Whilst sitting in my cabin on board the ship I work, on bleak April afternoon I was looking through the TRF monthly reg mag and came across an add inviting riders to try the Brecon Beacon range in Wales, whilst staying at Llanerchindda Farm.
So after a few phone calls & emails terms were meet and I sent out a message to see who would be up for a two day enduro challenge? It didn't take long for the calls to come swamping in and after some changes a group of ten like minded......"let's ride into the unknown" geezers were formed. That being: Me (Mac), Justin Thornton, James Stacy, Charlie Marchie, Shaun Batham, Simon Bell, Dan Mason, Steve Piper, Dave Hopewood & Young Lawrence.
We all meet at the Nova Hotel at 1400 on Fri 11th Oct, checked we had what we needed,,,,,,(far to much!!!) and hit the road. We got to our destination around 1830ish and after checking in with Mark (the owner of the farms son) we off loaded one van to use to get us all down to the local pub later that evening.
Once checked in and rooms were agreed we met in the lobby around 1930 to find a welsh pub that would show the England match.....(interesting!!!!) We all jumped into one tranny van and set off in the wilderness to the mixed banter and innuendos that was to set the tone for the weekend !!!
We did eventually find a pub and were welcomed in by an over enthusiastic welsh lass. We were given a separate room to the Welsh rabble and with pint in hand watched the English win there group stage match. After the game we thanked the landlord in good Cornish fashion and set off to the local kebab house. We eventually came across a sorry looking take-away and whilst ordering numerous chicken kebabs the local talent ventured in an made a bee-line for Charlie. He was a nice lad, very camp and wearing a suitable man-bag to match his attire. Charlie on the other hand wore rugged man cloths and jestered to the advancing chap that he was already taken to a bushy tailed fleece with pretty lips he bumped into by accident whilst checking out the terrain from the valleys.........
Next morning we woke to an overcast day and meet for a filling farm house breakfast. Spirits were high and when full on Carb's we dashed off to the vans and made ready our steeds and attach the Cornish flag.
Our enduro leader for the weekend (Chris) arrived at 0900 with his 250 Husky and discussed the days activities which was daunting enough without experiencing it!!! So with a few adjustments made to the days ride pictures were taken before we set off.
It's best to view the following Day 1 Vid's to get an understanding of our days ride, but to sum it up it was by far the best, longest, hardest and mixed off road riding I have ever completed in the UK. Top job and want to do it again and again and again............................WHAT A BUZZ!!!!
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-- Edited by Mac on Wednesday 16th of October 2013 03:09:00 PM
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-- Edited by Mac on Friday 18th of October 2013 01:05:25 PM
-- Edited by Mac on Saturday 19th of October 2013 02:09:21 PM
-- Edited by Mac on Sunday 20th of October 2013 08:29:26 PM
Your right about the hills the films don't show exactly hope steep they truly are But they were demanding as vid 7 indicates with all that puffin' and pantin'
Lookin' forward to our next dirty weekend away.
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Life's like a muddy, slate nearly impossible to climb lane.
Enjoyable but hard to conquer !!!
You boys looked like you enjoyed your weekend. Wish I could have been there, nice report Mac and yours and Charlie's photos and vids were fantastic. See you all soon.
You,l have to take a few more brave pills and come to the welsh valleys. Show you some proper welsh lanes.
Hi Minty, we are looking to come up again maybe April/ May time. Not sure how we going to work it yet we give you a shout about it after Christmas i'm sure.
-- Edited by Slider rider on Saturday 19th of October 2013 09:47:50 PM
Once you go to Wales you have to go back glad you are all hooked
Your so right Russell, the riding up Wales was second to none. On Sunday it rained nearly all day but we didn't really care we still enjoyed ourselves.