Industrial Fell Biking

It signifies the end of the summer.

Those halcyon days of sunshine and summer breezes are drawing to a close.
To be replaced with wet and windy weather combined with a receding sunset.
Hang on a moment though - it's been wet and windy for months.
I'm still waiting for summer to arrive.
It's not on is it?
Summer's been cancelled.

So here are some autumnal photos instead.

The Industrial Fells are living up to their name

You can't even tell which season it is.
These photos could be from today, or sometime in February.

Even the cows are confused. You wouldn't want an argument with them!

There is one thing which is a bit of a give-away -

And that's the colour of the heather.
It's a beautiful purple at the end of the summer.

I only persuaded Shaman to ride up here to get a shot of the zigzags - they ride as good as they look!

But elsewhere bleakness prevails. It really does look like this all year round.

Even the other side of the valley doesn't want to come out and play.
There is a photogenic side to the fells - it's just not visible today.

And finally, to end on a cheery note - the next Bank Holiday is Christmas Day. Fantastic.

Posted by NoPies at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The snow was flying along parallel to the ground, driven by the bitter easterly wind when we set off.
We didn't know it then, but this ride was going to turn into a bit of an epic.

Tired, cold and damp, and a range of hills between where we were, and where we needed to be.
"Just a quick pootle over the hill" - a comment I still get ribbed about. It shouldn't have been too bad but for Shaman's brakes which had given up the ghost completely. The levers pulled all the way to the bars without actually doing anything. The final descent, all three miles of it, he ended up walking. That was some ride.

So we're here on a delightful summer morning for a re-match. In the black and white corner (new bike) Shaman, in the green and purple corner the Berwyns.

The route is taken from issue 1 of Singletrack magazine circa 2001:

The route is made up of four forays into sheep country. The first on old roads and tracks. The second takes up to a watershed - needless to say both my feet are soaked by the time we're past.

The track down from here heads to a vertiginous edge

And then zig-zags down switchbacks to the valley floor.

It's a top descent, the back wheel is scrabbling about for grip and the bike is squirreling about beneath me.
Fantastic!

AT the bottom we hit some classic British woodland, but only for a hundred yards

The exit from the wood takes us into the remains of a slate quarry.

I remember being introduced to alliteration at school:
Shpeeding Shaman on shlaty shingletrack - that just about sums it up!

Next stop is the village of Llangynog where we ignore the entreaties of the local pub, and head off up the track running parallel to the main road out of the valley.

Too steep to ride in places, we eventually reach the top.
Best open this in a new tab so you can scroll from left to right

Now it's time for a double track descent to Llandrillo village. Last time we were here we stopped in the bus shelter to eat our butties with hyperthermic fingers. Today is a little more pleasant.

It's time now for the final pootle over the hill.
As pootles go it's not that bad. This is the Wayfarer pass, a BOAT used by 4X4 drivers (Let's offroad!) and MXers.
It takes us almost an hour and a quarter to cover the 6km, 415m climb to the top.
There's a plaque here

There's also a log book, in a watertight tin, to which we add our names.
If you want to know what we put I'm not going to tell you - you'll have to get your arse up there and find out for yourself.

The descent isn't bad, it's quite fast with a few opportunities to get some air - and a few opportunities to fall off, one of which I snatch. Needless to say, there are no photos of that!

It's a nice descent, but not the best one of the day.
As far as the rematch goes, I think we came off best today.

And as a special treat for Google Earth users, the link here should open the route for you!
Google Earth link

Posted by NoPies at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's a grey morning at Grindelwald. Wreathes of cloud weave around the top of the north face - which doesn't look too big from the valley bottom.

It's the first rain of the week, but it's only slight, it's still warm and it's not going to spoil our fun!
We take the lift to Furst and ride to the scenic Bachalpsee with views of the Wetterhorn and the Schreckhorn.

And here's a picture of some of the poor sods who've had to put up with me all week!

It's quite an exciting ride down from here

In the middle of nowhere we pass an old mountain hut, it's like something out of Hansel and Gretel. There's a date on the front 1739 - but it doesn't look that old.

The door is open, and inside an old man with the butt of a half-smoked cigar glued to his lower lip is attending to the needs of a large flock of cheeses.
Anywhere else this might be mistaken (rightly or wrongly) as a local tourist attraction. But up here at 1500m there can't be more than half a dozen people walking past a day - this guy is for real!

With hindsight I wish I'd bought one.....

Before we know it we're back at Grindelwald. The plan is to ride the railway up past Alpiglen to Kleine Scheidegg (both names to stir the hearts of mountaineers everywhere). But bikes are banned from the train until after four - the Swiss guard won't even let us board the 3-55!

Kleine Scheidegg is awash with tourists, including ourselves.

We don't loiter for long, we're quickly off down the other side of the col.

Where the views of the Jungfrau are sublime.

And to wrap up what can I say?
Fantastic trip, great bunch of clients, memories I hope I remember for a few years to come.
And our hosts, Jamie and Mary from Ride The Alps were great.

This trip certainly gets the IFB seal of approval!

Oh yeah - if you ask me nicely I'll show you my Ride The Alps hoodie - a wonderful example of sartorial elegance!

Posted by NoPies at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)