Guiding on the Slate trails (Video)

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summittoppler
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Guiding on the Slate trails (Video)

Post by summittoppler »

A couple of weeks ago Escape Goat Allen asked if I could show him the buildings in my Slate video from July. A date was picked and Sunday afternoon saw Al, John Climber meet me in a nice quiet layby on a back lane not far from Beddgelert. I warned the pair of them to expect big climbs and Welsh weather...
What I had planned was a route I'd done many times a few years ago on a skinny 26" MTB, we were all on fat bikes and it was great to have Allen ride his for the first time on this ride.
After a quiet mile on the lane we soon headed on the old highway where the humidity was already taking its toll.
Image20200816_173202 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

We soon got the short pedalling out of the way and the next few miles were on foot...
Image20200816_174425 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Image20200816_183117 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Image20200816_185751 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Once near the summit of the double track the open mine shaft was producing some very cool air which Allen loved for cooling down..
Image20200816_190024 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Image20200816_190958 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Just when they thought we had hit our limit of hike a bike I dealt them with more.
Image20200816_192211 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

We did have some views though
Image20200816_192614 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

After a brief 'downhill' we had a little more climbing after the soaking of the feet in the usual bog. And to tick Allens box he got to see the buildings...
Image20200816_194412 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

A short pedal later saw us at the slate hotel, where we each picked room with the usual facilities
Image20200816_195313 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

At least we had a spare wheel for the bikes
Image20200816_201815 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

We knew there was some wet stuff coming in so pitching against a wall for extra protection
Image20200816_205055 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Allen opted for the suite with the kitchen island
Image20200816_210753 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

The hotel staff weren't up to much
Image20200816_214929 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

It rained through the night but thankfully stopped for us to break camp
Image20200817_074315 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

As we descended so did the cloud and the heavy rain
Image20200817_084750 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Image20200817_085555 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Just as they both thought it would get easier as we hit the tarmac, the realisation soon hit us as it was the climb to Stwlan
Image20200817_104247 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

our spirits were up despite the rain just as we had another gruelling hike a bike
Image20200817_105858 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

JC doesn't like me anymore :lol:
Image20200817_105846 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Image20200817_110534 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Allen has now seen that fatbikes are friggin ace!
Image20200817_115206 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

JC loves me really
Image20200817_115209 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

It was a pleasure gentlemen and like I said the mileage will seem like 3x the amount we did and you'll enjoy it tomorrow ;)

As per usual a film coming soon and you'll get to see how wet it really was....

Cheers
Last edited by summittoppler on Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:57 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

Looks cracking that does Jeff. I'm sure John'll be glad to get back to work after that :wink:
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summittoppler
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by summittoppler »

Bearbonesnorm wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:47 pm Looks cracking that does Jeff. I'm sure John'll be glad to get back to work after that :wink:
Cheers.
Lol, I'm sure there were a few moments he was thinking it :lol:
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by JohnClimber »

Bearbonesnorm wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:47 pm Looks cracking that does Jeff. I'm sure John'll be glad to get back to work after that :wink:
Nah, if I've still got a job it can wait until October the 1st

I had a fantastic trip but a nightmare too trip to join the lads in Wales.

Good bits - the ride and bivi was vaguely exciting, it even stopped raining for the hour when we were packing up this morning... it never stopped raining heavy from 11pm last night until we got home to Englandchestershire........

Bad bits -
1) My phone got wet and might have died... It's in a rice bath now.... Can't get to my photos or 360 shots ATM
2) I reversed into a narrow lane overgrown side wall (a small dent and a separate scratch in the rear wing of my car now) trying to get past a farmer and a massive trailer on a very narrow road.....
3) All the uphill pushing on Sunday gave me a blister or blisters on my right foot which the head ripped off it, lucky we had plasters...but it didn't stop mean letting the lads know I was in pain at every opportunity...
4)My Fat Bike Bottom Bracket died. (I hope I can sort this for the WRT).......
and to top it all off....
5) I had all my stuff on the line drying only to see it chucking it down 10 minutes too late,,,,, it got wetter than on the ride..........

