I’m waiting to hear from Commencal and Madison about the warranty claim on my cracked Commencal Meta 5.5. Madison have said they will raise a warranty claim with Commencal but that was 10 days ago and I’ve yet to hear back. It doesn’t look as though I’m going to get it sorted in time for the Isle of Man End 2 End in a couple of weeks, so my lack of preparation continues.
I haven’t been out on the bike for a few weeks because of the cracks, but with the End 2 End looming I thought I’d better get my old Specialized Rockhopper hardtail up and running and at least make sure it works. I did manage to get out on it last night for a nice easy ride around Nant yr Arian.
I started in Penrhyncoch and rode up the Bont Goch climb at a nice easy pace despite the...
It’s not long to go until the Isle of Man End 2 End Mountain Bike challenge (I’m calling it a challenge, not a race!) and as is customary I don’t feel at all ready!
1. I haven’t done many long rides. I did do one on Sunday but it was only 36 miles as opposed to 46 miles for the End 2 End. Also, I started in the hills at 1200 feet and ended up at home at sea level. The total climb for the whole ride was only 3,326 feet compared to around 5,000 feet on the End 2 End. I need to do some longer, hillier rides to make sure I can complete it.
2. My bike isn’t ready – The chain is worn and needs replacing, the gear cables are sticky and need replacing and worse still the frame is cracked and needs replacing. I’ve so far had no success with contacting the...
Sunday was a gorgeous day here so we headed off to the hills for a picnic.
We went to Pendam where Morgan and I had a little cycle ride around Llyn Blaenmelindwr whilst Anna started picking blueberries. We then had a picnic on the shore of Llyn Pendam. It was lovely and peaceful sat there lokking out over the lake, but I got attacked first by ants (my leg is still on fire whilst writing this, 8 hours later!) and then by midges.
Needless to say we didn’t hang around too long so I went off for a MTB ride around the Syfyddrin Trail and then home whilst Anna and Morgan did some Blueberry picking....
I’ve just got back from a nice Mountain Bike ride around the Syfyddrin Trail at Nant yr Arian.
After a little ride around Llyn Blaenmelindwr with Morgan and a picnic at Pendam I left Anna and Morgan to go blueberry picking and headed off for a ride in the sunshine. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny without too much wind. I didn’t ever feel fast or even spritely but I plodded around and overall kept up a decent pace.
From Pendam I followed the Pendam Trail around to the Nant yr Arian Visitor Centre and then followed the Summit Trail out over the moorland, down the ‘Mark of Zoro’ and up the ‘Leg Burner’. I then headed off around Llyn Bleanmelindwr and off past Llyn Syfyddrin follwing the Syfyddrin Trail out to Nant y Moch, down the Bont Goch Descent...
Whilst cleaning my 2009 Commencal Meta 5.5 bike lately I’ve noticed some cracks in a odd place on the frame.
The cracks appear to be radiating out from a drainage whole on a brace between the two sides of the main rear swing-arm. I’ve circled the drainage hole in the image below.
Cracks in rear swing-arm brace
I’m not sure if they are just superficial cracks in the paintwork or if they are actual cracks to the frame. Hopefully the former, but I guess I’m going to have to get them checked out properly as they seem to be getting worse.
Cracks in rear swing-arm brace
I do hope the frame isn’t cracked as I can’t afford a new......
Following yesterdays Beekeepers meeting I rode up to Nant yr Arian for a mountain bike ride. I started at Capel Madoc which wasn’t quite as far up the hill as I had thought, so the climb up to Banc y Darren and the top of the ‘Mark of Zoro’ was longer than I thought.
I was feeling tired and slow too so it seemed to drag on. The Mark of Zoro descent made up for it though but I then had a long hard slog up the leg-burner. From here I rode around the trails to the Visitor Centre and then off down the ‘Italian Job’ and around to Pendam and Hippity Hop. I felt a little better now, but still wasn’t fast. The section up over the moorland was pretty wet but from there it was just the descent to the top of Mark of Zoro and then back up to Banc y Darren and a...
I gave myself most of the day off yesterday as Steve was heading to Wales and wanted to go for a longish bike ride.
We did the Artists Valley and beyond loop that I did a few weeks ago. Now, I’ve lost a bit of weight since then and have probably improved my fitness a bit, Steve on the other hand hasn’t been out that much on a bike and said he’d put on some weight. As we all know, it is your power to weight ratio that really counts on a bike, especially when it comes to going up hill and on the first hill it showed.
