Fanylion Mountain Bike Team
Official site of the Fanylion Mountain Bike Team. Includes mountain bike ride guides, gear reviews, bike maintenance, team reports and rider profiles of the Fanylion Racing Team.
Cwmcarn and Dragon Enduro
May 15, 2004, Wales
Well this is it, Team Fanylion’s first foray into the world of competitive events. A small but eager team comprising Teams Techno & 10 Ton Kona from the southern faction and Hodgson & Mastiles from the Northern equivalent. After setting off at an unusually late time on Saturday as the big ride was on the Sunday for once, we met up on Cwm Carn car park with Red Arrows-like precision just minutes apart.
After all fawning over Hodgson’s porn for a while (this time not actually Club International, but £3,700 worth of Turner 5 Spot), we headed up the trail for a very leisurely ride just to loosen up the legs ready for the big one on Sunday. For those of you that know Cwm Carn, ‘leisurely’ isn’t a term you can easily use to describe the start of it. After the relative ease of reaching the top of the first climb we realised that four had quickly become three… Where was Kona? After losing the usual ‘last to swear goes back’ game, I had to go look for him. Feck! I rode all the way back (the wrong way) down the trail and couldn’t see him. I assumed he had decided to cut loose and save himself for the big one so headed back. Steve decided that something wasn’t right so went off to look for him again, this time heading down the access road for speed. No sooner had he disappeared than Alister appeared! ‘Just went to check the car was locked’! I don’t know why mind you, all the items of value were sat directly under our arses!
So, after much waiting around we got to the start of the ride proper. A good 1k of relentless technical climbing and past the famous sculpture where Hodgson regained his Dominant Male crown from Shack the year before. A quick recap of that moment and we were on our way. Now the technical climb had given way to much less demanding fireroad climbing. The glorious views when we reached the top were awesome, the beautiful weather making them all the better. But we all now knew the best, the very best, was yet to come.
After flying through a graveyard of tree stumps and a bizarre track skirting the road, we quickly disappeared into the shade of the trees and some amazing twisting singletrack dropping off quickly though some of the most varied trails around – from open dusty tracks to wooded singletracks & drops and finally the big descent. I set off first, and with the knowledge that Hodgson was right on my tail, eager to test his new steed to its limits I pushed harder than I would normally consider. After a few skittish moments, we were soon back at the car park. ‘How fast did you go? I managed 37.2mph?’ I asked.
’38.8mph’ Hodgson retorted. Double Feck!
After a quick bite to eat we headed over to Afan Valley Park where we registered for the main event and had a quick erection. Once the tent was up we headed over to Glyncorrwg Rugby Club for a couple of sociable beers and heard the quote of the weekend – an old Welsh bloke propping up the bar said 'You are welcome to use the trails, but the sheep are ours'. RsPkT.
Sunday morning soon came, too soon for some – I was cold in my little one man tent and without the heat generated by the writhing mass of man-flesh being created in number 1 tent, I was awake from about 4am. Perhaps it was nerves?
Anyway, after a quick breakfast and several visits to the toilet we were ready. Without being able to speak for the others, the nerves I was feeling were nothing like I have ever felt before – I had to keep telling myself it was ‘non-competitive’, but the devil in me knew it wouldn’t be. Hodgson, Techno and myself were at the start line ready for our 9.30am start, 10 Ton a little further back as he was in a later start slot. Spot on time we were off, nerves very quickly forgotten as we headed up a small slope onto the 7km of tarmac covered trail that marked the start. Settling into my own pace, I let the other two fight it out amongst themselves at the front. I knew this would be a long one.
After been overhauled by most of the pack at the start, we quickly turned off onto the first climb of the day, I knew that this was where it would really start. After very quickly catching and passing most of our group the ride settled into a rhythm of long hard climbs split up with some great technical singletrack. I continued to pass people, only to be caught by others but importantly I was passing more than were passing me. After just 4 or 5 miles into the day we came across the first casualty, someone had come off on some pretty tight track and was laying in the undergrowth, covered in teeshirts and being tended to by an apparently able young lady. Where she had come from I do not know, she was certainly not riding, being in jeans and a teeshirt!
