A weekend in the Berwyns

[pedalhead]

We just had a great weekend in the Berwyns. The route we planned had some really challenging climbs...steep, loose, muddy, which made for some extremely hard work on the loaded bikes, but very satisfying and great views as a payoff (where the cloud wasn't too low). 11000 feet of hard climbing over only 60 miles is enough for me on a loaded singlespeed. I hardly sat on the saddle all weekend! :D We decided not to camp at the Moel Ty Uchaf stone circle as planned as it was in heavy cloud, & pitched up a little further down the hill instead.

more pics here... http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 909&type=1

Route here...
Day 1: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157228149
Day 2: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/157228157

Faffing in the car park at the start...


Glad I swapped the 18 tooth for a 19 at the back for this trip!


I nearly filled up my water bottles just downstream of this thing - a "working" toilet in the middle of nowhere. That wouldn't have been the best of choices! Interestingly, there was sheep poo inside it. Getting clever, those sheep...


Cheesy shot, Pedalhead + bike...


At the Wayfarer's Memorial. Windy, damp & cold up here...


The picture doesn't do justice to the colours of that sunset...


My bivy. Glad to have the groundsheet as there was a lot of sheep poo around (pretty much the theme of the weekend)!




Caldera Ti Tri ULC doing it's thing...


Wakey wakey chaps!


Back in the saddle, water bottles refilled from a decent looking stream & we're back up into the clouds again...


Adam repairing a puncture. At least the view was good...


I'm not getting up that!



Final easy ride back to the van on Sunday afternoon. Glorious!


A pub with a view at the end of the ride. What could be better...


I had never ridden around the Berwyns before this trip, & there's definitely some great fun trails. If I'm honest, probably not entirely suited to a fully loaded rigid singlespeed as the climbs are steep & the descents loose & rocky, but we kept the mileage low & it was a great laugh.

[valleydaddy]

brilliant thank you for posting, you had a near perfect weekend weather wise, great pics too.

I need to sort a good bike camera out and them make the effort to use it

[pedalhead]

Cheers yup we had some great weather, though some cold wind & low cloud in places and the ground is very wet in that area still. Most of those pics were simply taken on my phone (Samsung Galaxy S2).

[Ian]

Nice trip Mark. Looking forward to heading back up that way for the WRT :)

[Taylor]

@Ian
Didn't you see the post Stu made with his new "pack raft"?
That was his clue on direction.
We're headed west now but we ain't stopping at Aberdyfi.

[Ian]

I saw something about him finding red herrings in his river