Delamere 11 July

Follow this man through the forest if you can! Here is Ross in action at Brown Backs Racing's Lea Quarry event (thanks to them for the pic). He always seems to find some undiscovered trails, so don't miss out.

All abilities welcome and we can split into two groups if it suits. We certainly won't leave you lost in the forest. Meet at the station cafe at 10am.

Penmachno & Marin Trails 27 June

Turned out nice eventually. This is the atmospheric view across to Moel Siabod from the Dragon's Back on the Marin trail. Just Andy B and I tackled this one after Penmachno in the morning where we were joined by Alan Cook of BNECC. Despite the drizzle it was warm and great fun combining these two trails with a cafe stop in between at an excellent new cafe on the junction of the A5 and the B road to Penmachno.

The ride wasn't without incident. Alan and Andy had falls on the very slippery wet rocks on the Penmachno trail and Andy's seat post broke (at least the bolt did) half way round the Marin. I took pity on him after a while and swapped my seat to his bike; riding without a saddle certainly builds up the quads.

Thanks to Andy for the lift in the van - makes changing after the ride easier too!


Here we were on top of Old Pale on one of the recent Delamere rides. But we'll find more excitement Saturday on the Penmachno and Marin Trails. For those who don't know it, the Marin is a testing, rugged trail. Penmachno is less technical, but still great fun with some fantastic flowing sections. We can ride to Penmachno on quiet lanes and tracks, back to Betws for lunch, then off to the Marin which is a short ride away.

Meet at Betws y Coed's main P&D car park at 10am. I can offer 1 place in my car, so get in touch if you want a lift.

Polaris Challenge

I teamed up with Gareth for my first attempt at a Polaris at Bamford in the Peak District. Sort of orienteering on mountain bikes, you get 7 hours riding Saturday and 5 on Sunday to reach as many of 40 checkpoints as you can, taking any roads or bridle tracks between them.

On Saturday, in glorious sunshine, Kevan and Eleanor who are regular winners of the mixed category managed 19 checkpoints. Gareth and I only 17, despite riding further and faster than most. It was revealed that our route planning was poor, or non-existant.

So Sunday we spent much longer doing the planning after finding out that the checkpoints had been awarded various point scores according to their accessabilty. Another glorious day and we really got into the swing of it. We did much better and just pipped the Underhills by 5 points overall. They were still 5th in the mixed teams and best mixed Super Vets with Gareth and I 12th in the Senior category; which wasn't bad for a first attempt. We might even go back next year. A big thank you to Kevan and Eleanor for showing us the ropes and persiting with the idea of doing this event.

The results and details about the event should soon be posted at http://www.polarischallenge.com/

31 May Sunday Llandegla & Llangollen NPS

Don't miss this chance to see the country's top downhillers in action. It's MSC/Descent-Gear National Points Series Rd 2 at Llangollen on Saturday and Sunday the 30th and 31st of May 2009.

In their words, round two is going to be off the Richter Scale and will go down in the history books as the hardest track in the U.K to race on. Steve Parr and his trail fairies have officially set the bench mark and completed a master piece.

The course drops 1,000 feet and is super steep. Imagine the steepest and most technical sections from your favourite tracks, Champery, Glen Coe, Mynth Duu, Strathyre, Dunkeld, Goats Gully and Fort William Woods all in one track, without a break and no let up. The only pedalling you will do is three strokes off the start line and that is it.

Read all about it at http://www.npsdh.com/ We'll meet at Llandegla Mountain Bike Centre at 10am for a lap or two of the black route before heading off to Llangollen to see the timed runs.

Night Ride Sun 24 May

Ross has kindly offered to lead us on a night ride on the local tracks and trails. Meet outside the Weaverham shops at 8pm. We'll do the technical stuff before it's too dark; stop for some refreshment; then head home for around midnight.

4-5 recruits so far - so come and join us and don't worry about super expensive headlights - I haven't. But I have got a head torch, so bring one if you have too.

Delamere 16th May

Eleanor shows us all how to do it!

Eight of us enjoyed a bright morning around the forest, topped off with a race up Pale Heights which Gareth won. I've been coaching him on the niceties of racing and he's a quick learner. After tucking in behind Kevan and Jonti into the headwind, he sensed their easing up as the going steepened again and seized his chance, jumping away with a terriffic kick.

Good bacon and egg batches at the station cafe too.

Delamere Sat 16 May

Meet at the station cafe at 10am for a couple of hours or more of fun on the abundant single track. I bet we can show you some new places in the forest.

All abilities and non-members welcome to come along and give it a try. We regroup frequently so won't leave anyone to get lost, probably heading back to the cafe for lunch.

Picture shows Gareth at Lee Quarry 2 May. We have entered the Polaris as a team 13-14 June along with the Underhills. Sounds like it should be a laugh, so anyone else who fancies it see the link under what's on.