Coed-y-Brenin round 2

It can be difficult keeping focus and in touch with friends when training as much as I’ve been doing this year. Thankfully my friend Laurie enjoys a spot of mountain biking and has the fitness to make a full weekend of it.

Our last trip was to Afan and we both said at the time that we wanted to give Coed-y-Brenin another go. Afan has the climbs but not the flowing nature and adrenaline rush that Coed-y offers.

After my initial apprehension of injuring myself so close to the Ironman I settled back and soaked up the sun and scenery. The Saturday had a chill in the air but nothing like the bitterly cold I remembered after the climbs last time. The reward for a hard days riding was a stunning view of Barmouth estuary from our B&B and steak and ale pie from the George.

Over the weekend we covered most of the routes we’d done previously but this time I preferred the far side, particularity the Tarw route. Unfortunately my bike wasn’t as pleased with the terrain as I was. My chain snapped 4 times and I wore through a set of pads along with continued issues with my Middleburn cranks. Time for a big overhaul before the next time….