The Wall @ Afan on no training and not cycled for 10 years..
Discussion
WOW!!!
So the last time I went cycling I was in the RAF and it was 2008. It was two days with a mix of activities set in the Cairngorms culminating in a day and a half's worth of cycling. It was never going to be too tough, too technical or too fast because of the mix of abilities.
What it did do was remind me how much I loved being out in the fresh air, how much I loved the feeling of my lungs burning, but charging on until reaching the summit of a peak and getting a lung full of pure air...
It reminded me that charging downhill on the ragged edge with no margin for error was one of the most exhilarating feelings ever.
Getting to experience all this and know that it's getting me fit, I'm seeing postcard worthy views and its actually living life which Monday morning that little bit more tolerable..
It was that little trip to Scotland that sparked something off and on the coach journey home I was reminiscing about meeting Hans Ray at the Malvern Classic, Jase McRoy at Bike95 and the hundreds of rides I went on as a teenager..
So to cut what would be a very long and rambling story to a mid-lenth story; this year I set myself some challenges.
1) To leave the RAF, done 2) Get fit, moderately done 3) Do a parachute jump, a weeks course and 2 jumps done and 4) build a bike and go biking!
So I managed to scavenge a load of parts together and built a Specialized Stumpjumper HT with a mix of Reba's, Hope BB & hubs and 2009 LX groupset. Not knowing much about kit took a while to get my head around as the last time I was into biking hydraulic discs were pretty much concept kit.
So the bike was there, I'd bought a lid, shorts and the essentials for a day out and had been in the gym most days and done a few coastal runs around the mumbles so was fittish, but aware the biking requires a totally different level of fitness..
So a very experienced mate and I organised a day to go out.. The bike was set up but only had a couple of miles on it to get used to SPD's which I'd never used before.
To the ride....
Here in South Wales, the last two days weather have been fantastic, low winds, 16 degrees and not a drop of rain in sight.
So we set off at 2pm.. The Wall normally takes my experienced mate about two hours and it takes about 40 minutes to get there. So we were cutting it fine.. But, with some bravado and optimism we get the bikes off the car and head out.
Hmmm I've done 10 minutes of riding up the fireroad and my quads are on fire. Not good... I should have drank more water before I left house and actually eaten something for lunch.
We actually started from a little car park that cuts out a mile or two from the trail centre itself so you get straight on with the long climb.. Now, from memory I was pretty good at climbing and knew to stay in the seat and keep low and grind hard... I did this for about another 20 minutes, felt sick, dizzy and well wasn't enjoying myself. All much to the amusement of my mate, who I'm sure was getting me back for giving him a hard time in the gym the other night.
Anyway I won't drag it out too much, the fireroad climb was an absolute b
h and although the SPD's were helping me out, my fitness for cycling and the lack of leg muscle really showed my up. However, with the odd water stop for 30 seconds I managed to reach the point where it breaks into singletrack.
Ah, much better, this was what I remembered. Still tough going but I could feel that I loosened up and caught my breath. My mate naturally shot off like a whippet and although I was pedalling hard, my top half was tight and I hadn't loosened up enough to allow the bike to do the work.
Slowly but surely, the flow came back and I was pumping through the lumps and bumps and my eyes were darting around like I was Miyagi trying to catch a fly with chopsticks! We stopped for a minute at the next gate and had a chat... Dan again thought it was funny that I didn't look like I was enjoying it and asked how I was getting on.
Honestly... I was equal parts stting it and loving it. There was a definite rustiness and I was frustrated at the lack of speed but there was no hiding that the adrenaline was flowing!
The Middle section was epic, rocks, roots, canopy and undulations.. bliss.. By this time my nerve had come back and I could feel that the speed was picking up and I was less scared. Then we came to the Graveyard.
hmmm... anywhere called the Graveyard and has big skull and crossbone signs up is a little disturbing for someone who only ever road around the cotswold's before trail centres existed.
Well that felt like a baptism of fire! Rocks everywhere.. not enough pressure in my back tyre.. Shocks feeling plush but not enough air in, losing my front brake and the lever is getting closer to the bars with every mile. An odd one aswell... The LX shifters that I bought are set up the wrong way around so upshift is down and vice versa. Odd.. I never really clicked because I'd been out of the saddle for so long. When my mate let me have a go on his Lapierre Zesty for a bit I twigged.
Anyway we hammered that out the way and stopped just before the last descent. By this time I was ragged. Arms and legs like jelly and my head was buzzing.. The smile had grown to a wild grin by now and I felt like a mountain biker again.
We headed down the last descent and I being honest, took it a little slow. I was worried about my front brake now touching the grips when fully modulated. Still, it was a blast and I came off the end of it wanting more...
So that was the end of my first Trail Centre experience, my first proper ride in 10 years, my first ride on my homebuilt Stumpy and I couldn't be happier.
I've got the bug again and I think this time it's here to stay!
Apologies for the length of this, I meant it to be just a few lines but got carried away.
So the last time I went cycling I was in the RAF and it was 2008. It was two days with a mix of activities set in the Cairngorms culminating in a day and a half's worth of cycling. It was never going to be too tough, too technical or too fast because of the mix of abilities.
