Wednesday 27 February 2008

Dirt no.73 - The Hardtail Isue


Check it out some, lanky, blond, dreaded guy has sneaked into this months issue!! Anyway another great release from the guys at Dirt incuding anything you would ever need to know about hardtails, plus a review of the soul and an interview with Cy discussing the ideas behind Cotic bikes. Well worth a look - www.dirtmag.co.uk

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Glyncorrwg 'X to the C'




This place ruined me!! If you like long grueling climbs then this is the one. Somehow the trail never seems to level off and unlike Brechfa I didnt find the descents that rewarding. I love destroying corners, however the trail seemed to straighten out whenever the speed picked up. This is proper XC though and if you look at it from that perspective I bet it is awesome, the scenery is absolutely mint and with skinny tyres, clips and maybe a less burly build these trails would be a whole different game.

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Sunday 10 February 2008

Sunshine in Wales!!


Is summer here already? - bring on global warming!! What a weekend of quality riding, another early start today, well a little late after a very hungover Will had to be scraped out of bed! Me, Will and Jack headed out to the valleys, the van absolutely stacked full of bikes. First stop the BMX track and then on to find some DH. We ended up at Llantrisant which has some really nice tracks, the riding there makes a good change to what we have been riding recently with some real nice root sections and techy corners as well as a nice easy push. Back via Maccy Dee's for some proper DH grub, fully stocking up the fat and salt levels! Anyway here are some pics I found on the camera from up at Kilvey the other week.


Jacks shiny new Sam Hill lid, his new love!! ^

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Big News - Tredegar BMX track now run by an official club



Tredegar BMX track is now being run by an official club which is great news as it means there will be people up there and running gates every sunday. The atmosphere today was really good, the change is bringing new people to the track and should be great for the tracks future. The track itself is national level and an excellent training facility, great for building up the bike skills and fitness. There will also be a race next weekend (17th Feb) run by Dragon Downhill. I thoroughly recommend checking it out.


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Saturday 9 February 2008

Brechfa - Gorlech trail - one word, Mint!

I just had my first experience of a welsh trail centre and can honestly say it was the best days riding I have had in a longtime. If you haven't been to Brechfa it is a bit over half an hour west of Swansea but it feels deep in the heart of wales with its tiny rural villages, plenty of tractors parked up in driveways and deep green valleys, the feeling is far removed from the industrial character of the 'valleys,' where most of the riding happens.

The trail itself has some good climbs and despite being a religious 'non pedaler' I was starting to (well almost!) understand that satisfaction that comes from pedaling to the top of some proper singletrack. It gives it an edge as you have to respect the effort taken to get there and hit the downhills full on. The singletrack is definitely first class and as a downhiller even scary in places when hit it at pace. The last descent is awesome all the guys got to the bottom buzzing, loads of good hearted banter and a few cuts earnt on the way down, but so good that we pushed back up the fireroad to hit it again. Well it would have been rude not to. It was really good to get out in the sun and chill with mates. This kind of riding is so relaxed and built around fun, man-made tracks definitely have their place and are well worth the effort to go check out.

Being as organised as ever I managed to leave my camelback at home with the camera in it so no pics this time, best place to get more info about Brechfa is www.mbwales.com.

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