Devon TRF Group Forum

After doing some local weekend camping/greenlining trips around Devon, I came up with the idea a couple of months ago of greenlaning from Devon, up through Somerset, into Wales and up to the 'off-road mecca' of the Strata Florida. So invitations went out to riders around Devon who I know from being TRF members.

All invitees were informed that we'd be covering approximately 550 miles in 3 ½ days, which isn't a lot of 'Adventure Riding', but is a lot of Greenlaning on small bikes. We'd be camping out for 3 nights next to 3 different pubs each night, so just needed a tent, airbed, sleeping bag, clothing, brew kit and snacks. Each rider was expected to lead a ½ day section to give each member a turn at leading, so the other requirement was that every member had to have a sat nav suitable for off piste riding. As for a route, we contacted local TRF groups in regards lanes through Somerset, Bristol and South Wales. So after much umming and rrring about what route to take and how many miles, we settled on:

Thursday - Devon to Chepstow 133 miles

Friday - Chepstow to Strata Florida 155 miles

Saturday - Strata Florida to Caerphilly 142 miles

Sunday - Caerphilly to Devon 174 miles

Obviously these mileages were subject to good weather and no bike probs!

So finally after all the dropouts, we finally got numbers down to 6 riders, which is a very good manageable number for riding as a group.

We had a mixture of bikes, 2 KTM 450exc's, Honda XR400, Suzuki DRZ-E 400, Yamaha TTR250 and a WR250R (Not a well known bike in this country, unlike the F- Enduro model, but the R according to Yamaha stands for Adventure!). We all had varying fuel ranges, with the lowest being the XR and KTM's that had a max mileage of 80 miles, so fuel stops also had to be planned in. Luckily the TTR250 and WR250R had long range fuel tanks fitted, so if necessary a quick fuel donation could be made.

The next thing was how we were going to carry our kit, as we all needed racks, panniers and waterproof bags, because this was all new to most of the riders. Myself (WR250) had decided to splash out on the Wolfman Soft Expedition Panniers as I was planning further far away adventures after this trek,

Rich (DRZ400) had also splashed out on a very well made pannier frame and was also using some throw-over Wolfman soft panniers.

The other guys all came up with their own home-made system for mounting bags and various rucksacks.

Geoff (KTM 450) even went as far as buying similar material as used by Wolfman, and getting his father who is an upholsterer to make him up a very good soft pannier set.

A few of us were checking the weather forecast as the date got nearer, as some wanted to pull out if torrential downpours were forecast. The forecast was looking like light showers, sunny, but freezing temperatures at night, so with this in mind I advised all to bring thermals to sleep in and even ride in if necessary.

Day 1

Come mid April 2012, we all assembled at my place for a 12.00pm start, or so we thought until Brownie (XR400) announced, 'do we need a full tank to start'!

So off he shot down the road for a quick fill up. Just as we set off, we encountered a smattering of hail stones, but thereafter it was nice and sunny. The first lane was near Hemyock, a nice steep, wet and muddy climb, but then 30 miles of country lanes through Somerset, then green lanes every couple of miles to keep us on our toes. All the lanes in Somerset were new to us, so it was great exploring as well. Some of the lanes were really long and occasionally technical, which you had to think about, especially being loaded up with an additional 25lb on the bike, but after a while you forget about it and just ride the bike, like you would normally.

Click on here to see the peril in action!

After about 100 miles we eventually hit Bristol at rush hour, as it was the quickest way to the old Severn Bridge. We did get some funny looks from folk at traffic lights, seeing 6 dirty bikers on 6 dirty bikes riding through a city! When we finally caught sight of Wales in the distance across the Avon, it was looking very, very dark with rain clouds, but then as we approached Avonmouth, the darkness seemed to loom over us, then the rain started. This final 30 mile stretch of road work was very tedious, especially as we'd agreed a top speed of 50MPH.

Once over the Severn Bridge, a quick fuel stop in readiness for the next day, then we hit the Huntsman Hotel pub in a village called Shirenewton. What a great place, they let us pitch our tents in the pub playground!

We all had some wet kit, but the pub offered us the use of their drying room and even offered a free room, so we could use the loo and shower, plus providing extra free towels. We were even offered a cook brekky first thing in the morning. Now that's what I call service! Unbelievably there were some lightweights who needed a shower! I planned my first shower in 4 days, proper man-camping! Anyway after a cracking meal and some beers, tiredness was kicking in, so we all headed to our tented abodes at about 11.00pm, with an agreed set off time of 9.00am and brekky at 8.00am.

Thirty minutes later I started to witness hearing a new type of Welsh Choir, but this was made up of Brownie, Nick and Paul having a snoring contest! Luckily I brought my ear plugs.

Day 2

That night it got below freezing, so when we all woke 7.00am, everything was white and still very cold.

So the planned 9.00am, turned into a 10.00am set off, mainly due to the Army phrase of 'poor admin'. As this was the first morning, some weren't used to packing up and still finding what should go where on the bike.

This sunny morning Nick was leading us to our lunchtime stop at Glynn Neath.........well that was what we thought. Although we were offered to be led by some guys within the SWTRF, we opted to do a route that they gave us, and we were informed that the majority of the route was legal, but to check as we approached the lanes. We rode for 3 hours and encountered every lane either illegal, closed or permanently blocked which was very frustrating.

We decided to road ride the 25 miles straight to our lunch stop as we knew the route the rest of the way was definitely legal, open and do-able as time was getting on.

