No sooner had we started cycling on a lovely forest road when disaster no. 1 for the day occurred ! Kev trying to ram home a sudden gear change while ascending succeeded instead in jamming his chain against the gear ring requiring unloading and inverting of the bike to dislodge the well and truly stuck chain !
We'd taken the route knowing at some point that we'd have to go off road - what we didn't realise though was that in doing so we were in fact entering the Coed y Brenin forest the location of one of the most popular and challenging mountain bike areas in Wales - it was like Lysterfield on heat !
We cycled for 12 km off road in progressively more difficult conditions passing MTB tracks such as the Beast a 30 mile track with jumps, boulders, trees and lots of opportunities for Injury based on discussions we had with the local MTBikers !
We were within a km or two from escaping the forest area when disaster no 2 struck. Cycling downhill on a rough rocky track my front handle bar bag jumped out of its housing giving me about .25 of a second to decide whether to try and avoid it and certainly crash or ride over it and most likely crash !
I chose the later and was amazed to still be upright after riding over the bah but looking backwards showed a dust filled path of destruction with the bag and its contents (my cameras) strewn everywhere !
Luckily the camera's were OK (just recent repaired after a Peru incident) but my Tablet device was not so healthy having been smashed meaning Kev's device has now become our only communication aid !
Back on Terra firma (at least the made stuff) our route led us into the incredibly stunning wilderness of the Snowdonia National Park with Mtns, small roads. a few sheep and not much else !
It was tough work with steep climbs followed by rocket fuelled descents. We hought we were making good progress until we came across a sign indicating that we were in fact heading back to where we had come from ! A 5 km back track took us up those steep 'mothers' we had just cycled down till we found our mistake a junction where our route was signposted in two different directions.!!
With cursing aside we joined a narrow off road trail complete with stinging nettle bushes if you strayed too much (was stung a few times) that took us through Trawsfynnd and literally around a lake and up to a Nuclear Power station in the throes of being decomissioned ! Opened in 1965 it is the only nuclear power station in the UK to be situated on an inland lake.
With all the off trail cycling and descents I decided to adjust my bike brakes before we tackled a steep 20% downhill and this was where disaster no. 3 (a near season ending one !) so very nearly occurred !
Half way down the steep hill applying full brake I heard a twang and suddenly felt no brake power in my front brake . After previous incidents I knew it was dangerous to build up speed so headed across the road straight for a rock wall while fully applying the remaining brake and using the Flintstone method (shoes dragging) to slow the bike ! Mercifully I pulled up just short of the rock wall although pretty shaken after a near impact.
An inspection of the brake cable showed it had almost totally snapped through only to be held together by a couple of strands of fibres and this was the cable I'd replaced only the day before ! A Work safe investigation highlighted that our method of adjusting the brakes had contributed !
We rode on a few more kms to a pub and took a much belated lunch in the shape of an afternoon tea although a few shots of whisky would have been preferable. We used the opportunity to put the jinx on Adam Scott at the time leading the British Open !
Now late we had no option other than to take a pretty busy A road direct to Porthmadog (pronounced pormaddock) a not so old town that serves as a popular gateway tho the Snowdonia National Park.
With repairs now needed on the bike we decided to take base here for two nights while working on how to improve our luck !
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