The first hill is a killer, the climb behind Tre Ddol and it beat Steve! I’m not surprised really as it was his first attempt at that hill as it is really steep. I think Steve had vowed to lose some weight and get stronger by the time he’d got to...
I managed to beat my Personal Best around the ClimachX Trail last night.
It was supposed to be an Ystwyth-MTB night ride at 6.30pm. As usual I was there early, but by 6:45pm nobody else had arrived so I let Anna know I was going to go around on my own and headed off for a quick circuit of the ClimachX Trail.
The first climb felt good and I was once again pushing a gear larger than normal. I got to the first bit of singletrack within 10 minutes, a couple of minutes up on my previous PB. Once onto the single track though, I was a little out of practice and hadn’t ridden ClimachX for a while so things slowed down. It was also very wet with lots of running water in places and lots of deep puddles. At least the puddles were warm though. Also, the recent heavy rain had weighed down the...
Despite the horrendous weather we had a good MTB ride last night.
Dave, John, Myles and I were greeted by driving rain and 50 mph winds in the car park at Pendam but we soon set off along the track in our waterproof jackets and shorts ready for a ride around the MBR Killer Loop. Myles had just got back from the Alps so the weather was a bit of a shock to him, but it was to all of us as it’s been a while since we’d been out in typical Welsh conditions.
I was suffering with sore ribs after my windsurfing session earlier in the day. Breathing hurt, as did any form of bending, twisting or bumping over bumpy things – Maybe Mountain Biking wasn’t the best idea! The ride out to and along the Bont Goch descent went pretty much without incident, there was one point when...
It was time to get back out on my Mountain Bike yesterday. I’d arranged to be picked up by John and we were heading to Coed y Brenin to ride around the MBR Trail and try out the new ‘False Teeth’ section.
It was pouring with rain whilst in the car on the way there and as usual we told each other how little we’d been on the bike and made the usual excuses. We met Mark there who also hadn’t been out on his MTB much lately.
The rain stopped just as we set off across the rocky first section of the Coed y Brenin trails. We were lucky in the end as the rain stayed away and we had a good ride around the trail with no mechanicals or major mishaps. The section called ‘Cain’ proved a little tricky as always and the new False Teeth section with it ‘Is...
Time for some more clever bike riding skills, this time from Tim Knoll – Although I don’t really think you can call it ‘riding’, it’s more like gymnastics really.
Tim Knoll digicam edit from tim knoll on......
I haven’t been out on my Mountain Bike much lately. Since the end of April I’d only been on a couple of short rides, totaling less than 20 miles, that’s a terrible 20 miles in almost 2 months. I though I’d put that right today and headed off into the hills for what would hopefully be quite a long ride.
I had plenty of food and water with me and the conditions looked good. I though I’d punish myself for not getting out on the bike much lately by starting off with the brutal hill behind Tre-Ddol. My bike was still creaking terribly but I actually rode up it without too much trouble. Obviously it wasn’t easy, my heart rate was up around its maximum and my legs were on fire but I made it without any thoughts of giving up. It is pretty steep!
The next test...
I’ve been doing more road biking than mountain biking recently. However, judging by this video I’ve been doing it all wrong. I can’t even do these things on my mountain bike! Mind you, when I lived in Bristol we did cycle down the big rock slab seen in the video – glad to see it’s still being used by cyclists.
I wonder how many sets of wheels they got through making this video?
Share and Enjoy:...
It looks as though summer is here, if only for the weekend. Yesterday was hot and sunny with a light NE breeze in the morning and then a NW seabreeze in the afternoon.
Not quite enough wind for windsurfing – even with big kit – so I had a nice MTB ride around the Summit Trail at Nant yr Arian with Andrew in the morning. This was followed by a quick dip in the lake at Pendam which wasn’t as cold as we had expected.
Anna and Morgan headed off to a cinema party in the afternoon whilst I tidied up a bit and pottered in the garden and all of this was followed with the obligatory BBQ in the garden with Dave and Sarah later in the day.
The temperature hit 24.2ºC yesterday, the hottest day of the year so far according to the weather station. It is already 17ºC today and it...
The Dyfi Enduro 2010 results are out – You can see them here:
Dyfi Enduro Results 2010
They are in a different format to usual as you have to look up your rider number (or surname) to find your time and position.
Well done to all those who finished.. And even those who took part and didn’t finish as that’s more than what I managed to do as I didn’t even manage to get to the start line this year!
Never mind, I’m feeling a little better today so hopefully I’ll be able to start training ready for the Dyfi Enduro 2011 before too......
Well, I’m not doing the Dyfi Enduro.