But still it's all better than being at work on a Monday morning
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by slarge »

Love it, looks like a proper ride, and an eventful weekend.
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by RIP »

:-bd

( You didn't fancy doing the C****** to R****** "through-trip" on fatbikes then :wink:. There's even an underground packraft enroute to keep JC happy :smile: )
Last edited by RIP on Mon Aug 17, 2020 9:39 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by freakychurchill »

Looks like a top ride and definitely a character building one. Hope u get your phone to work John
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by fatbikephil »

:-bd Nice work chaps
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by jameso »

That's a great spot, interested for another time. Used to go climbing occasionally in the quarries above Llanberis (low-grade not Johnny Dawes) and the only time I rode there was for a Genesis bikes photshoot. Terrified for my tyres the whole way : ) Not such an issue for you I expect.
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by RIP »

jameso wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:41 am That's a great spot, interested for another time. Used to go climbing occasionally in the quarries above Llanberis (low-grade not Johnny Dawes) and the only time I rode there was for a Genesis bikes photshoot. Terrified for my tyres the whole way : ) Not such an issue for you I expect.
The only time I've ever ripped a tyre was barrelling down Dinorwig tips. Good old gaffer tape!
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by summittoppler »

Yeah them slates are sharp looking buggers! Luckily the tyres and our skin survived. A fall up there would have you in bits.
It was super sketchy with it being wet. I've watched some of the footage and yep it was wet!!
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by summittoppler »

Click on the image for a 14 second trailer for the film...

ImageMy Movie Trailer by Jeff Price, on Flickr
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by redefined_cycles »

Just watching the vid. Thanks for that Jeff and co. Stunning up there isn't it... wow (actually I'd normally say, God is Great :smile: )...

I assume the slate wouldn't be too kind on any lesser tires than full-fat as Alen mentioned his were filled with PSI... Whats psi? Oh... I think I just realised after writing it back
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by summittoppler »

redefined_cycles wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:15 pm Just watching the vid. Thanks for that Jeff and co. Stunning up there isn't it... wow (actually I'd normally say, God is Great :smile: )...

I assume the slate wouldn't be too kind on any lesser tires than full-fat as Alen mentioned his were filled with PSI... Whats psi? Oh... I think I just realised after writing it back
Thanks for the feedback :-bd

I've rode on slate many times with my fatbikes and have been 'lucky'. However I'm not arsed about the tires, its the damage it'll do to you if you come off as they are like razor sharp spikes in the ground! :o
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by ssnowman »

summittoppler wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:11 pm Click on the image for a 14 second trailer for the film...

ImageMy Movie Trailer by Jeff Price, on Flickr
That looks amazing, looking forward to seeing the full video.
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by composite »

Those stunningly big views are what I always go to Wales for. They just don't exist in the Midlands, I guess the Long Mynd is the closest we have here.
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by summittoppler »

composite wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 8:56 pm Those stunningly big views are what I always go to Wales for. They just don't exist in the Midlands, I guess the Long Mynd is the closest we have here.
Snowdonia mate, but don't tell too many ;)
Give me s heads up if this way :)
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by summittoppler »

Here's the film from the trip. This film involves foul weather and hike a bike on day 2 :-bd

https://youtu.be/32xEdeTwWl4
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails (Video)

Post by Charliecres »

Nice vid. Looks fun. Amazing scenery and industrial archeology :-bd
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails

Post by 99percentchimp »

summittoppler wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 5:42 pm Here's the film from the trip. This film involves foul weather and hike a bike on day 2 :-bd

https://youtu.be/32xEdeTwWl4
Nice video Jeff... full on August conditions too :-bd :grin:
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails (Video)

Post by fatbikephil »

:-bd
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails (Video)

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

Some lovely rushes and tussocks there Jeff :-bd
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails (Video)

Post by summittoppler »

Cheers guys!
Bearbonesnorm wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:36 pm Some lovely rushes and tussocks there Jeff :-bd
Some of the finest Stu, I knew JC would love it and with the given conditions :lol:
*waits for JC's reply.....
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails (Video)

Post by JohnClimber »

summittoppler wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:43 pm *waits for JC's reply.....
:roll: :roll: :roll: actually the tussocks were great fun on the fat bike :-bd

My phone died in the water on this ride, but here's some flattened shots from my 360 camera which survived the trip (just)

Image

Image
One of the only shots with Jeff on

Image

Image

Image

Image
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Re: Guiding on the Slate trails (Video)

Post by Escape Goat »

What a fantastic couple of days! JeffNav aka JeffPS and JPS, never fails!

Rain? It didn't bother me that much.

Image

The views in Wales never fail!

Image[/url]

Image

Image

Image

Follow this incline, can you see a bit of grey through the rock? That's the sky!

Image

Jeff and John not talking to each other....the worst was yet to come too!

Image

Image

The old chapel

Image

Such a grand house for the quarry master. Much higher standard than the others we seen, protected by trees too.

Image

Stwlan dam

Image

Thanks to Jeff and John, can't wait to play out again.

Shaf, I was being silly, "so many PSIs" i just ment my tyres were too hard!
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