20/07/2009 by Missus Toast.

Today we took Jaggy to our ‘local’, Cannock Chase.  Fortunately he had a much better day, infinitely preferring Follow the Dog to Llandegla red, even with a few sections closed.

I did a little helping out with building the new exit for section 7, but unfortunately was eager to get some riding done - after a couple of weeks without FtD, I’d actually gotten a bit ‘homesick’, and also wanted to see if my new found confidence in Scotland would make any difference.

The answer was kind of  ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.  There were some bits that I rode pretty fast, picking fairly good lines.  I hit a lot of the rougher stuff with more gusto than I used to, and also found winding through the trees at speed less worrying.  Unfortunately I lost my flow a bit as I encountered a screaming child frozen on the jumps on section 8, and chickened out of riding the end.  Not sure why.

Evil Root Number Two defeated me again.  I got a lot closer this time, but still stopped the bike before my front wheel had touched it.  It’s stupid - I’ve ridden stuff I’d consider to be more tricky and technical, but I’ve just got a mental block.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have named it ‘Evil Root Number Two’.  It’s just a bloody root.

Jaggy and Mr Toast were apparently zipping around FtD at speed, being manly and over-competitive for a change.  On the first lap, Jaggy assured Mr Toast that he could have gone faster on section 13.  On the second lap, he proved it.  He went faster.  He also fell off on a corner.  Hilarity (and bleeding) ensued.

All in all, a good day.  I rode pretty well, but I do find riding in crap weather really knackering.  Must tackle roots soon, it’s getting stupid now…

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: Follow the Dog

Highlights:  Being back on mah home turf

Bad bits: Crap weather, unnecessary cowardice

Post ride food snaffled: Cookie and bacon sandwich, the classic combo

Good dogs seen:  Huskies sniffing each others arses.

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20/07/2009 by Missus Toast.

We had a visitor this weekend - Sir Jaggy, Lord of York (formerly of Hull).  Jaggy has long been a filthy commuting roadie, but recently decided to give this mountain biking malarky a go.  After briefly toying with the idea of getting a entry level/mid-range hardtail to start off with, he instead decided to get a Cannondale Prophet, and sallied forth TO THE HILLS!

First up this weekend was Llandegla.  Unfortunately Llandegla was a bit of a let down - maybe it was because of the trail conditions, or maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind, but it just didn’t seem as…fun as the last few times I’ve been.  On the plus side, I rode up all of the initial climb without stopping, but this had the unfortunate and unexpected effect of making me extremely dizzy when I stopped.

First bit of trail was pretty much as I remembered it, but the next section (where the red branches off from the blue) was utterly battered.  It’s been extensively deforested, and the trails have suffered as a result.  You expect there to be felling in a working forest, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen trails made as utterly barren as here.

The drainage was terrible on this section - huge puddles, streams running down the trail, waterfall-like torrent running off the side of the hill.  The forestry vehicles had cut through parts of the trail, and the gouges were filled in with sticks and forestry debris.  It was a bit surreal riding along with a JCB moving about right next to the trail.  Jaggy and Mr Toast, bless them, actually lost the trail at one point.

I was a bit shocked, because obviously I’d been there a few months earlier.  There’d been a bit of deforesting then, but it had been expanded - I didn’t recognise the smooth northshore section.  Even when riding up it.  I remembered that bit as being good fun zipping through the trees, but it was now in the middle of a pretty desolate landscape, and didn’t seem to ride as well.

The two woody descents were really nice, and bloody good fun, but then it was another climb.  The new section was also nice, very fast and very smooth, with some really odd off-camber bits with pipes running underneath.  I was holding my own surprising well, overtaking a few people, keeping pace with others.

I rode the first part of the bobbly northshore, went straight onto it without hesitation.  Unfortunately the chap in front stopped, so I had to stop, and then I couldn’t get momentum and start off again.  I ended up walking the rest. :(  I don’t blame that chap though, he probably saved me a painful and messy fall into the bog!  Still, it’s a start!

I got around at a fairly reasonable pace - I sent Mr Toast and Jaggy off to be all manly and over-competitive, but I apparently arrived at the café fairly shortly after they did. Jaggy had had a close call with some jumps, but just about managed to keep control of the bike.  What a hero! He actually did nauseatingly well - the combination of roadie fitness, beginner’s enthusiasm, a lack of fear (or common sense?) and ‘healthy’ competition with Mr Toast makes a formidable combination.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t too impressed with Llandegla, feeling that the singletrack on offer wasn’t enough reward for the sheer amount of climbing on fireroads. This time around I was inclined to agree with him.

Ride: Llandegla

Trail: The red route

Highlights:  Singletrack through the forest, doing the initial climb in one go

Bad bits:  Battered, water-riddled deforested start, doing the initial climb in one go

Post ride food snaffled: Orange and lemon cake and a cup of tea.  Mr Jaggy made awesome meatballs in the evening (not a euphemism)

Good dogs seen:  Two filthy but sweet trail mutts.

Posted in Mountain Biking | 2 Comments »

20/07/2009 by Missus Toast.

I’m afraid I’ve been a bit lax with the Map of Joy updates, so here’s a bumper bonanza update!  Now with added Peak District, Glentress and Inners, and Dalbeattie!

Just got Afan, Coed-Y-Brenin and Thetford left.  I’m really hoping the weather picks up at some point, as I’ve heard Thetford’s not much fun if there’s been heavy rain.  Might have to add Brechfa to the list after the comment from Tim, its write up on the MBWales site sounds promising…

Posted in The Map of Joy, Mountain Biking | No Comments »