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Well today was my most ambitious ride to date on the Cube.......a ride up to the summit of Mount Snowdon.
I set off from home at 3.30am from the West Mids and surprisingly didn't see many cars on the road all the way to Llanberis......very spooky when you hit some of the mountain roads in the pitch black !!
Once there I had to hang around for a bit for daylight to break before I could start the big climb up the Llanberis path and was very mindful that MTB's have to be off the mountain by 10am.
Straight away I came across 1/2 dozen guys on MTB's pushing them up the mountain.....got the usual comments of "cheat" as I motored past them...lol.
Even at 6.30am there was already walkers coming back down the path....all very friendly and they all thought I had a screw loose for taking a bike up the mountain.
The weather stayed great till I hit about half way....then the mist came thick and fast along with a howling wind and freezing temperatures.
I wasn't going to give up though....I was on a mission.It surprised me just how severe the rock steps and climb was and found I had to push or carry the bike a far bit,which as we all know they aren't the lightest of bikes!!
After what seemed an eternity(but was only 1hr 20mins) I reached the summit,but couldn't see any of the stunning views thanks to the mist.So much for the weather forecast that I had seen of clear skys.
Quick few photos then time for the descent.I managed to take a wrong turn with the poor visibility and ended up taking the Pyg and Miners track.This track was never built with an MTB in mind.I literally had to scramble down it as there was no way you could ride a bike down it.A combination of the weather and how severe this path was had me a tad scared.
Finally the path levelled out and became rideable again....phew.Luckily I came across a sign post to get my back to Llanberis as on my current path I was going away from the town,this did however mean climbing up and over yet another steep hill which was just grass and no track to follow so again it couldn't be ridden as I just couldn't get any traction.
I've never been so glad to see my van when I did get back to the car park.At least I can tick this ride off my bucket list now !!!
Aarrgh....you beat me to it!!!
I arrived in the area on Monday as have another week off work, so packed the toys in and on the car and decided to get some miles in.
Not many photos (only took some today) - to be honest, I'm too busy enjoying the downhill bit to stop and take photos, and fire roads all look the same on the uphill sections, but I did the Marin trail on Monday night - 1 hour 30 dead. First time ever doing it and it was pitch black. Also it was the first time I've put lights on the bike (and probably my fifth ever night ride, it's not something that I usually do) and the light kept spinning round on the bumps, great for checking the tree tops but no so great for seeing what obstacle was coming next...so it was a steady ride all the same.
Returned back on Tuesday night after duct tape and cable ties made a more secure fitting, this time I turned the power off for some of the fire road climbs as wanted to give myself a bit of a workout.
Wednesday had to nip over to derby for something so didn't get a chance to ride the bike.
today, woke up and the lake was like a milk pond again, so no windsurfing again. This time I did both loops of Penmachno (spelling) trail - it was OK but not my cup of tea, more natural stuff and I lost track of the amount of times I got thorns and brambles inbetween my fingers - lots of singletrack which was overgrown. Plus it was also very wet on the ground - lots of puddles so feet soaked by the end. (photos of the trail where bike is parked on bridge and looking out over the mountains)
Was going to do the Marin trail again tonight, but on the way I thought I'd divert to Snowdon. I have tried this 3 times before on my Lapierre, both times I've had to turn back due to inclement weather (wind the first time - got to the 2nd tunnel and the bike was whipped out of my hands as I went through. Stopped a few hundred yards further up for a cup of tea as it was also cold, took gloves off and hands went cold very quickly so thought it time to leave and return downhill - didn't want to be blown off the ridge and bottled it as no-one else was up there, all walkers had turned back at the tunnel, the second time it was too snowy underfoot to get to the top, bike sliding all over the place, the third time the rain was too much, that time also tried the Rangers path instead of the Llanberris path the previous two times).
So, parked in Llanberris, set off and in 58 minutes arrived at the top. Legs were still tired from not using much assist yesterday and riding Penmachno earlier, so turbo mode used for virtually the whole of it - it is addictive and a bit like nitrous on motorcycles, you get used to it and the bike feels lame when you knock the power off...
Managed to ride most of it, struggled on the more gnarly sections, and walk mode is crap on my bike so arms also had a workout carrying the bike...the ride down was worth it, not many walkers (none going up, I met about 20 in total all going down when I was going up), and all were gracious to let me pass on both passes. 16 minutes to come down, and recorded a top speed of 41.2mph on the tarmac section at the bottom.
Marin trail again tomorrow, looking at doing it twice, the first time by switching off again for a workout (for some of it anyway), the second time with assist as some of the downhill sections are very good - currently now my favourite trail in this country and wish I had done it earlier on the Lapierre.