On Saturday, Ryan and I planned on going to Kilvey hill again because I loved it so much but as the weather was so nice, we decided we would go on a proper trail which turned out to be the Raven at Brechfa.
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| Lovely day - blue skies and sunny! |
I had a meal and drinks with work girls the night before, so I wanted a nice long work out to make up for my very relaxed cheat meal/pudding/wine the night before I woke up fairly fresh, hangover free thank goodness! Ryan had set up the car/bike rack and got everything ready the night before which made it so much easier to get up and out on the day, however we still only made it to Brechfa (Carmenthenshire) at about 14.15.
We have been there a few times, the first time we did the
Derwen (blue trail) and the
Gorlech (Red). Then the 2nd and 3rd time we just did the
Gorlech. It is a long and hard trail with a lot of great down hill sections!
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| The Gorlech is situated seperately |
The Gorlech soon (afetr 3rd time) had become my favourite mountain bikikng trail, it is a beautiful area and does not get boring. Yes it is very long and challenging but the downhill sections are great!
So we decided to go for the
Raven (Black trail). Now bare in mind 6 months ago - this trail would haven't even crossed my thoughts/imagination/dreams! At the time I thought it was something I would never ever achieve! After doing Blaengarw and Kilvey hill (both blacks) I decided hey why not, I will give it a go!
It starts off on a slight up hill on the road and then goes off into the forest - I absolutely love forest rides, the area is gorgeous and so relaxing !
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| I did stop a lot to look around and admire the ride! |
Anyway, a great downhill section came fairly soon on the ride. Ryan loved it. I had glasses on which screwed my vision a bit so I got too nervous on that bit so did the easy option. Ryan did it a few times and I think that was his favorite part of the ride!
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| Ryan walking back up to do it again |
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| another view of it |
I wish now that I had done it as I completed the rest of the trail with little problem - ahh well will have to go back again to make sure I do it all. Another reason I got a bit chicken is down to this sign just before the drop.
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| My excuse for being a baby! |
We took about 4 hours to get around the trail, we did take our time and I was cycling quite slowly. In my opinion the trail was too long! The downhill sections were incredibly, but there were far too many long stretches of road riding - all uphill ofcourse and I hate those! Just a drag. The great sections seemed to be soooo far apart from each other and the trek to get to them gets boring.
Some of the climbs were very steep and I did get off a couple of times to push the bike, following a leg day at the gym, my legs were already fatigued. Plus we weren't in a hurry so we took our time.
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| Beautiful view - Carmarthen |
Ryan and I were very glad we could start our squirrel count again :) whenever we go out on the bikes we count up the number of squirrels we see and luckily got to see our first one this year ! Summer is cominggggg!
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| Squirrel count; 1 |
I am sure we will see plenty this year! I am really enjoy going out now. I feel that because I have gained some skills at mountain biking, it makes it a lot more fun. As well as contributing to my fitness regime. A fantastic cardio/intervals session! Great for my quads on the dowhills too.
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| I know it's gross, but look how sweaty I was after the ride! |
I am sure we will be back to do the Raven again - as Ryan really enjoyed certain bits. I would be happy to but mainly as a workout I think. I definitely preferred the
Gorlechtrail as it didn't seem quite so dragged out as this but I am very glad I did it! I am doing well with the black trails now! Very proud of myself as I never would have dreamed I would get here!
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| Yay I have got my Raven wings now! |
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