I led the way at this point, but as we loomed towards our destination we could see dark clouds over the Brecon Beacons and heading our way fast. With 12 miles to go, the heavens opened and it got really dark and it was throwing it down. Partly along the way I lost the group due to poor visibility, so I decided to carry onto Glynn Neath as I was also on a long stretch of dual carriageway that I couldn't turn around on, and I knew that the guys had the route. Unbeknown to me and the reason I lost them, was because they stopped due to Nick getting a slow puncture. On reflection I should have gone back and looked for them, but due to the poor weather and being wet I just wanted to get to Glynn Neath.

Once at Glynn Neath I got a text telling me about Nicks puncture and 20 minutes later five very wet unhappy riders turned up in the garage forecourt. Brownie declared that he wanted to make his way home, as being wet through was no longer fun, but we had to deal with Nicks puncture first.

So while this was going on, a lot of varying ideas were thrown into the ring about the next course of action, as some of the guys were drenched and spirits low due to the lack of green lanes ridden and the wet weather that day. The time was now approaching 3.00pm and we still had to ride 70 miles, which included Sarn Helen and the Strata Florida. We then made the decision to call it a day and find refuge, but this meant that we had to shorten the route for the remaining trip, which also meant cutting out the Strata Florida and some fantastic lanes. As we weren't far from Sarn Helen, we then came up with the plan to stay at a pub with a campsite nearby, get our kit dried, then re-group and come up with a new route for the next day, with the first lane being Sarn Helen as it was only 3 miles from the pub.

So we headed to The Ancient Briton Pub at Ynyswen of which I'd stayed at previously for the Welsh ABR Rally in October 2011, but again on route Nick got another puncture!

As we were only just over a mile away from site, rather than repair it, he pushed and rode it slowly to camp. By the time we got to camp the weather had cleared up and it was dry. 2 hours later, spirits were high again, puncture finally repaired, tents all up, in dry clothing and looking forward to a pub meal and some beers.

So after a good meal, beers and banter, myself and Rich came up with a new route, which was Sarn Helen, through Brecon to grab some brunch and hit our Southern route near Talgarth, then all being well carry on as normal.........that was the plan anyway! Again we all agreed on a start time of 9.00am!

Day 3

Couldn't believe it, bang on 9.00am everyone was ready for the off, it just shows that you can be a bit more organised once you get to know where all your kit is and folding your new tent gets easier! The reason Brownie was more organised was due to him off loading a load of his kit into the bin as he thought it was rubbish, that being a pannier, an air bed, torch and kitchen sink! We'd all had a brew to warm up and some light snacks before the off and in readiness of hitting Sarn Helen.

Paul's setting off technique!

The weather was bright and looking good, but as we got onto Sarn Helen the rain started, but to be honest we didn't really notice as it was great getting onto a fantastic trail. The terrain is made of wet slab rock and plenty of loose rocks, so the Pirelli MT43 was in its element of which four of us were using.

We all got down Sarn, but Brownie decided to do a bit of trout tickling before he crossed.

Thirty minutes later we'd done the Sarn and got onto the main road and headed the 6 miles into Brecon for fuel and brunch..............cue heavy rain! We pulled into the first garage in Brecon and once again some of the guys were drenched and the rain was not letting up, so we headed to a cafe for food and waited for the rain to die off.

Ninety minutes later it was still chucking it down, so the decision of the majority was that they wanted to head home due to the rain. Myself and Geoff would have continued along the route and onto the next campsite, but Geoff was murmuring something about 'Brokeback Mountain' if it was just me and him! So, the majority overruled and a heading home we would go, but we did manage to agree to do the route over the Black Mountains before we hit the roads back to Devon.

Still raining we left Brecon and headed towards Talybont Reservoir, where there were some very big hills! Enroute we encountered another footpath, so a quick turn around, but Geoff decided to test his roostering technique on Rich, I thought it was hilarious as he was covered in Welsh mud, but Rich was not a happy bunny!

Geoff aka 'The Rooster'!

We then got to the start of the Black Mountains and the ascent was fantastic, as it was a huge pine forested hillside with a steep rocky climb up wet stone and rocks for about two miles and a great challenge.

Unfortunately Geoff's bike decided to eject his panniers part way up, but all sorted after a bit. At the top as we waited for Geoff, we decided to get a brew going.

Rich decided to have a wash down after the roostering he received.

The views were great and there was even snow on the tops.

We then carried on up the mountains, but as we set off we hit a bog, so while Rich and Brownie decided which path to take, Geoff shot past, into the bog and it was rooster time all over Rich and Brownie!!! Oh dear, dummies were thrown out the cot this time, but mind you I still thought it was hilarious to watch.

After Geoff did his round of apologising and Rich removing the mud again, we continued up the ascent, once on top it was all black boggy tracks and sheep crap for about 5 miles, it was really good trail riding. Due the weight of the bikes and some differing tyre choices, some got into a sticky situation! Rich was just loving the Welsh mud today!

Well after 65 miles of trail riding we eventually came into Merthyr Tydfil and the next plan was the route home, as time was now about 3.00pm. I made the decision to not ride on the Motorway, even though my bike could cruise along at the legal speed +, the majority of the bikes couldn't go much faster than 50mph, so we would A road the 110 miles home. We headed to Monmouth, down to Chepstow, into Bristol and straight down the A38 back home to Devon. We did have to stop every hour to ease certain rider's backsides.

That day we rode 172 miles, with Rich having to ride home to Sidmouth, so he did near on 200 miles. It was never our intention to do so much road work, but unfortunately events conspired against us.

So we failed in our Strata Florida quest, but lessons were learnt by all I think.

• ·         Think twice before doing adventure riding on an enduro bike
• ·         Bring the right kit for the trip
• ·         Ensure that your kit is up to the job
• ·         Expect the unexpected with the weather
• ·         Don't forget to take your paper map as well

Fin!