SCR Trip - The aftermath

Bassjunkieuk

Well I finally arrived back in London in the wee hours this morning and I'm now sitting at work wishing I was back over where the roads have "ARAF" written below the word "SLOW" :-D

Before I go off on a huge post about the rides I'd like to take a chance to thank James for suggesting this originally and all the organization he put in to get this trip into action, it was excellent fun and something I'd love to repeat!
I'd also like to say a huge thanks to the rest of the group who made the weekend an absolute blast, I'm sure more stories will come out once the rest of them get back to civilization where you can get a reliable tinternet connection ;-)

For sake of simplicity and knowing how I can go on sometimes I'll put each day's report on a separate post.......

biondino

Nice thread BJUK

Coriander

But I thought you guys weren't back until tomorrow...


Couldn't you two keep up, sent home early???

Bassjunkieuk

SATURDAY - GOSPEL PASS

Having arrived rather late on Friday (with about 45 minutes to spare before I arrive VERY early Saturday morning!) I'd managed to get a plate of Attica's lovely Spag Bol down my throat in preparation for this ride. Morning fuel consisted of 2 bowls of porridge due to them being so b00dy small and having been warned that we had a rather serious climb to tackle :-D

The Garminners all synced so we had multiple people to keep us on the right track and we set off at a nice gentle pace to get us ready for what laid ahead. The roads where a mixture of "typical" country lanes that had just about enough room for 2 cars to pass, to narrow single car wide lanes and regular roads. The riding was good and the weather was looking like it was turning out great.

Photo ops aplenty as we crested each small hill and where surrounded by the Breacons, stopping occasionally to take pictures on our assorted phones :-) We re-group at the start of the climb to give people a breather and Linsen a chance to sort her chain. It was then our bait passes..........a group of Welsh riders who wish us a cheery morning and start yelling "Big ring big ring!" as they ride off up the hill. I turned to Jon and recommend he give them a chance before blitzing them, not sure if he took the advise as the rest of the group rode off and I hung back for a moment with Biondino and LiT who had also managed to drop her chain. By the time I rounded the corner I could see our group strung out up the road ahead with the Welsh chaps just ahead and James and Jon way ahead of them :-)

Seeing as I haven't ever had a chance to ride up a climb like this I was planning on using this as a personal test so dispensed with the pleasantries and rode off up the road with the intention of seeing just what I was capable off, I rode past the SCR peloton and the Welsh guys.I knew I wasn't ever going to catch James or Jon without a rocket so I settled into a steady pace and found a "comfortable" gear and was quite frankly glad I had the triple on the Giant. I tried my best to control my breathing and just tried to figure out where the first turn was. James disappeared so I had a rough idea where I'd be doubling back. As I rounded that corner I could then see both my fellow trippers getting along at a steady pace and the road was staring to reduce in grade a *tiny* bit.
Once I made this turn you are then treated to an incredible view down off the hill and can see just how much height you have gained :shock: Of course this is balanced by being able to look right and see just how much climbing you have left.......Once last slog and bit of effort and I join up with Jon and James who are waiting at the final corner admiring the view - and what a view it was! Pictures where taken and are on my Sportstracker page for this ride and no doubt more will be added.

The rest of our the riders gradually filled past and our ones pulled over for us to re-group. We where 2 shy and eventually got news that the hill had claimed one of our riders. Poor LiT had suffered what appeared to be a bonk part way up so was being nursed up by Biondino. Directions where given to the pub we where hoping to meet at for lunch and we proceeded up the final part of the climb before the descent to Crickhowell.

The sign at the top said 5 miles and the road it pointed us down just disappeared below us, this looked like it was going to be fun! As I come from the "pan flat" area of South London I've never had a chance to experience a descent like this so started off a bit cautiously, not helped by the suicidal sheep and the cattle grid! Both navigated safely I opened up the tapes and got on the drops for some speedy riding! It was on here that I realized that my 12 tooth rear was AWOL and the rear mech stubbornly refused to move further out!!!!!! Seems my limit screws need adjusting which is going to hamper my top speed somewhat :-( I was on the drops and tucked in with the wind howling in my ears and a massive grin on my face, reaping the rewards of the effort put in to reach the summit by getting to the bottom in 1/5th the time! On arriving at the bottom I'm meet with even more big smiles and everyone universally agreeing that we should try that again!
I'd managed to crack by PB hitting a 43.6mph, not quite the 5-0 I was hoping for but having now seen the kind of descent I need to hit that speed I'm not so sure I'm confident enough descending to hit that magical number yet so still have at least one target to aim for!

