Cheating the freeze(in Wales)

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BY: Niall Frost

Published: 15th December, 2010

We'd planned this weekend for what seemed like ages, right down to the part where it snowed, froze, snowed, thawed and finally iced over.  In a feat of panic packing I threw both road and mtb into the back of the car (note to self, must get bigger car... not less bikes) and set off for mid Wales.  Could we cheat the British freeze?

Driving into Abergavenny and the sun shone brightly on the 7 hills, definitely a sign of the fortune we'd encounter during the weekend.  After meeting teammates old and new at Gateway Cycles we fuelled up on expresso (double macchiato the tipple of choice) and discussed the finer points of the cross season with race course extraordinaire Lynn Lines and Paul "the purveyor of pain" Davis  of SIP Events, organiser of events such as Kielder 100 and National Solo 24.

After closely controlling the pre-ride faffing it was off to the hills to take on the legendary Sugarloaf.  Lynn led the way followed closely by a motley selection of bikes and riders; carbon cross through 29er singlespeed and most permutations in between.  Lynn's "training ride" started uphill and didn't stop until we reached the summit of the Sugar Loaf, showing exactly the climbing skills I've been avoiding working on!  Sadly, we had to leave the carbon cross behind, a punctured tubular at the worst possible moment meant a somewhat sketchy and expensive sounding, descent on the rim. 

From our summit view we dived straight off the front towards Abergavenny, racing each other to the next section of trail before sliding to a halt, discs gently steaming and grins widening.  No time to catch our breath we finished through the lower forest with its leafy singletrack hiding all sorts of trail nasties which were blatantly ignored in the search of speed.  This obviously angered the riding gods as they claimed one rider with a section of barbed fencing.

With the sun gone the evening went on with Talisker Distillery's finest export  and grandiose plans of stage racing were penned, a fine end to a great day's riding.  The next morning began foggy, mainly in mind but also in the hills with temperatures reaching lower -3, at least a perfect temperature for freezing mud on the trails.

Back on my trusty singlespeed the old legs weren't feeling quite as fresh as the prior day. The fast start quickly burnt the remains of the whiskey away but it wasn't pleasant, thanks go to Mr Hampshire.  In no time at all we once again crested the hill to reveal blue skies once again and a lightening quick descent further speeded by large swathes of sheet ice, strathpuffer training anyone?



Our final challenge was a 1:5 frozen grass bank that was endless and (dare I say it) impossible to climb on 32:16 so I pushed...  I shall return with fresh legs and 200mm cranks.



After the briefest of pauses to evidence a perfectly executed forward roll performed by Phil (still attached to bike) we hit the road back to Crickhowell.   I'm not sure if it was pre-ordained but an average cadence of 130 saw me hanging off the back of the pack, although the fast pace meant that my rear tyre only fully deflated once packed in the car.  Fortune once again on my side.

Driving home left plenty of time for reflection, frozen trails and blue skies are the perfect winter riding conditions and something to be savoured in amongst all that glum snow and ice.

Now I can't wait to get back out there.  I don't want to see a turbo; I need hills, mud and sketchy cornering.  Dalby this weekend; rain, hail, snow or shine.

Niall