Two days off work, and two days on the bike!
First day over to Betws-y-coed and the Marin trail – bit of a trial by fire as people had said that it's a bit of a grueler, and I'm not especially fit… Found it okay, and after inital tiny bit of fun single track, straight into very tedious forestry road that I had to push up! Was thinking that I was wasting my time as this road went on for ages! But once into the bits of single track I did really enjoy it, and the views! Wow! Got very frustrtaed by trudging uphill only to come down again on forestry road though – I don't mind pushing uphill if the prize is glorious downhill singletrack, but if the downhill is forestry road then that's annoying! But I guess that it's still in development? And the very final downhill stretch is mental! A couple of close moments, and chronic cramp in my thighs when I rolled into the car park!
Second day, and after the good reports I'd heard of Lee Quarry, that's where I headed. What a pig to find! Again, a very tedious trudge up bank, but great fun once up amongst the twisty trails. The weather was hot, and I got sunburnt, but it must be very exposed up there when the weather is grim – needs lots of trees planted in my view, but obvious that development is continuing and it can only get better! It'll be a mega venue in the future, that's for sure! But that black run is scary – I thought I'd give it a whirl after completing the small segments of black amongst the red, but ended up pushing ALL the way down! How embarrassing!
And then another couple of 'moments' on the run back to the entrance… nearly collided with a sheep too…
Two good days, but will I return? Not when Llandegla is closer and, for me, has more to offer in one venue.