The pub lunch was great and certainly filled a hole. LiT and BD joined us after about 20 minutes. Once we'd eaten and hydrated ourselves Linsen said she'd ride back to the lodge with LiT who still wasn't feeling 100%. Our now slightly smaller group set off to tackle Gospel Pass and spent the next 15-20 miles or so riding along in the valley before the final kick up. As we start the descent we can see the road ahead draped along the side of the hill, whizzing down trying to keep a central line to avoid any chances of trying a bit of downhill C-Xing!! The hedges then build back up and I'm following Brun down as I start getting the hang of the cornering.......1-2-3 corners come in quick succession and I'm feeling pretty good that I got through them and suddenly I'm in the forth and it's all feeling a bit wrong.........I can't correct for fear of falling off so instead plow into the nettles and thorns I do a complete endo over the bars and end up with myself and the bike upside down in the bush looking back up where I've just came! Thankfully BD wasn't following my line but yelled ahead to try and stop the first 3 riders who had no chance of hearing him. I remove myself from my thorny bed and give a thumbs up to the kind driver who has stopped to check on the bike shape hole in the greenery.......I take the bike down to the side road (about 7 ft. further down....) and assess the damage - minor scratches and the bike seems to have got away with just a few embedded thorns in the bar tape

Again we eventually re-group after the lead group have come back up the hill and another fallen rider joins us from further up the hill. From then on we had a gentler descent down and then took mainly flattish roads until we could smell the coffee brewing at which point people seemed to get a second wind and a *bit* of racing took part :-) The wind seemed to pick up at some points and almost felt like a headwind a couple of times! I worked with Attica to try and keep Jon and James within reach but fell back a bit as I waited at some turns to ensure those behind didn't get completely lost!

Back at the lodge and we all started the process of replacing those lost bodily fluids and calories with Carlsberg before a big curry and then some more calories from 2 of the local pubs, the second of which I reminded myself why I never took up darts or pool....

I'm sure I've missed something and I'll probably add more later when I come back to do Sunday but for the moment I really should get back to work

**EDIT**
Feck! Knew I'd forget something: Here's about half the route I managed to capture before my phone died....... http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/work ... id=1463793 **PICS INCLUDED**

biondino

Excellent report! You glossed over the agony of Gospel Pass pretty swiftly though

I'm not going to add a report of my own but I am going to boast about reaching 50.7mph on that lovely lovely descent. Without sheep it might have been even quicker...

And bunny hopping a cattle grid at 40mph is totally the way forward!

Bassjunkieuk

biondino wrote:

Excellent report! You glossed over the agony of Gospel Pass pretty swiftly though

Indeed I am expecting you to change your name to Cancellara now after that descent!
As for Gospel Pass that whole section just sorta blended into once LONG road with a few more ups then downs, until we got to the end when it went up considerably more.
To add a few more details for those there we encountered a few cars along there and witnessed a rather nifty 4 car pass after 2 parked up a gravel track, saw a women running from the opposite direction who had less support then the Aussie cricket team (her poor back.........) and even got an update on the cricket scores from a cheery old chap in his Jag after he yelled "Are any of you Australian?" :-D

Forgot to mention earlier, thanks for the help after my comedy crash! Just glad you didn't follow my line :oops:

Rich158

I'm ssssssssssooooooooooo jealous

Sounds like you guys had a fantastic time, and some great riding

roger_merriman

Rich158 wrote:

I'm ssssssssssooooooooooo jealous

Sounds like you guys had a fantastic time, and some great riding

indeed me too! sounds great fun, some lovely hills around there, what pub did you stop at? the bridgend?

I'll have to get around to fitting a speedo to the bike to see what speed i normally top out on going down to Crick. sheep are a worry though they aren't as suidial as one might think.

itboffin

Ace reporting Bass

snooks

biondino wrote:

Without sheep it might have been even quicker...