I’ve got a pretty bad cold and its been getting worse over the past couple of days. I was exhausted yetsterday after driving into town and back and don’t feel any better today so there’s simply no point. Especially considering the fact that last time I did a ‘race’ when I was ill I ended up on the cardiac ward in Bronglais Hospital (twice!) and out of action for a few months.
It’s pretty disappointing and I’d really like to do it, but it would be a struggle in my current condition, I wouldn’t be able to put in a representative time and it may put me out of action for longer than necessary. There’s always next year I suppose.
If you’re doing it then have fun, I wish I was there with you...
I’ve just received 8 little bottles of powder ready for my Sports and Exercise Science lab tests that begin in earnest next week.
Bottles for Lab test
I’m not 100% sure of whats in them yet. Four are labeled ‘A’ and the other four ‘B’. Either ‘A’ or ‘B’ will have Sodium Bicarbonate in it as the tests are to determine whether or not Sodium Bicarbonate has an effect on endurance performance.
Apparently Sodium Bicarbonate doesn’t taste too nice so the other bottles have an inert substance in them that has also been made to taste pretty disgusting. I have to mix them with water and drink them an hour before my tests. Should be......
Last night was the last MTB ride before the Dyfi Enduro for me. The idea was to meet the usual attendees of the Wednesday evening night ride at Pendam for an easy ride around the Summit Trail.
I found myself there and at a loose end at 5ish, a couple of hours early so rather than wait around for a couple of hours or drive home just to turn around and come back I thought I’d go for a ride on my own instead. I had intended to take it easy, but started off on the Pendam Trail and as usual started pushing a bit harder to see how close I could get to my Personal Best.
Last time I did it a few weeks ago I beat my previous best by almost 30 seconds with a time of 36:55. On that occasion I got to the Visitor Centre at under 15 minutes.
Last night, the trails were as good as they get, dry,...
Less than a week to go until the 2010 Dyfi Enduro, so yesterday a large group of us had a pre-ride around the course.
There were 17 of us in total. We didn’t do the road section from Machynlleth but started at the ClimachX Trail head and then rode down to the road and up the first long climb. It wasn’t long before I was trailing towards the back of the group with some of the faster cross-country whippets sprinting off ahead. It was going to be a long day so I was quite happy pacing myself.
The first descent rode nicely, but on the climb afterwards a couple of us had flats, me included. Actually, mine was from a previous incident a couple of weeks ago that I thought had sealed itself, but obviously it hadn’t. There was no option but to stick a tube in it. The others had...
Our weekly night rides at the moment are all exploring the trails that are likely to be part of the Dyfi Enduro. Last night we started from the northern end of the course and rode a few of the trails there. The first descent we attempted was covered in branches leftover from recent forestry operations so unless they clear that before the event I doubt that we’ll be going that way.
The other descent were typical Dyfi Enduro style descents with lots of sharp loose slate that managed to slash both Dave’s and my rear tyre. Each descent was of course followed by a long slog up a fire-road. The cold winter does seem to have released a lot of extra rock from the trails meaning that it is very loose under-tyre and slowing down on the descent is difficult as the loose rocks just slide...
Nant yr Arian MTB Trails
The last time I did a timed circuit of the Pendam Trail at Nant yr Arian was about a month ago and it took me 41 minutes and 5 seconds. I was pretty disappointed with this as it was very slow compard to my personal best of 37:22.
I’ve been feeling a bit slow on my mountain bike lately so on Saturday I changed the tyres on it to make it a little faster and easier rolling ready for the Dyfi Enduro. I went from a 2.4″ Mountain King on the rear and a 2.35″ Maxxis High Roller on the front to 2.2″ Mountain Kings front and back. Still not the fastest rolling tyres around but hopefully a nice compromise between easy rolling and grip.
Whilst at it I cleaned my bike in the sunshine and found that the seatpost was half full of solid mud. I cleaned...
I’ve decided I need some new tyres ready for the Dyfi Enduro.
Currently my Commnencal Meta 5.5 has a 2.4″ Continental Mountain King on the rear and a 2.35″ Maxxis High Roller on the front. Both are OK for general trail riding but a little too chunky for a longer distance ride such as the Dyfi Enduro and pretty draggy on the climbs… I think I need to make life a little easier for myself on the ups and go with something a little narrower and with a lower rolling resistance.
Haven’t decided what to get yet though… 2.2″ Continental Rubber Queens could be a good option as I still need a fair bit of grip for the descents. Anyone got any......
Oh well, so I can’t ride a bike.. Not like this anyway. I may as well give up now!...
Sunday dawned and time for the End of Month Ride.