Riding alone, I kept thinking ‘Where are the rest? Is Kona about to appear behind me? Will I see Hodgson & Techno?’, but I was enjoying it, the sunshine and the trails conspired to make me forget the pain I was experiencing.
Soon after being bitten by my V8s trying to clear a motorbike barrier, the first drinks station of the day appeared on the side of a grassy hill near some alpine huts. How far HAD we come? After taking on a little SIS energy drink and plenty of water (both for myself and to sluice down my gaping bloodied shin) I was on my way again.
Much riding later and the biggest killer climb of the day appeared - a tortuous climb comprised of soft grass and a muddy mess. I decided to stop to take on fuel as it was now around midday and I was almost half way though. I told myself that every time I saw a mile marker from now on, I would have less to do than I had already done. Later I found out that Hodgson’s mentality at that point was one of ‘Jesus, I’ve done all that, can I do the same all over again?’
After much more climbing and descending later, much of it very similar, I found myself thinking ‘had I come this way before?’ I knew I shouldn’t have done because it was a single circuit of the track with no repeating. I was getting worried that I had taken a wrong turn and would end up doing even more than the 62k promised. Fortunately this wasn’t the case and I was soon climbing up what was promised by a marshall to be the final climb of the day. It wasn’t.
As we kept climbing I saw a telephone mast. This MUST be the high point then. No it wasn’t. As I passed the mast, the trail dropped back down a track then straight back up again! Eventually I reached a point that was my saviour. Thinking back to a conversation I was having the evening before, I KNEW this was the final descent – ‘when you see the sign, it’s a straight drop straight back down to the valley floor, and it is a amazing’. So there it was, in a wonderfully kitsch ‘Shatter’ typeface ‘YOU WILL NOT BE AIRLIFTED FROM THIS SECTION’. A quick look at my watch told me it was 2.10pm. I had secretly set myself a target of 5hrs and thought I might be able to do it. As I was flying down one of the best descents I have ever ridden, cutting diagonally across the mountain-side with rocky sections to jump, roll or drop off, I kept looking at my watch. Would I make it? Suddenly I could see light at the end of the tree shaded tunnel, I’m nearly there! But there was still a full circuit of some ponds to complete before making the last dash to the finish line. Toss! Pedaling as hard as I could, given the fact I had covered many miles, I tried to beat that 5 hours. As I passed the finish line I realized I hadn’t quite done it, but perhaps I had been very optimistic in the first place believing I could even get close to that sort of time. I had managed 5 hours and 21 seconds.
Once over the finish line, my legs stopped. Stopped dead. After riding what turned out to be nearly 42 miles of almost 100% off road up some of the bitchiest mothers of hills, I could barely get up a small slope back to the campsite. I realized that I had probably ridden much of this ride on pure adrenalin and sheer determination.
I soon found Techno, lazing happily in the sun outside the tent. He had come home in 4 hours 33 minutes, almost the best in his class. We couldn’t find Hodgson anywhere. Techno didn’t know whether he had come in before or after him. We went looking for him and finally found him refueling at the burger van. 4 hours 42 minutes, although he had suffered from cramp for the last 6 miles, no doubt mainly due to the heat and the fact the organizers failed to supply the third drinking station that had been promised.
After an hour or so of chatting and catching up on events, Hodgson and myself said we had to leave as we had a long drive home & impatient partners waiting to tend our aching limbs. But where was 10 Ton? There was no sign as we left and to be honest we were a little concerned he may not have managed it, given that it was a very ambitious ride to attempt with little or no bike training in the run-up to it. Fortunately a message soon came through – he had arrived safely in a time of 6 hours 56 minutes. His fitness levels gained through London Marathon training bringing him home, even though he had suffered from cramps for almost all of the second half of the ride!
So, another milestone for Team Fanylion - our first outing as a Team at an organized event. Next is the small task of the 24 hour Saab Salomon Mountain Mayhem. Stay tuned for all the run up to that one!
Mastiles out.
Riders present
Team Mastiles
Team Techno
Team 10 Ton Kona
Team Hodgson
Enjoyment level
Max +