I had a day off work today and Ryan and I decided to go to Blaengarw for a ride. It very soon became clear the reason he wanted to go there was NOT for an enjoyable ride but for a challenging way to help me improve on my skills.
I started the day off very optimistically, excited actually as I haven't been on the bike in over a month (Makes such a difference - fitness drops drastically when you take a break!) I was also VERY excited about using my new Camelbak bag which I bought from the Sherwood 10k.
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| My first bag with a water flask in - normally stick a bottle in Ryans bag |
The drive to Blaengarw took 40 minutes, and I became very car sick on the way but Ryan forbid me to be sick haha - so I didn't! It is very much 'in the Valleys' and the area is beautiful! The mountain we were climbing didn't look so bad from the car park.
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From the car park
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The trail starts with a blue route, taking you up to the bottom of the mountain and then joins onto a black. I have never done a full black trail before this one (only few black sections on other trails). The climb was HORRIBLE! Very steep and rocky - almost impossible to ride it all. I did get off a lot on the way up.
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| Ryan pushing both bikes while I casually ate my apple. He is such a good boy :) |
It didn't take too long to reach the top (whole route takes about 1hr15). We stopped there to take in the beautiful view and this allowed time for Ryan to prepare me for what was to come as he has done this trail before.
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| I love signs like this - telling me the hard bits over ! |
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| Ah isn't it Beautiful!?? The view isn't too bad either :) |
On the way downhill it was very steep (I normally do blue/red) so I really had to focus on getting down low, weight on pedals etc. Luckily I have a hydraulic seat on bike so getting seat down just means pressing the button for me, poor Ryan was on the Giant (hard tail). The difference between the two bikes is unbelievable! We eventually reached a very steep dip which came just after a bend and I got a bit chicken. Ryan insisted I did it again and properly so we spent a bit of time on it.
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This picture does not do it justice - it was a ballsy one!
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There were a few more drops which he got me to practice on, they were mainly steps off rocks and I was being a baby on some of it! I did do a leg day at the gym the day before and the climb was a bitch! My legs were beginning too feel like jelly :( but I was insistent the trail will not beat me and I did my best. Ryan did make me do them again and again until I got the hang of it (form on bike etc)
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| Looks so small in the picture but it was a big drop! |
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| This is an example of the step - always look worse then they are and I kept chickening out. |
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| A very rocky trail! |
We did the black trail twice, Ryan is eager for me to improve my skills on the bike as we are going to North Wales in June and Antur Stiniog is on the cards! So will be doing a lot of red/black downhill trails to practice.
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Me at the top the second time round - very red faced!
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The rest of the black downhill was very rocky- makes it hard to ride but some parts were good fun. Once we finished the black, there is a great blue downhill section which lasts a while and is smooth and enjoyable. Makes it all worth it in the end! Finished off at the pond before packing up the car.
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| Duck pond |
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| Enjoying fish and chips as a carb reload after the tough ride! |
All in all it was a great day out, my legs have had a wicked workout - bum hurts though as I didn't wear padded pants. I really need to go out on the bike more often! Hate having long gaps as it makes it sooo hard getting back up again!
Blaengarw is definitely not my favorite trail but I will to do it again in order to improve on my skills.
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