One big loop – Rhayader Sunday
On Saturday Matt, Simon and I headed up to Nant yr Arian near Aberystwyth to hit the Syfydrin trail – not the most technical of trails, with plenty of double track to get you out into the ‘wilds’ – anyone familiar with Skyline at Afan would know the type. Different conditions from our previous visit in April 12, when we had axle deep puddles and mud; this time it was very hot and bright, sadly there weren’t any sun bleached sheep corpses, picked clean by the ubiquitous Red Kites to give that true desolation experience.
The sections of wooded singletrack were welcome and we dived under the cover of the trees, well aware of the heat and brightness beyond. Lunch in the shade at the trail centre cafe afterwards was a relief, watching large numbers of Red Kites circling around the lake.
Sunday we met up with Jason, DanW and Sam in Rhayader for another mahoosively hot day, this time for a 46km/1400m XC ride around the hills either side of the Elan valley reservoirs. Some ‘pleasantly’ steep hills, a few wooded tracks offering relief from the sun, and finishing off with an impressively quick, unmanicured rocky descent back into Rhayader.
Some of the Strava sections give a flavour of the terrain:
- Puke Hill
- Bonk Hill, followed by Bonk Hill Reward
- Tyn Pant downhill – don’t remember it being so bad that metal pants were needed?
But the Llanerchi Wood downhill was pretty dim and nicely rocky, keeping us busy before spitting us out at the Garreg-ddu reservoir.
We came, we saw, we sweated.
