Cwmcarn

Thewaylander

Was gonna blast round Cwm after work tonight, but forgot my Lenses now i can pop home and get them..

But i thought if i delayed my ride till after work tomorrow would anyone else want to come, riding about 6ish

Thewaylander

Just wanted to sy cheers to the peeps on the trail Friday,

went to try for under an hour and failed by 2 minutes which was annoying but got cheered along and most people moved aside as i steam rolled by.

especially big cheers to a fella by car park, 'Who go on my son' put a wicked grin on my face

miss notax

Under an hour :shock: For the xc trail??!

It takes me the best part of that to do the climb :oops:

The Northern Monkey

Thewaylander wrote:

Was gonna blast round Cwm after work tonight, but forgot my Lenses now i can pop home and get them..

But i thought if i delayed my ride till after work tomorrow would anyone else want to come, riding about 6ish

What time is it going dark at CwmCarn atm? I'm planning a few rides next week after work hopefully but should I be taking me lights?!

Thewaylander

Yarp under an hour for the XC trail there are those out there doing it under 50 so an hour is not special

And sunset for this week is about 7.45 mate

The Northern Monkey

nice one... i'll take my lights just in case I climb at a relaxed pace lol!

Tis 1k shorter than the full Altura Trail @ Whinlatter which usually takes me around 2hrs with a few stops for fuel/views

Thewaylander

Well i should be heading up there at about 6 tomorrow night if your interested mate?

Thewaylander

wooot Cwm night again should be there by about 6 for those whomay or may not be interested.

It wont be an hour attempt lol.

The Northern Monkey

I shall have to keep an eye out for these rides!

Not going to know many people down in Wales that ride so i'll have to get involved!

Thewaylander

Well you always welcome.

Just signed me and amtes ass up to the 75k marathon event in Ruthin.. should hurt a bit

The Northern Monkey

Sweet, cheers

hmm... a 75k marathon would probably be a 75 day marathon for me
I really need to work on fitness... specificaly climbing, but I haven't had much time in the saddle recently due to being in Cardiff every weekend for the past 5 weeks trying to find a flat!

Hoping to get on the CTW scheme so I can get something to ride to work on and build up my stamina!

Thewaylander

trust me, if you join us for Cwm you will get hill fit fairly quickly lol

cwm is a steep little bugger to keep climbing

neon_neon

Definetly take your lights! - I got caught out last week - set off at about 7.00, thinking it doesn't get dark till round 8.30 - got to the top car park, after the first downhill section at the top - into the woods & could not see a thing! had to take the road back to the car park

I don't know how anyone does the twrch >50 mins, you have to be super fit - my best is around 1hr 10

welshkev

i made the mistake a couple of weeks back of wearing my sunglasses as it was really sunny when i left the car park. came into the wood sections and i couldn't see a thing!!! very nearly stacked it big time :shock:

waylander, i definately wouldn't be able to keep up with you now, i'm so unfit. about 1 hr 30 is my time now for the twrch!!!

mounty

I will be riding this trail for the first time early next week, looking forward to it !

njee20

The quickest I managed was in the BUSA XC race there in 2008, about 46 minutes I think, a couple of guys got close to 40 minutes.

Anonymous

Twrch climb is no fun. It's nasty. I see no point in rushing it. But then I don't climb for fun or competition anyway. It's just a means of getting to the proper stuff that points downhill

njee20

I think it's a good climb, a bit like White's level, it's interesting, so it goes quicker, find there's a couple of bits where there's a real sense of achievement if you clean it too. Better than a fireroad slog!

Anonymous

Whites is fine. Longer but much easier than Twrch and nice views too

popstar

IMO there are 3 sections of climb which will reward you if you clear them. You have to know these lil gems, otherwise it's a fail.
Whites level at Afan got only the first section of climb quite interesting, especially those slabs to clear make you feel good, the rest of climb is just -sit down 'n' pedal really.

I hate those Welsh mountain goats. That lot are fit climbers, respect for that. I want to be like you.

njee20

I'm from the flat lands of the south, but I'm not a bad climber, if I do say so myself :-)

Thewaylander

Interested to ride cwm soonon my new steed and sheeps i will get a pic up soon

Thewaylander

Just a note, will be doing a gentle lap tomorrow after work. before it gets dark.

And i mean getle as my back is only just recovering.

Silversladey

How hard was that !!!!

Just rode Cwmcarn this afternoon, I did the conventional Twrch climb instead of the Natural trail or the forest road.

I must be getting older and unfitter, Everytime I try the climb it seems to get rootier and rockier and harder to do , I dont think this mornings rain helped.(excuses :oops: )
Rowan Sorrell says the route gets better with a bit of the wet stuff, maybe the downhill does but the climbs over the rocks and roots were a nightmare.

I managed to complete it in 1hour 20 minutes and thought I was going to collapse at the end, how the heck are some of you guys are breaking the hour, you must be all super fit.

Please somenoe else post and agree with me that the Trwch is much harder than Whites or the Wall :shock: :shock:

welshkev

i agree with you mate i find that climb just wipes me out totally

Silversladey

I no i need to MTFU but the climb was a real killer, I am quite a fit lad and I found that beyond the limits of enjoyment.

mounty

I rode the Twrch trail for the first time last Weds............I am pretty fit and do enjoy climbs, but I have to admit that the climb was bloody hard......

I rode it in just under 1hr and 15mins, but I was knackered at the end of it....I didnt think the trail down back to the car park was all that great....I was having an 'off day' on the bike though that day...I wouldn't be in a rush to go back and do it again! :-(

Silversladey

Its my local trail, I live the other side of the mountain so i normallly ride to the top of the airstream descent, from my house, Having ridden the Twrch trail today in full i dont feel there is enough payback on the downhill to make up for the climb.

Unlike The Twrch Trail Whites Level climb is a good lung burner but is all rideable, and the descents are great.

welshkev

Silversladey wrote:

Its my local trail, I live the other side of the mountain so i normallly ride to the top of the airstream descent, from my house, Having ridden the Twrch trail today in full i dont feel there is enough payback on the downhill to make up for the climb.

Unlike The Twrch Trail Whites Level climb is a good lung burner but is all rideable, and the descents are great.

did you drive over and then ride the full course? i feel really lazy when i do that (which i do quite often)

Silversladey

Yes, got a new bike carrier, wanted to see how long it would take to ride all the trail.
i can ride from the front door to the Airstream in about 30 minutes

Thewaylander

I don't find the climb that bad, takes practice and to be honest it's handy cos once you have the cwm climb down every where else is piss easy

but i think the downs detroy Whites and only one in afan for pure rush thats close is the wall where you can go so fast over such rocky terrain.

But as a local training ground keep rinsing the climb it does wondrs to your legs!