Photos from a stunning Beacons/Gap ride

Classic Gap MTB with Matt, Ceri and Haydn by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Classic loop from Tal-Y-Bont. That pic is from the first climb. Water was so still and the light was amazing. Pretty chilly tho.

Classic Gap MTB with Matt, Ceri and Haydn by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Classic Gap MTB with Matt, Ceri and Haydn by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Lots of ice which was just funny on the climbs, but bum clenchingly sketchy on the descents. Fell on that body part twice coming down from the gap. just sheet ice, thick and frictionless.

DSC03145 by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

That’s me in a rare ‘not falling over on the ice’ photo

Classic Gap MTB with Matt, Ceri and Haydn by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Classic Gap MTB with Matt, Ceri and Haydn by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Classic Gap MTB with Matt, Ceri and Haydn by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

No way we tried riding down that bit. Round the corner was a bit better. I still fell off tho. Ice is hard to crash on!

Classic Gap MTB with Matt, Ceri and Haydn by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Obviously we ended up in the pub!
Classic Gap MTB with Matt, Ceri and Haydn by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Superb day out. Frozen all the way round, hardly any mud on the bikes at all. And the descent from the Gap once we were out of the ice always puts a massive grin on my face. Few more on my photo stream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexleigh/

Proper winter ride, few more of those required.

Looks great Alex! These crisp winter days are great for riding and it makes the photos so much better as well!

great photos Al. Looks like a great ride out – pity about the ice on the way down 🙂

BTW is that a Pyga (sp?) you’re rattlin’ around on now? I might need to come and have a look….

Hope all’s well on the wrong side of the border.

Nice.

After last year slogging in the mud and warm rain for 3 months, it was fantastic to get back to some real seasonal riding. No wind really, so it didn’t feel cold once you’d warmed up. Lots of walkers out, didn’t see so many MTBs.

Ice was a price worth paying Mark! Yeah that’s a Pyga, had it over 18 months now. That for me is a lifetime. All good on the RIGHT side of the border!

Perfect, love the Gap. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice. On my to do list..

Looks ace, it’s on a long list of rides that I really want to do.

Wow! Love the first photo, but the rest of them are good too. Looks like a cracking ride.

It is a cracking ride. Quite short (33km but last few are on road/canal) and only 780m of climbing, which compared to the classic Y Das/Myndd Du/Hermitage route is not that much. But for a winter ride – especially when it’s frozen – it’s perfect. As both climbs have amazing views, and both descents are fun in all conditions (even ice!_

Fantastic photos. Proper inspiration to get out and ride 🙂

Great pics! Good to see the Pyga in action again.

Al – do you drinkypoo in the W Arms?

Not often, the beer’s not great! But if you’re around let me know and I’ll see if it’s improved!

Nice to see what it actually looks like, we went a few weeks back and had a view of around 20 feet…

Nice. It’s on my list for 2015.

Nice pics, lovely area. Been a long time since I rode that loop but I recognise most of the spots.

Those are great photos. A group of us did the route Sunday. We walked down the top section of the Gap descent as well.

It wasn’t rideable by mortals in my view… I’ve had my share of death marches in zero vis up there. Last Jan, this was the route up to Y Das

Flashbacks.. by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

It was almost worse that you could see it. Never seen the whole route so muddy.

Just back from doing that exact loop by the look of it

Ice ice baby

Wow great pics and no doubt a great ride.. on my to do list 🙂

Amazing pics,although that ice looks treacherous.
Did the Gap a couple of times earlier this year and loved it,such an incredible ride.

Looks great, depressingly far from my bikes at the moment. When you say classic gap route, is there a gpx or a map view you can link to? I’ve read about a few but not sure what the best way around is. I could probably work it out but I’ve been clever before didnt go well.

I’m sure there’s many slightly different (and extended) versions. I’ve sent you a GPX from our ride yesterday with notes on the route we take. It’s basically a start at Tal-Y-Bont, climb 400m, make you way over the flat bit before climbing again to the first descent, then make your way to the Roman road (you’ll see on the GPX we take a slightly odd route to cut out the old railway line), up the Roman road to the Gap, follow your nose to the bottom, couple of little gully sections, then road/canal home.

You have my email now, so any q’s drop me a line.

That’s brilliant thanks

Any chance you could send me over a GPX also?

It is a cracking ride. Quite short

do it twice

Great pics!

Yes, gpx please, looks amazing.

It is a cracking ride. Quite short
do it twice

There’s better ways to extend it that doing it twice! We have plans for a long spring or summer day.

jkomo – sent you the GPS, somouk – no email in your profile?

Alex, I’d managed to block that y das ride from my memory! I don’t think I’ve ever pushed my bike quite so much!

That’s funny trusty as it looks like you were really enjoying it here:

Carry On Climbing by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

I don’t remember it being that dry !

I think that photo was in between the snow flurries, and just after my comedy moon walking attempts. Steep muddy banks and 5.10 shoes don’t mix!

I remember having to use the bike as a tripod to rescue you as you were sliding down back towards Tal-Y-Bont 🙂 Having switched to flats now, I agree they don;t always have as much grip as you hoped. Useless on ice 😉

I wrote a thing: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=3275 mainly about falling on my arse!