Stag Do part 2. Sundays ride was to be at the Marin Trail, Betws Y Coed, if everyone hated it I could blame Hobbo as he had in a round about way suggested we do it, although our local bike shop had said it was not very good. We got up early on Sunday and set off but nobody had organized Nick's hire bike so we spent a good hour sorting that, in the end Nick's steed for the day was a Felt 720 complete with Rockshox's Dart forks. After scouting the area on way to bike shop we decided not to park at the lower car park but drive further up the hills and stop at the Hafna car park. This I think after doing the ride is an inspired choice which will become evident later.
We got all the bikes sorted and left the poor old Orange five in the van. I had added the route to my Garmin watch so even if sign posting was unclear we should know where we are, but all credit to the Welsh there signs are good.
We set off on a gentle climb on fire roads and before long were shredding some forest singletrack, Marc had regained his confidence today and Hobbo was once again on fire going down hill. I popped out of the end of a narrow forest track and was stunned by the view in front of me, a frozen lake which reflected the mountain peaks in the distance. We all stopped here to admire the view.
We set off, again climbing on fire roads reaching the highest point on route, 331m above sea level, the best bit about starting where we did is we were already high up but, there was an epic climb to come 12 miles in.
From the high point of the route the next 4 miles was all down hill on some fantastic tracks, scary at times, tree roots stray rocks you name it, nobody was suffering any mechanical issues and Marc had not even fallen off, everyone's fitness seems better than the previous day.
The next 4 miles was generally climbing but much gentler than at the Dragons Back, even Hobbo was giving them a go at peddling, Nick was moaning about his hard tail but was still managing to set the pace on the ups, in fact everyone had a turn at leading on the climbs.
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The next 2 miles was a drop of 200m which meant everybody was flying down jostling for position fighting to get past at the switchbacks, we passed two kids with helmet cams about to set off. Hobbo was itching to get past me and Nick as he had overtaken everybody else but alas it was not to be, Nick would rather die than be overtaken and I just stayed in the safety zone and held him at bay. One day though he will get past and one day there will be a big accident, he knows it which is the best thing. The end of this crazy downhill section were a few jumps which allowed everyone to get air time of some sort.
At the bottom we all waited for one another but no sign of Colin or Hobbo, this time though we knew they were OK, Colin's chain had broken so he was busy sorting it. After 10 mins or so they arrived OK.
We had reached the bottom and now we had to do the 200m climb in 2 miles, the only good thing was we passed the lower car park and had worked out there were only 3 miles or so to go. Its at this point we had our first retirement. Colin's chain was slipping so he decided instead of trying to fix it once more to head back up the road to the car. Meantime the rest of us were in get off and push mode, we pushed uphill for over a mile, light was now beginning to fade. We reached the top and once more a good downhill that got narrower and narrower towards the bottom, also with very little run off so a good job those brakes were up to scratch.
From here it was back to fire roads and before long I spotted the car and van through the trees, one more icy road to negotiate and we made it. Pats on the back all round on a good ride. Only trouble was no sign of Colin, he had decided to wait at the side of the road for us. It was a shame he turned back as he could of made it to the end, no peddling required. Marin Train ten out of ten, don't always believe what you local bike shop tells you about places, get out and decide for yourself. This is a trial I will be back to do again.
Words: Simon Richmond
Pictures: Simon Richmond
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