Welsh Epic

Well, after the last post the bike was finally sorted and everything was fit and ready for my weeks training in south Wales with the rest of the DH team.

Those that could make it!

The week promised to be a good one too, with the weather playing nicely for us with no rain in sight for the whole week and temperatures breaking into the mid doubles I was looking forward to some decent riding.
I arrived in Cardiff and the wondrous place that id be calling home (or at least laying my fat schwad down in) toward the back end of the afternoon, and after meeting with the team sec and a few of the other riders we headed over the road to the nearest beverage dispensing outlet for an informal meet and greet whilst we waited for the others to arrive from their various locations, including the first event of the Pearce series where a few had already been racing that weekend with some decent results to boot!!
After a few hours of general chat (mainly around the subject of bikes and work) and a few nectars had been sunk a vague plan for the week ahead was in place and we all retired to the dorm to rest and prepare for the morning and riding that was to follow.

Some techy switchbacks in the woods at Llantrisant

Our first stop was Llantrisant, a small wooded area with just the right amount of trails to blow the cobwebs off and get a bit of coaching from team riders who have been riding a while, and everyone's favourite puddle pirate / soon-to-be scivvy, Ben Deakin. With plenty of little sections dotted around the woods, and of course the inherent evolution of competition between riders, all in attendance were soon upping their game and improving their riding!

Next on the hit list was the infamous Cwm Carn. For someone who had never ridden there before the size of this place came as quite a shock!! Situated on what can only be described as a near mountain sized cliff this is definitely both the longest, steepest and biggest track ive ever ridden!!
After a good 30 minute slog pushing the bikes to the top, stopping every so often to look at possible lines and wondering where abouts I would finally meet my end, we reached the summit and took a well deserved breather.
To my relief we started the day lightly, sessioning the top section a few times doing a bit more coaching on various obstacles such as jumps, drops and roots, before completing a full run of the mountain, that must've taken a good 5 mins for those less experienced riders amongst us, and back to the vans for lunch.
The afternoon was concentrated on the bottom section, home of all the big jumps, berms, drops and a certain hip jump that had the undivided attention of a certain "Sorbs" who had to attempt said hip or risk the loss of his eyebrows!!
By the end of the afternoon everyone was hitting the majority of obstacles at much higher speeds and starting to get used to the sensation of being airborne (something Danny is more than used to - Para), while others gained themselves nicknames, most notably John "Wildcard" Miller whose riding style can only be described as Balls Out!!

Oh...and Sorbs kept his eyebrows! 

The jump that saved the eyebrows!

Ben Ward sending it off the ski jump

Me over the small hip after the bridge.

The final two days were spent at the Forest of Dean located on the Welsh border. This venue had the longest drive in order to get there, but the vast variety of runs available, and the considerably smaller push to the top in comparison to Cwm Carn made this my personal favourite of the week.
Everyone could find something that they were comfortable riding, and something that pushed their limits a little bit too, so in smaller pockets of riders we ascended the hill and took off in different directions testing out the different trails and generally having a laugh on our bikes.


Once everyone had done a fair few runs and our legs were starting to feel the burn of pushing to the top normality returned and we again found ourselves sessioning the bottom portion of a run known as "Ski Run", consisting of a few berms, Tabletop jump and road gap we all settled in for the weeks "Whip off" competition on the table, a trick that is harder to pull of than it looks!!

Not a whip but some great style from Matt F

Everyone loves a barhump!!

Deaks pulling out the big Whips!!

All in all though a great week was had, everyone improved their riding in one way or another and was pinning it come the end of riding on the Thursday afternoon. So once the vans were packed for the last time that week and a big thanks had been given to Tim for jacking up the week in the first place we headed of back home, all tired yet all a little more prepared and ready for the up coming race season.

So until next time....Keep it loose and ill see you on the hill!