So we had a week away at Trallwm forest cottages, if like me, you're wondering how that's pronounced I will swiftly steer you away from the name of the cottage which was 'Trawsgyrch.' Yep...no idea! I can highly recommend this place. There's no wifi or mobile signal which was like gnawing an arm off for the kids but just what us adults needed. That hot tub out the front is wood fired and although it took a lot of logs to get going, it really was lovely to relax in. The best bit though...it's in the middle of a little trails centre!
It was a two family holiday and therefore I couldn't expect to go out all day on the bike. I headed out early most days and this prevented Sam and his teenage tendencies from joining me. The pictures tell you all you need to know!
That's the road to the cottage
The black trail was the toughest route but I wouldn't call it 'black,' in the Cannock Chase sense of the word. A nice challenge though. It was spoilt a little by loggers working on the track meaning I had to double back and do the trail in reverse to get to the best bit!
The white building in the distance is our cottage
Just for good measure on the day I did the Black trail we decided on a hike up Pen Y Fan. By mistake we only did Corn Du but it actually was only about another five minutes to the Pen Y Fan summit so nothing lost really. It was however a first mountain for Sam and a very keen Bruce. My goodness the dog slept well that night!!!
Stunning view
Sam at summit of Corn Du
Enjoy that hair whilst you can young Sam...
One of my favourite ever pictures
Map thing!
A well earned pint!
Bruce and Fergus, our friend's dog
Near the end of the week I did an afternoon ride and Sam decided he needed to come too! The Red trail was similar to the Black one but up a different hill. It was hard work getting up, especially as we'd already walked it earlier with the dogs. On the walk down I was very excited about the downhill thinking it would take about 15 minutes...sadly it was only 5 but I wasn't wrong...it was great on a bike!
Have a look at the gap in the trees at the top of the hill. Picture is from the cottage.
Sam is now standing in that gap...if you superzoom in you'll see the cottage
This was one of only 3 sunny days...how did we plan that this summer!!!
The trails were great and I found a group of MTB riders had based themselves in our cottage in the visitors book but...I wish I'd took my road bike too! The hills here are stunning. In a shop in Builth Wells, a lady told us about the Devil's Staircase. Having no internet meant I didn't do any research until I got home. Really it should've been obvious that there was something special near us because about 100 motorbikes passed us on our way to the red trail. Anyway what I discovered when I got home was that the road that led to our cottage also led to the Devil's Staircase which is on of the 100 greatest climbs. Had I known, I would have just done it on the MTB because it's there!
Once back from holiday I had four days of return to work sulking before the C&D Cycles CC Saturday morning shop ride came to my rescue! I joined the group in Rothwell and was told it was the 'fast banter,' group. That oxymoron was actually a bit of a relief because it was also Fondo week with many of the club opting for a 100km ride. I've blogged what went wrong with that last time. This group was less mixed and therefore we had no such problems. It also helps to have Andy F with us to keep control of things. It certainly was fast in places and we had a couple of good blasts into Brixworth, over the causeway and heading from Sywell into Harrowden.
The saddle was safely removed from my right buttock...thanks Andy for the pic!
Thanks to Richard Howes photography for this pic of Sam
It's cross time! For anyone who doesn't know, I mean the terrific and horrific sport that is cyclocross (also known as cross or CX.) We have two leagues locally (or not so locally as it bizarrely turns out.) The most local is the Leicestershire Cyclocross League (LCXL,) in only it's second year. We also have the Central league which runs from Leicestershire all the way down the middle of the country past London. Our own KCC event forms one round of the CCXL and this year is on 30/9/18 at Prologis Park.
SuperSam and I on a practise lap
This week Sam was using the force via his Chewbacca socks!
Due to race timings and because I wanted to race with Sam just once I opted for the novice race. This takes place at the same time as the under 14 and under 16 races. For the rest of the year I'm going to ride in the 40-49 category...largely so I can overtake Ian Bird...who today sledged me on the ride with "come on Granddad!" Apologies to anyone who overheard my reply. (update, I've checked the lap timings...unless Ian gets a mechanical I will not be catching him!)
Mick Brown also got some pics of Sam and me
Sam, who clips in really well when he's not in a race, did his usual poor start and was last off the line. As he raced into the distance I saw him overtaking riders and I swelled with fatherly pride. Then we were off! Oh my god...I'm right at the front. As we approached the finish line for the first time I saw Sam to the side struggling to get his chain back on. What I didn't know as that he was trying so hard he'd overcooked a corner and come off on gravel. To his credit he got back on and then lost his chain and got back on again until a marshall advised him to retire injured. Sam, I'm sure would have kept going!
This kind of distracted me a bit and I slipped off the lead...the truth was that I wasn't going to keep up anyway. On the way round it was nice to be amongst the kids from cyclones and to see their impressive riding. It took me ages to overtake Amelia, one of our under 12 girls and then she wasn't having any of it and overtook me back! Once I was finally ahead of that impressive young lady I tried to hunt down Dom from our under 14's. I didn't quite catch him. The skills and fitness of our young riders was there to see and it was clear that the hours of coaching at Cyclones are paying off.
It was fun honest...I'm smiling on the inside!!!
Sam tried hard to get back into it
Massive kudos to Dean Barnett and his team from Welland Valley CC for a well organised event and possibly the best cross course I've ridden. It was especially clever of them to organise a Red Arrows fly by (oh okay, they flew over us on their way to the Great North Run.) I'd also like to thank everyone in my race for their course etiquette and pre-race banter. Lung busting, leg wrecking, heart exploding aside...that was a very enjoyable ride!
skinnier CX riders are available
Sam and I hope our next race should be Corby in two weeks time. As ever a few pounds off my belly and a lot of fitness work will help me greatly! #crossishere ...I can't wait for more!
In the world of professional road riding...I don't want to jinx it...we're so close to something incredibly special. If Simon Yates hangs onto his lead in the Vuelta we might have all three grand tours won by different British riders. Fingers crossed, touchwood etc! A few years ago it felt like we would never have a grand tour winner. Then we had Wiggins, then Froome, then Froome holding all three Grand Tour GC titles, then G...oh what a popular win and now Yates, who had his heart broken by the brilliance that is Froome in the Giro...please Simon, bring it home.
Whilst all that Grand Tour stuff has been going on we've also had the Tour of Britain. This along with the ladies version and the Tour de Yorkshire means we have some serious professional racing right here in the UK. Too right too! We may not have the Alps or the Pyrenees but the Peak District, Lake District, Snowdonia, The Brecons, North York Moors and all of the other National Parks provide spectacular racing. My highlight for the Tour of Britain was Ian Stannard's win on stage 7. Team Sky's Tour de France stage winner showed some illustrious team members how it's done as Froome and Thomas became the super domestiques for a week.
Away from road racing one world champion went relatively unnoticed. In a year where millionaire soccer players got rave reviews but didn't win anything, Rachel Atherton brought home yet another MTB downhill world championship. The video is worth a watch!
Happy Pedalling
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