Llandegla & Back
'Big' Edge Cycleworks Shop Ride
Sun 29th August '10
Even though the weather wasn’t good everyone had turned up. The group included Rich. On the last Clwyds Shop Ride he had turned up with long sleeves and a buff, despite a temperature in the high 20’s. This time he only had a short sleeve jersey and it was raining.
He had his hopes pinned on the weather forecast being correct that sun would soon make an appearance. It seemed unlikely. His idea of warming up once we got riding didn’t quite work out. As we left the car park the rain just got heavier and it was accompanied by a cold wind. Despite this he was glad to be out, as was everyone else. We were riding our bikes and that’s what counted.
The steep singletrack climb from Loggerheads was followed by an even steeper climb to Meashafn. Being cold wasn’t much of a problem after that. The problem now was the fear that my camera was going to pack in. No matter what I tried it got wet every time I pulled it out. When the lens cover began to stick I really began to worry.
We didn’t feel like hanging around so kept moving along the lanes to Nercwys Forest. Thankfully the tarmac passed quickly beneath our wheels. We soon reached the shelter of the forest to follow the winding circular route through the trees. It was a little exposed when we regrouped at the view point but that wasn’t a problem for those wearing layers. Rich, on the other hand, had to crawl beneath the information board.
The view was taking a day off. All we could see was a blurred grey sky. That was until we noticed some light patches. This gave us the first hint that things might be changing. We left the forest and headed towards Llandegla optimistic that the second half of the ride might be more pleasant.
A mixture of trails and lanes delivered us to the mountain bike centre. By now the sky was actually blue so we sat outside the Oneplanet Log Cabin and drank coffee. Dave took advantage of the bike shop and procured a jockey wheel to fix a problem with his gears. Rich also emerged with a new bit of kit and a few well placed holes transformed the bin bag into his new waterproof.
After the refreshments we headed up the long climb at the start of the manmade trails. It wasn’t long before the usual grumble was heard, “It’s a bit monotonous isn’t it”. The consensus was that it would be nice to have some optional log balances, or other features, to break it up. This was probably on our minds more because we knew the people at Llandegla had been busy. A lot of new trails and improvements we’re close to completion and we were eager to ride them.
As we climbed past the Bank holiday masses I thought it was great to see so many people on the trails, especially as Oneplanet who had suffered so much during the previous winter. However, I was worried the congestion might slow us down on the descents. It turned out not to be a problem, everyone seemed very aware and pulled aside to let us past.
After enjoying the descents on the Red Route we reached the Black. The crowds completely disappeared on the twisting singletrack and we could really get some speed up. Sadly, crossing our fingers hadn’t worked and the fence was still up at the first hairpin. All we could do was press our faces up to the mesh and look at the big rock feature that marked the start of the new section of the Black Route. It looked good and made us curious as to what delights lay on the other side (I have ridden it since and it’s fantastic).
We headed off down the normal Black Route for the usual blur of twists and turns, jumps and drops. No, it wasn’t new but it was still great fun. Eventually we reached the bottom, which meant there was a long climb ahead of us. As we made our way up I started to feel my legs burn. On each hairpin bend I saw Chris climbing quickly behind me. This spurred me on to ride harder. I’m a bit competitive and didn’t want to be caught.
There was a brief pause on the way up to say goodbye to Rich. He was riding one way, in the direction of Llangollen, after being dropped off by his girlfriend that morning. We headed in opposite directions out of the forest. Our direction took us away from the waymarked trails for a steep descent on Offa’s Dyke.
At the edge of the trees we hit tarmac again for a few road miles to Gweryd Lakes and another café stop. Chilling out in the sun with tea and cakes gave us the boost we needed for the final leg of the ride along the southern end of the Clwydian Range. The trails started properly again when we found ourselves at the top of the Pigories descent. The fast, gravely double track into the Vale of Clwyd was unusually pedally due to a strong head wind. It was still silly fast though.
While the wind was a hindrance going downhill it helped on the climb back up the ridge. Even so, things started to slow down. It had been a long day and Mike had run out of energy. He was confident that he would make it back but couldn’t climb quickly anymore. That was ok with everyone. He wasn’t ‘too’ slow, we had already made good time and the weather was really nice.
After the Clwyd Gate Motel the climb continued on leg sapping grass. By now tiredness was affecting everyone but we got to the top without too much pushing, eh Dave? It wasn’t much further to the final descent and we happily flew down the fast muddy track. Although it became increasingly rocky as we descended we reached the bottom without a puncture. In fact, the whole ride had been puncture free, which was nice because with the two café stops it had taken us just over 6hrs to complete the ride. Any longer and the burger van in the car park would have shut so we wouldn’t have able to finish the day by stuffing our faces with sausage and bacon baps, yum!
