We started quite well, making fairly quick time to the foot of Cadair. The weather had been pretty hit and miss, with a selection of rain and sun to keep us on our toes. Some bits of the Pony path had obviously taken a real hit with all the rain we'd had, so any smooth bits were savoured ... ^^^ Sally savouring one of the last remaining smooth bits.
Still on the way up. Yes, I know I look like I've been on the road for weeks but trust me, my two wheeled tramp look has taken years to hone ... I can look like this after only a few hours on a bike!
The higher we went the more the weather closed in. By the time we hit the point where the Pony path splits, it was getting very misty and also very cold. An executive decision was made to dump the bikes and continue on foot before retreating down the mountain for the night. A suitable(ish) spot was located and camp made sometime around 8.30.
Sally's knee had been giving her some trouble on day one but the next morning with gritted teeth she carried on over the tops to Mach'. I'm sure the thought of egg and chips was an enormous motivator, even with an injury, we still arrived in Mach' at my initial eta of 12.30 (which didn't account for poorly knees). A stockpile of excess calories was duly loaded onboard at the cafe before raiding the Spar ... as you do
The lunch time rest hadn't really done Sally's knee much good. We set off out of Mach' heading for Plylimon but knowing that there wasn't much chance of hitting the summit before one of the following - Darkness / Sally's knee stopped working altogether / She stabbed me with something really sharp. I had a back-up overnight spot in mind but didn't want to have to go round the houses to reach it, so figuring that getting stabbed was quite likely no matter what I did ... I made her push her loaded bike up the 'Chute'
Our second overnight spot proved to be a touch more sheltered than the one we had on the first night. Obviously shelter has it's advantages but it also has disadvantages in the form of winged teeth. Sometime around 10.00 we lost the battle with the midges and retired to our respective bits of silnylon ... me feeling rather happy about all the space under my Trailstar
Morning dawned like pretty much every other summers morning this year ... I opened my eyes to be greeted by the sight everyone loves when they've got to pack their gear way.
The third days riding had been left short on purpose. A couple of hours would see us back to the start, I suppose we could have made a dawn raid on Plynlimon but I doubt Sally's leg would have thanked me for the suggestion. As we started to make our way off the plateau, I turned for one last look as I always do and was greeted with a fantastic double rainbow ... maybe it was trying to entice me back