The weather forecast was terrible, but once up at Pendam although it looked pretty murly and was quite chilly all looked OK. I met Dave, John, Jimmy and James there and after the usual pfaff and chat in the car park we headed off. The first part of the trail takes in some of the waymarked Pendam Trail at Nant yr Arian, before heading off onto Joes Back Garden.
Dave had a flat before we even got to this though so a little more pfaffing ensued whilst he put a tube (which he borrowed from Jimmy) in his tubeless tyre. The first descent was more rocky than I remember and I was riding really cautiously for some reason. It was then off across a river and up along the rutted track to Aberpeithnant Rock Garden.
After some thought Dave rode it, but...
On my way home from Conwy at the weekend I stopped off at Penmachno for a ride around the trails there.
I hadn’t been here for over a year and had fond memories of it from last time so was looking forward to it. This was helped by the fact that it was a lovely day, sunny and cool and not too busy by the looks of the car park.
I was soon ready and heading off up the long hill at the start and then onto the singletrack. It all came back to me as I started making my way around the trail and each little bit reminded me of what was to come.
It really is a good trail, not as up and down as most Trail Centres, instead, after some climbing it tends to hug the contours of the hills with endless miles of single track. There are a few more climbs throughout and even the flat bit can feel a...
The official results for the Mawddach Goldrush 2010 are out. Click here to see them. It’s an excel file with 3 worksheets. Two for solo, one for those who didn’t cross finish line after 1st lap, and the other for those who did. 3rd worksheet are the relay times.
Unfortunately there was quite a mix up with marshalling and sign-posting so the overall results are a little odd and difficult to work out.
How did I do? Not too badly I don’t think. According to the results my overall position was 33rd and I was 13th in my category (Male 31-40). My finishing time was 3:37:46. Mind you, the winners came in at around 2hrs......
I recently discovered that iTunes had some Mountain-Biking videos for download and I couldn’t resist them.
The first I downloaded was ‘Seasons’ from the Collective which was amazing, loads of good footage, some excellent filming and a good mix of riding. At about an hour long you just can’t go wrong for £1.89. The sound track was good too and it just made me want to get out and ride.
Here’s the Trailer for Seasons:
Next up was Kranked 7 which was pretty good, but not quite as good as seasons in my view. I also downloaded ‘Virtuous’, which was a little shorter but just as good. Some really good downhill footage, although I wasn’t so sure about the soundtrack on this one as it would require an ‘explicit’ tag so I couldn’t...
I’ve just noticed that my Commencal Meta 5.5 Mountain bike has recently hit the 1,000 mile mark.
Not that far in the grand scheme of things, but not too bad going for me really. It has actually logged 1,067 miles to date, so hit the 1,000 mile mark on the ClimachX Trail on February 13th, pretty much a year after I bought it on February 18th 2009. I’m sure there have been a few rides where I forgot to start my GPS as well, so the actual distance is probably bit further.
So, that’s 1,000 miles in a year on that bike. Guess I’ll have to try to beat that this year!
There have been a few changes to it since I bought it of course. In addition to the inevitable brake pad changes, the RaceFace bottom bracket has been replaced with a Chris King one, the Sun Ringle rear...
March 7th 2010, Mawddach Goldrush day. The first MTB event of the year for me.
Last year I did it as part of a 3 man team so only did one lap but this year I had decided I ’should’ be able to do it solo and do all three laps on my own. The wetaher was gorgeous, blue skies, cool and little wind. I drove up to Coed y Brenin bright and early, registered, had a coffee in the Visitor Centre with Andy, James and the Martyn and then we headed off to get ready.
After the usual indecision about what to wear Martyn and I headed across to the start area. Martyn managed to get a puncture on the way there so we stopped to fix that and while I was waiting for him to do that I relaised I had forgotten to put my timing chip on, so I had to make a quick dash back to the visitor centre, up the...
With the Mawddach Goldrush looming on Sunday I’m now taking it easy for the second half of this week so that I’m fresh for it. I did however have to do some bike maintenance earlier this week and whilst at it did a wiper seal service on my forks and a rear shock air can service too.
So, yesterday I felt that the bike needed a bit of a shake down before Sunday so went for a ride around the Pendam Trail at Nant yr Arian. All felt fine with the bike, but I’m not getting any faster. Last time I did the Pendam Trail it took me 40 minutes and 42 seconds, which was pretty slow in comparison to my best ever of 37:22. Yesterday I was slower still at 41:05.
It was pretty windy out there which may not have helped, and I did go to circuits and swimfit the night before so...
