CYCC go mad in Wales

9 families from CYCC headed west for the recent bank holiday weekend for a full on weekend of riding.  After a typically British bank holiday Friday journey through horrendous traffic in the rain, we met up at Cwmcarn Campsite at the foot of the Twrch trail.  As we were arriving, the clouds were clearing leaving us with blue skies (and chilly nights) for the weekend.

Rider Briefing at Newport

As part of the weekend, we had arranged two club only coached sessions at the Newport Velodrome to give everyone a taste of what it is like to be a Chris Hoy or Victoria Pendleton.  The sessions were arranged for early on the Saturday and Sunday mornings leaving the rest of the days available for the more traditional CYCC fare of mountain biking.  Upon arrival at Newport, we were all fitted to a bike and then walked out into the arena.  As we walked in, the steepness of the banked corners was striking and I have to say a little daunting, the television certainly levels out the track.  After an initial safety briefing , we were out onto the track, slowly at first to get used to a fixed wheel and no brakes, but soon venturing up the boards with growing confidence.  By the end of the first morning, we were venturing up to the to of the corners with relative confidence following one of the Newport Team riders.

Go Rothmanns!

After the first session we returned to Cwmcarn and after a brief brunch stop, we headed out together to tackle the Twrch trail under beautiful blue skies.  Some of our members knew the trail from previous visits, for others it was a first taste of Welsh trail riding with some "proper" hills and rocks after the flats of Essex.  Everyone put in a real effort particularly during "that climb" and it was great to see how the skills of our young riders improved over the course of the ride.  This was followed by a second lap at pace for any of the more experienced riders who wanted more.
A chilly Saturday evening was spent around Steve Murphy's "barbecue" before heading off for some well earned sleep.
Sunday morning again started early at the velodrome, now a less daunting place.  We were soon out riding between the blue and red line in formation with the lead rider having to drop down and sprint to the back of the pack.  Did the legs hurt after this!  This was followed by individual timed two lap sprints, always good to get a bit of competion going.  Nick Watt was the fastest adult with a sub 40 second time closely followed by Joe Pitt and Jordan Beighton who came in at 40:00 seconds and 40:03 respectively (Jordan had the ache!).  A big thank you to our coach for both sessions, Steve Miller who made it a hugely enjoyable experience.



CYCC rides the boards


 

After the Sunday session, most of us headed over to Glyncorwyg.  After a swift brunch in the cafe, we split into two groups, one riding on the low level tramway over to the Afan centre taking in the various skills areas on route.  The second headed up the hill to ride Whites Level, lovely technical adrenaline fuelled trail.

Afan under blue skies

The Beighton contigent stayed on for a third day to allow Jordan to ride some Downhill.  We booked onto the efficient Cwmdown service which shuttled us up to the very top of the hill after which we raced the vans back down the hill.  You can ride down with Jordan by clicking on the attached link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYgm0ObkI7s

A fantastic weekend!