What it did do was remind me how much I loved being out in the fresh air, how much I loved the feeling of my lungs burning, but charging on until reaching the summit of a peak and getting a lung full of pure air...
It reminded me that charging downhill on the ragged edge with no margin for error was one of the most exhilarating feelings ever.
Getting to experience all this and know that it's getting me fit, I'm seeing postcard worthy views and its actually living life which Monday morning that little bit more tolerable..
It was that little trip to Scotland that sparked something off and on the coach journey home I was reminiscing about meeting Hans Ray at the Malvern Classic, Jase McRoy at Bike95 and the hundreds of rides I went on as a teenager..
So to cut what would be a very long and rambling story to a mid-lenth story; this year I set myself some challenges.
1) To leave the RAF, done 2) Get fit, moderately done 3) Do a parachute jump, a weeks course and 2 jumps done and 4) build a bike and go biking!
So I managed to scavenge a load of parts together and built a Specialized Stumpjumper HT with a mix of Reba's, Hope BB & hubs and 2009 LX groupset. Not knowing much about kit took a while to get my head around as the last time I was into biking hydraulic discs were pretty much concept kit.
So the bike was there, I'd bought a lid, shorts and the essentials for a day out and had been in the gym most days and done a few coastal runs around the mumbles so was fittish, but aware the biking requires a totally different level of fitness..
So a very experienced mate and I organised a day to go out.. The bike was set up but only had a couple of miles on it to get used to SPD's which I'd never used before.
To the ride....
Here in South Wales, the last two days weather have been fantastic, low winds, 16 degrees and not a drop of rain in sight.
So we set off at 2pm.. The Wall normally takes my experienced mate about two hours and it takes about 40 minutes to get there. So we were cutting it fine.. But, with some bravado and optimism we get the bikes off the car and head out.
Hmmm I've done 10 minutes of riding up the fireroad and my quads are on fire. Not good... I should have drank more water before I left house and actually eaten something for lunch.
We actually started from a little car park that cuts out a mile or two from the trail centre itself so you get straight on with the long climb.. Now, from memory I was pretty good at climbing and knew to stay in the seat and keep low and grind hard... I did this for about another 20 minutes, felt sick, dizzy and well wasn't enjoying myself. All much to the amusement of my mate, who I'm sure was getting me back for giving him a hard time in the gym the other night.
Anyway I won't drag it out too much, the fireroad climb was an absolute b
h and although the SPD's were helping me out, my fitness for cycling and the lack of leg muscle really showed my up. However, with the odd water stop for 30 seconds I managed to reach the point where it breaks into singletrack.Ah, much better, this was what I remembered. Still tough going but I could feel that I loosened up and caught my breath. My mate naturally shot off like a whippet and although I was pedalling hard, my top half was tight and I hadn't loosened up enough to allow the bike to do the work.
Slowly but surely, the flow came back and I was pumping through the lumps and bumps and my eyes were darting around like I was Miyagi trying to catch a fly with chopsticks! We stopped for a minute at the next gate and had a chat... Dan again thought it was funny that I didn't look like I was enjoying it and asked how I was getting on.
Honestly... I was equal parts s
tting it and loving it. There was a definite rustiness and I was frustrated at the lack of speed but there was no hiding that the adrenaline was flowing!The Middle section was epic, rocks, roots, canopy and undulations.. bliss.. By this time my nerve had come back and I could feel that the speed was picking up and I was less scared. Then we came to the Graveyard.
hmmm... anywhere called the Graveyard and has big skull and crossbone signs up is a little disturbing for someone who only ever road around the cotswold's before trail centres existed.
Well that felt like a baptism of fire! Rocks everywhere.. not enough pressure in my back tyre.. Shocks feeling plush but not enough air in, losing my front brake and the lever is getting closer to the bars with every mile. An odd one aswell... The LX shifters that I bought are set up the wrong way around so upshift is down and vice versa. Odd.. I never really clicked because I'd been out of the saddle for so long. When my mate let me have a go on his Lapierre Zesty for a bit I twigged.
Anyway we hammered that out the way and stopped just before the last descent. By this time I was ragged. Arms and legs like jelly and my head was buzzing.. The smile had grown to a wild grin by now and I felt like a mountain biker again.
We headed down the last descent and I being honest, took it a little slow. I was worried about my front brake now touching the grips when fully modulated. Still, it was a blast and I came off the end of it wanting more...
So that was the end of my first Trail Centre experience, my first proper ride in 10 years, my first ride on my homebuilt Stumpy and I couldn't be happier.
I've got the bug again and I think this time it's here to stay!
Apologies for the length of this, I meant it to be just a few lines but got carried away.
Great write-up, I did the W2 combo yesterday and you've captured the Wall bit really well.
If you want a less intense workout I can recommend the new blue trail at the Forst of Dean. It's nowhere near as long, but the last decent is amazing, endless smooth swoopy corners, with berms, jumps, compressions, the lot basically. It's also far less rocky than Afan so you carry more speed with more confidence and it's just generally easier on the body.
If you want a less intense workout I can recommend the new blue trail at the Forst of Dean. It's nowhere near as long, but the last decent is amazing, endless smooth swoopy corners, with berms, jumps, compressions, the lot basically. It's also far less rocky than Afan so you carry more speed with more confidence and it's just generally easier on the body.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff