

[xybadog]

Sounds like you had fun, NOT!

[superfurrymonkey]

The weather up there can be pretty bad, i've had the wind blowing against me so much it was impossible to move forward!! the blast down from drum to aber is my favorite ride, they have smoothed a lot of it out though, which spoils some of the fun but i even enjoy the slog up!!!
the aber lake bridleway is a nice short up and down for a quick blast, i often go there for an hour or so, it helps keep my fitness up a bit!

[psycholist]

The rear mech just fell off! It has been battered a fair bit in the past but I can't think why it went when it did. The wind up Drum can be bad and I have been out in worse but not in August!!

The ride down Drum is good but in places I find it too rough--I'm still rattling when I get home! You must be pretty hardcore Superfurrymonkey. I've done top of Drum down to the resevoir a couple of times, which is really steep, and then down the road to join the Roman road again.

I can't wait to get up Drum and beyond to the Garnedds. Every time I drive down the A55 to Bangor I've got on eye on them green hills!

[martinw]

Mtbman broke his rear mech and hanger on the Marin trail on sturday, He tried to shorten the chain and run it back single peed but it wasnt playing, the chain was just too tight to get it on the front chainring. Had to push and freewheel downhills with no chain.

Ive not done the Drum ride yet, If your after company next time you do it give me a shout.

[superfurrymonkey]

Once i rode from llanllechid to aber over the old roman road past the falls up to the mountain gate, then up drum, then the next peak foel fras (pushing!) then the next one (rock garden carrying!) and so on till i made it back to llanlechid. it took 5 hours and a lot of pushing and carrying the bike. some parts were good, there's a nice rocky rutted bridleway before you get into llanlechid but all the hard work to get there was not worth it!

[superfurrymonkey]

some pics

llanlechid to aber falls

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45800&l=00e67&id=724011681

drum

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42983&l=a83aa&id=724011681

[xybadog]

Nice pics. The sheep wasn't really a master of camoflage though was it.

[superfurrymonkey]

Aug 14, 2008 12:28:55 GMT @xybadog said:

Nice pics. The sheep wasn't really a master of camoflage though was it.

The first sheep i've seen that didn't care who was about!! That is where the big tree cross you could see from the a55 was, i've no idea why they cut them down.

[mtbman]

Aug 11, 2008 22:05:28 GMT @martinw said:

Mtbman broke his rear mech and hanger on the Marin trail on sturday, He tried to shorten the chain and run it back single peed but it wasnt playing, the chain was just too tight to get it on the front chainring. Had to push and freewheel downhills with no chain.

I spoke to the mechanic at my local bike shop after and he said I couldn't get the chain to stay on because I was riding a full susser (hence varying chain tension).

Psycholist: Were you riding a hard tail?

Has anyone else got any top tips for a quick fix when you rear mech busts?

[psycholist]

mtbman, yes I was on a hardtail. I found out later that the temporary fix did damage the front middle ring. The chain tension became so tight that it bent the middle ring into an oval shape! Mind you, I covered about five miles with the chain shortened. I guess this singlespeed solution is only something you might try as a real last resort.

Lee