Fancy explain why you had sheep with you? :shock:

The Chingford Skinhead

That sounds like great fun. Well, I say fun, probably not the right word did a few hills myself at the weekend - but more like mole-hills compared to your mountains. Still not sure what is worse, the struggle on the way up or the thoughts that run through your mind on the way down - like "if I come off now, how mnay times will I roll before I stop in a bloody puddle of mashed bone and brain?" :roll:

Glad you all had a good time 8) Sorry to hear LiT wasn't very well as I'm pretty sure she'd have given most of you a run for your money on the hill climbing when fully fit

Kieran_Burns

Rich158 wrote:

I'm ssssssssssooooooooooo jealous

Sounds like you guys had a fantastic time, and some great riding

Got a p*ncture there Rich?

Aguila

Sounds great, can we see some pictures?

Bassjunkieuk

Aguila wrote:

Sounds great, can we see some pictures?

Some pics are up on the Sportstracker route, once I find the lead for my phone I'll post the rest up to Facebook which should provide a better quality!

Bassjunkieuk

Sunday Ride - Short with a pub lunch

Sunday is usually observed as the day of rest, it seems James interprets "rest" as a 30 mile jaunt around the not so flat roads in the Breacons with a lovely lunch at a superb little pub next to a river :-)

The start of the ride certainly blew the cobwebs out for those of us who helped finish a fine bottle of Welsh whiskey after the darts, pool and various alcoholic beverages at the local pubs the night before. No sooner had we left the small town did the road start heading skywards and didn't bl00dy stop doing so for about 4 miles, by which point, according to my Sportstracker stats, we had gained about 700ft in altitude :-)

Thankfully that was the high point for the morning section and it was pretty much downhill from here to our planned pub stop. A brief stop to overlook the lake before taking on a fun ride down rather steep road, ruined some what when you notice everyone is stopping as we missed our turn off!!! Even more amusing as everyone then attempts to turn around and clip back in to head up the hill in the descending gear :-D

As we approached the pub the roads seemed mildly familiar and as we past the waterfall I realized we where using the same road we had ridden yesterday to get to the big climb :-) Alas tho the promise of a hot meal kept us from stopping for photos this time :-)

The pub itself was lovely and I had a rather nice, if somewhat frugal, Sunday roast of lamb and various veg. As we sat waiting for food we did spot something rather interesting........a bunch of chaps came riding down the stop steps from the canal behind us and parked up there *shudder* MTB's at the other end of the garden. We suspect it might have been a hire job as most where blue Gary FIshers with a couple of Kona's - all except one that was about the right size for my 8 year old, sans a saddle and piloted by a rather fetching gent in a pink leotard sporting flowing blonde locks (i.e a wig......) For once Biondino had been out pinked ;-)

Setting off after lunch at a somewhat more steady pace we had about 12 miles until we'd be back at the bunkhouse and the weather was starting to look a bit better (had spots of fine rain during the morning) A nice little diversion to take in the lake meant we *almost* started some pedalo racing but unfortunately they didn't have any to suit the various clipless systems the group had :-(

One more fun descent provided an opportunity for the speed demons amongst us to get our one last fix, a rather nice single/dual lane "proper" road with a lovely surface and plenty of visibility around the corner meant I was cursing myself for not sorting my indexing out the previous night as the 12 cog would certainly have come in helpful! As it happens I managed to best my PB by 0.2mph so it now sits @ 43.8mph

All in it was another excellent day out and a lovely ending to a fantastic weekend for myself as I had to leave Talgarth that evening to head back home.

The Sunday route is here:
http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/work ... id=1469003
and here:
http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/work ... id=1469003

Learning my lesson from the previous day I stopped ST whilst at lunch to conserve the phone battery - I really do need to get a 705 :-D
A few snaps up on there but the generally overcast weather meant most of the views where obscured by cloud or mist during the day.

_Brun_

Good reads BJUK. I meant to sort out some pics tonight but instead cycled up a HILL and drank some beer. Couldn't not post this gem tho'...



Good times!

