The Edge Cycleworks 'Big' Shop Ride

The Marin - Cowlyd Killer

Sun 26th June 2011

Not long after heading away from the car park and man made singletrack of the Marin Trail, the conversation turned to the first climb. As we rode towards Trefriw Andy started to realise he might have brought the wrong bike. This was confirmed after we spent 40 minutes sat on the nose of our saddles, struggling up the steep tarmac, gaining over 400m altitude in just over 2 miles.

There was some reward at the top with stunning views across the peaks of Snowdonia, and the knowledge that we didn’t have to do the climb again. We rode into the mountains and exchanged the silence of tarmac for the crunch of rocks beneath our wheels as we headed to Llyn Cowlyd. The riding became increasingly difficult until we found ourselves pushing our skills to the limit on the technical rocky singletrack that clung to the side of the mountainous valley, just above the waters edge. It was challenging to ride without a dab but satisfying when we got right.

A short hike’a’bike brought us out of the valley before the descent into Capel Curig on a wide, grassy and boggy descent. You could keep your speed up but this required good front wheel lift technique. Ian misjudged it on one of the small bridges across the worst of the bogs and lost his front wheel in the deep mud. He was instantly ejected over the bars, landing head first with a crunch. Thankfully his stiff neck was just that and he could still move all his limbs.

The crash had knocked his confidence so at Capel Curig Ian decided to head back on the road with Andy, who needed to get home. The rest of us set off to complete the first loop, which consisted of a few short tricky descents and plenty of technical climbing. Great fun if you like that kind of thing, and we all did.

On the way up the last technical climb I started making some silly mistakes, before realising I needed to eat to regain energy and concentration. I was soon firing on all cylinders again, which was good because we had a boulderfest of a descent to tackle on the way to Llyn Crafnant.

At the lake we had been riding for 3 ½ hours and were all starting to feel the effects of fatigue. ‘How far have we gone?’ asked Trudie. ‘Nearly 12 miles’ was my reply. While there was some disbelief at this I reminded everyone the route wasn’t called the ‘Marin – Cowlyd Killer’ for nothing.

The onset of fatigue coincided with reaching the Gwydyr Forest and the swoopy fun of the Marin Trail. While the trails were easier, in our battered state, riding was reduced to just holding on down the descents, rather than riding with any finesse, and the chatter on the climbs had long faded away. As the guide I felt it my duty to pick up a couple of punctures to force a rest. Somehow I managed this on fire track, the second time with a spear of slate piercing my tyre.

Eventually we reached the top of the last descent. Not a moment too soon as we’d all just run out of water, which is when we started to hallucinate. But no, there was a ‘Big’ shoe discarded by the trail. Not sure why. So we just accepted the randomness and got on with riding the last descent. At the bottom we bumped into Ian again, who had made it back safely, although very stiff to complement our very knackered.

You can ride this route by following The Marin - Cowlyd Killer route guide