Coed y Brenin weekend

It has been far to long since I caught up with my old 6th form friend Loz so we cleared some space in the diary and headed to Coed-y-Brenin for a weekend of mountain biking.

To make a full weekend of it, and to give Loz a break from his drive up from Surrey, we used the Friday night to go for a long bike ride. He knew the area but I introduced him to some our mini alps of Edge Hill and Avon Dasset.

Earlyish Saturday we headed off to the mountain bike center at Coed-y-Brenin. Its not far from Dolgellau but the slow Welsh roads means its takes a while to get there. After the typical bloke bike faff we hit the Dragon trail.

The start from the center was far more technical then I expected or had ever experienced but I got through it and started enjoying myself. Some long climbs led to stunning views as we soaked up the sun. It felt more like August than October!

IMG_0315

Video - View from the Dragon trail

What goes up must come down, as they say, and down we did come! I scrambled, jumped and shook myself senseless over terrain I wouldn’t classify as traversable. It was a case of gravity and stupidity overcoming logic but the reward was a huge kick of adrenaline. I think I’ve found a new sport to keep me going until ski season!

After a hard day’s riding we headed to the King George hotel, by the Barmouth toll bridge. It was one of those perfect moments; we were tired, the place was open, serving food and had formula 1 qualifying on the big TV!

Our accommodation for the evening was something different – a love to hate caravan!

IMG_0322

The Windrush

IMG_0318

The view from the Windrush

With views like that £13 was well spent. The ability to cook bacon in the morning was a bonus!

Sunday followed the same format as Saturday, but with different trails. I  came off a few times and hurt all over but I couldn’t get enough. Recommend the MBR trail for some serious technical stuff.

Bring on the next weekend!

Liked this post?

Suggested further reading

One comment

  • Loz says:

    Top round-up Rob – was a great weekend and now looking forward to our next adventure on the MTB.

    Bring it on!

    29 October 2009

  • Leave a comment

    I appreciate any and all serious feedback, especially if you feel strongly about something I have written about.





Archives

About this blog

Welcome to the personal blog of Robert A J Ford, a professional interaction designer and developer based in the UK.

I started this blog in 2007 to record my cycle training leading up to the Etape. I've never been one for diaries but this format works well with my job and lifestyle so I expanded it to record details of other training and events.

As the blog grew it became a space where friends and family followed my activities. Their feedback has inspired me to keep writing. I hope you find something of interest and please feel free to leave comments.

My other sites