Bassjunkieuk

:-) Cheers Brun! I knew I shouldn't have had that last glass of whiskey ;-)

stuaff

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

SATURDAY - GOSPEL PASS
Again we eventually re-group after the lead group have come back up the hill and another fallen rider joins us from further up the hill....I'm sure I've missed something and I'll probably add more later when I come back to do Sunday but for the moment I really should get back to work
**EDIT**
Feck! Knew I'd forget something: Here's about half the route I managed to capture before my phone died....... http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/work ... id=1463793 **PICS INCLUDED**

Ahem, er, who was that fallen rider....? Why me. Yup, I had the lovely Viner for only 13 days and I managed to have a prang. As the other eight will only too happily confirm, I am by no means the world's greatest descender. Or climber. Or sprinter. Well, I can pedal in a reasonably straight line for quite a long period of time and not particularly slowly. Even when my tyres are (allegedly) running at 30psi and I've got a teeny ickle D-lock and other bits and bobs in my bag (Abus Granit X Plus 54, so only a few kilos...).

Anyway, the prang. I was lanterne rouge, naturellement…roughly simultaneously with bjuk, by the sounds of it, I had an argument with a cattle grid. I was been rather gingerly with the descents, but I must have still been doing 25-30 if not more when I came round the corner and spotted it. What I should have done is ridden straight across, not touched the brakes. I am, as I'm assure you'll appreciate, not entirely sure what happened, as it was over rather quickly and somewhat disorientating. I think I braked a bit too hard, and I definitely made the mistake of going across the grid at an angle. However it happened, the rear kicked up like a big dog hitting the end of its chain and I ended up hitting the road, skidding along for a bit, and hitting then the bank at the side of the road, with the bike ending up on top of me.

I was, I am in no doubt, lucky to avoid serious injury, aided in no small part by my helmet (which took a bit of scraping and cracks to the outer shell but remained intact) and my backpack and its contents (Deuter Bike 1, so padding on the back for the air channels) did a fine job of preventing any spinal damage. I whacked my left heel- bit of bruising, it was hard to put any pressure on for a day or so- but no bone damage. My rear upper right thigh (no, not my arse, just below it) got scraped a bit- actually feels worse, can't help pressure on that, and a bang on the left knuckle. Poor old hero backpack got rather dirty and a shattered water bottle went through its mesh holder on the side, camera took a knock (now back up and running, so pics have hopefully survived). Only damage to the Italian masterpiece was the rear wheel was knocked out of true. Nothing else visible, I will ask Velocity to give it a thorough check-over in the interests of safety/ceasing paranoia.

I was somewhat hesitant- and hurting- for the rest of Saturday (thanks to Rob who came back for me and absolutely everyone for the help and encouragement), but I definitely got the mojo back on Sunday. I was actually leading the peloton at some points!

stuaff

_Brun_ wrote:

Good reads BJUK. I meant to sort out some pics tonight but instead cycled up a HILL and drank some beer. Couldn't not post this gem tho'...



Good times!

Now what was my excuse for that, as the sober one....Oh dear, don't have one!

_Brun_

Sod it, a few more while I'm still awake. Apologies for the scroll bars, can't be arsed fixing them to fit at this hour.

Bassjunkieuk

Excellent pics there Brun, that 3rd one sent the same tingle down my spine that I had the first time I spotted that view! After climbing up Gospel Pass to be able to look down from the high point and see the road your about to blitz along draped on the side of the hill was superb and really made for an exhilarating descent :-D Not stupid fast to start with but not wanting to go off road along with those mental sheep made the top section rather fun!

cjcp

Great pics, Brun. And good reports, BJUK. Looks like you chaps had a fantastic time.

I hear the Prince is a bit dirty. Is Jash taking emergency remedial action? :P

roger_merriman

StuAff wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

SATURDAY - GOSPEL PASS
Again we eventually re-group after the lead group have come back up the hill and another fallen rider joins us from further up the hill....I'm sure I've missed something and I'll probably add more later when I come back to do Sunday but for the moment I really should get back to work
**EDIT**
Feck! Knew I'd forget something: Here's about half the route I managed to capture before my phone died....... http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/work ... id=1463793 **PICS INCLUDED**

Ahem, er, who was that fallen rider....? Why me. Yup, I had the lovely Viner for only 13 days and I managed to have a prang. As the other eight will only too happily confirm, I am by no means the world's greatest descender. Or climber. Or sprinter. Well, I can pedal in a reasonably straight line for quite a long period of time and not particularly slowly. Even when my tyres are (allegedly) running at 30psi and I've got a teeny ickle D-lock and other bits and bobs in my bag (Abus Granit X Plus 54, so only a few kilos...).

