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Devon TRF Group Open Forum -> Away from Devon -> Virtual peaks TRf muddy monkey fest 5/6-6-10 **finished**
Post Info TOPIC: Virtual peaks TRf muddy monkey fest 5/6-6-10 **finished**
hampsterracing


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Virtual peaks TRf muddy monkey fest 5/6-6-10 **finished**
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As i am a member of the virtual peaks internet only TRF group i was watching the planning for their annual monkey fest with interest.it is based near dolgellau in the snowdownia national park.

the event is limited to 30 places (5 rideouts of 6) with everyone arriving at the campsite on friday evening for a social then riding on the saturday and Sunday.

the event normally fills very quickly but after a few drop outs there were a couple of places available on the tuesday before........................

so after a quick chat to clarkey (Dave Clarke) we were in smile

a frantic two days bike prep ensued as i needed a service,brake pads and a pair of tyre's on my wr. clarkeys gasser needed tyre's,wheel bearings,brake pads and an MOT !!

all was ready for the off on friday afternoon though but the M5 had other plans for us cry it was stationary all the way through Somerset along with the A38 cry some creative routing saw us arrive in Newport ready for the trek up through wales 3 1/2 hours after setting off rather than the normal 1 1/2 hours ! the total journey up took 7 1/2 hours furious.

once on site there was time to set up camp a quick beer then bed.

saturday dawned bright and sunny smile after some sausage butty's it was time to ride.we were put in a group with some bloke called TIMPO leading not sure who we had upset confuse

we started off with some cracking rocky climbs very technical to start the day though....................





the trails and views just kept getting better.

then somebody mentioned "the motorway" which rang a few bells of some trail riding video's i had seen...............................

it starts with a lovely long tight tricky rock climb then out onto open moorland.





heres a video of a previous north wales trf visit


it starts to get a bit interesting in places confuse




grass tussocks and rocks liberally spread around the bog make the going slow .........

3.6 miles in 3 hours 20 minutes and plenty of teamwork as well. defiantly the hardest trail i have ever done by a very big margin !



finally out biggrin


but it was worth it


the relief was clear for some wink

the lanes and views kept coming all day



a reminder to stay on the track and not go "off piste" a big problem in some areas


we found a lady stranded with a bent gear linkage on top of one of the hills on this lovely TL.soon fixed and on her way smile


a few more lanes brought us down into barmouth where the rest indulged in fish and chips whilst sitting in the sun admiring the scenery wink

i was suffering from a mixture of upset stomach and over exertion on the motorway and passed on lunch !!!

when it was time to leave for the afternoons run i decided to pass and sit in the sun for a bit before returning to the campsite for a rest ready for Sundays exertions.

an extra hours rest with a couple of brufen thrown in had me feeling almost human again and ready for the trip back to camp.

but then another group from the monkey fest turned up for a late lunch.they were running late as a lady riding with them had an awkward low speed tumble and broke her arm cry (get well soon hazel)

by the time they were ready for the off i decided to join them and tagged along for an extra hours lanes before returning to the campsite.(where i found clarkey waiting for me as i had the van keys disbelief (and was supposed to be going straight back a few hours earlier)

a bit of fettling before tea



a pleasant evening on the site with a barbie and a few beers whilst swapping tales of the day soon saw me ready for bed.

Sunday dawned dull but dry smile (quite welcome really as the sun the day before had made some lanes a bit warm......)

after some bacon butty's it was time for the off.



there were plenty more long rocky remote tracks to be done including such delights as "pont scethin" which winds its way over the mountain and then over a bog paved with large granite rocks !!

it was misty at the top of the mountains but fine lower down.


it was slippery in unexpected places as well !

After a few more we stopped in a cafe in machnlleth for a proper lunch !!
(clarkey managed a roast here)

then the talk of "the slab" started having not heard mention of this before we showed an interest.what a mistake !!

the slab turned out to be a long steep green off camber section of bedrock between high hedges.imagine a sheet of glass at 45 degrees covered in washing up liquid and you start to get the idea !!

since coming home i have discovered the slab is known as the old cemmaes road and used as a testing section on the powys enduro downhill !! we were going up it confuse


timpo getting a tow from clarkey on the slab !! (the first time i have ever seen him need assistance!)

plenty more trails including an evil single rut through steep recently cleared forestry brought us back to the camp to pack up ready for the much better 4 1/2 hour run home.

a superb weekend was had by all.not so many miles on our runs but plenty of testing lanes smile

big thanks to steve and Matt from the muddy monkeys for the organization and to timpo for leading again wink

A few more pics shamelessly stolen form the other ride reports


clarkey having a rare lie down on the axle breaker


the paved bog at pont scethin


the motorway








-- Edited by hampsterracing on Saturday 12th of June 2010 04:17:36 PM

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hampsterracing


Devon's Best

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RE: Virtual peaks TRf muddy monkey fest 5/6-6-10 **part 1**
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more pics added

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TTR


Powermonger!!

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Fantastic place to trail ride eh?

I like the last pic with the bowed haeds - is a prayer meeting going on???


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jt


Powermonger!!

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Nice - cracking part of the country spent a good bit of my yoof in the Llanberis area..

I love this pic -

2639233490102981232S600x600Q85.jpg

Dunno why I like it so much but it really does make me want to go and get the bike out the garage confuse

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L'orange


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Nice pics and report young hammy, gotta watch out for that timpo geezzer!wink

Guess you know what my next request might be??

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Timpo


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L'orange wrote:

Nice pics and report young hammy, gotta watch out for that timpo geezzer!wink

Guess you know what my next request might be??



 Ahhh, I'm an angel, you've got me all wrong! smile

L'o, what's the next question?...... it's not about tracklogs is it? no

Timpo.



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L'orange


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biggrinbiggrin Hey mate!

No dont need the track logs, I need Hammy to produce me a spanning run report for the Newsletter.

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Timpo


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I thought this report was good enough.......biggrin

Timpo.

ps. He hasn't mentioned his Dehli-belly!ashamed

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L'orange


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Dont need to know about ye ole rodents digestive issue's thanks. Once spent a night in Haccadown barn with him, that was enough thanks. (and NO not in the same sleeping bag)

Problem i have with putting forum report in the newsletter is that they dont transfer very well, once you take out the photos you dont always get a lot of text and guys use photos to describe the action. But with a bit of extra text it's easy to knock up a good report. 

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hampsterracing


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more added

day one finished

day two to go.....................


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hampsterracing


Devon's Best

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RE: Virtual peaks TRf muddy monkey fest 5/6-6-10 **finished**
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Report now finished.

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slip a long


Clubman A

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Excellent report ,looks funbiggrin

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