Anyway, the prang. I was lanterne rouge, naturellement…roughly simultaneously with bjuk, by the sounds of it, I had an argument with a cattle grid. I was been rather gingerly with the descents, but I must have still been doing 25-30 if not more when I came round the corner and spotted it. What I should have done is ridden straight across, not touched the brakes. I am, as I'm assure you'll appreciate, not entirely sure what happened, as it was over rather quickly and somewhat disorientating. I think I braked a bit too hard, and I definitely made the mistake of going across the grid at an angle. However it happened, the rear kicked up like a big dog hitting the end of its chain and I ended up hitting the road, skidding along for a bit, and hitting then the bank at the side of the road, with the bike ending up on top of me.

I was, I am in no doubt, lucky to avoid serious injury, aided in no small part by my helmet (which took a bit of scraping and cracks to the outer shell but remained intact) and my backpack and its contents (Deuter Bike 1, so padding on the back for the air channels) did a fine job of preventing any spinal damage. I whacked my left heel- bit of bruising, it was hard to put any pressure on for a day or so- but no bone damage. My rear upper right thigh (no, not my ars*, just below it) got scraped a bit- actually feels worse, can't help pressure on that, and a bang on the left knuckle. Poor old hero backpack got rather dirty and a shattered water bottle went through its mesh holder on the side, camera took a knock (now back up and running, so pics have hopefully survived). Only damage to the Italian masterpiece was the rear wheel was knocked out of true. Nothing else visible, I will ask Velocity to give it a thorough check-over in the interests of safety/ceasing paranoia.

I was somewhat hesitant- and hurting- for the rest of Saturday (thanks to Rob who came back for me and absolutely everyone for the help and encouragement), but I definitely got the mojo back on Sunday. I was actually leading the peloton at some points!

It's very common to brake for cattle grids even if you know it's a bad idea, on the tour of the black mountains quite a few where braking on the cattle grid coming up to gospel pass, ie uphill.

and further on one bloke I saw had a pinch flat on the same? grid as on the decent down to crick. hell watch cars loads will brake hard just before them so giving them selfs a jolt going over.

Bassjunkieuk

roger merriman wrote:

It's very common to brake for cattle grids even if you know it's a bad idea, on the tour of the black mountains quite a few where braking on the cattle grid coming up to gospel pass, ie uphill.

I think it was the uphill cattle grid that caused the most worry for me, standing up in a low gear doesn't afford the best grip :?

hisoka

This sounds amazing so far and great pictures

But have to say "oooooowwwwccchhhh" to the prang there mate. Glad you got the mojo back in short order

stuaff

cjcp wrote:

Great pics, Brun. And good reports, BJUK. Looks like you chaps had a fantastic time.

I hear the Prince is a bit dirty. Is Jash taking emergency remedial action? :P

He did. He cleaned the worst off using a bath towel (it was going in Liv's car for the trip home, so fair enough!).

stuaff

hisoka wrote:

This sounds amazing so far and great pictures

But have to say "oooooowwwwccchhhh" to the prang there mate. Glad you got the mojo back in short order

I'm still saying that myself rather a lot- heel hurts a bit, backside injury is positioned so that it rubs up all the time....But it could have been far worse for me and the bike, so under the circumstances........

Cafewanda

Great report Bass. Love the pics and have 'stolen' two of the scenic ones for my work computer and will probably do the same again for my home laptop

Lovely pics of LiT and Linsen - way too much smiling going on there

StuAff - sorry to read about the prang. Would soaking in a Radox bath help with recovery?

Me feeling envious............

always_tyred

Bloody townies.

il_principe

cjcp wrote:

Great pics, Brun. And good reports, BJUK. Looks like you chaps had a fantastic time.

I hear the Prince is a bit dirty. Is Jash taking emergency remedial action? :P

Spent 2 hours stripping and cleaning the Prince last night. I can highly NOT recommend Finish Line Krytech lube. First sign of water and it fled my chain completely. Everything else seems ok, but Welsh clay is a bugger to remove. Had a very squeaky ride home yesterday.

_Brun_

Did a quick google for that lube and plenty of reviews say it's good... for about 10 miles.

Maybe you're supposed to zip-tie the bottle upside down onto your seat tube and it'll release a steady stream of drips onto the chain?