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Hairy
trails?
In January over one hundred yards were frozen solid. We're not talking snow or frost here, this was a glacier several inches thick and worthy of Torville and Dean. We hopped off in short order to ride the trail border, having tasted the ice already on the flat half a mile ago. You can ride this stuff, just don't brake, turn accelerate or make one of the several thousand
imperceptible shifts of balance you need to stay upright in a days biking. A moderate climb follows, heading a little left of the Col. Once past the highest point a stone shelf signals the start of a hairy four hundred foot descent on deep, loose rock with lots of fish-tailing and water cut channels, brilliant.
After this you have a further two descents with only one minor climb, the general impression is that you must be about five hundred feet below sea level at this point.
Forking
off
Eventually the climb bears right and enters the forest again. Turn first right uphill and follow to a wide section of the forest trail where the singletrack can be seen forking off to the right. This section soon turns downhill and has some great roller coaster humps built in, which should see all but the novices off the ground and laughing. At the end of here you drop down to Llyn Pendam (yes, another lake) and you can pop up the short pitch to follow the East bank before a sudden, scary ninety degree left hander dumps you back on to the road. The next single begins soon after the start of the rough forest road here and takes you back to Llyn
Blaenmelindwr, the unpronounceable, unspeakably beautiful pool of earlier.
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Shiver me
timbers
Through the gate with the multi-use route sign and you're back on the Summit trail. Although the climb here isn't too hard we're usually starting to feel it, solace comes from views across the eighth lake of the day! Hold on to your helmet because this is another fast and technical section, if you think it's tough when you're there, we've ridden it when much of it was solid ice. Sends a shiver down my spine just thinking about it.
Get me a drink
Do take care on this section as there have been complaints from horse riders with whom we share this trail. Shortly after the bottom you reach the top of the amazingly long 'Mark of Zorro' descent. Race each other down here and you'll all be gasping at the end as Zorro makes the best of the incline with several flat sections. On the last leg there are three humps which will squash you down and flick your rear end in the air most disconcertingly, leave off the brakes at your peril. Once you do get to the bottom you have to tackle 'The Leg Burner' this climb of over a mile and a half just never lets up. Eventually you reach the 'Drunken Druid' and quite frankly by now you'll feel in need of a stiff drink, if only to numb the pain. In a sadistic twist the Druid drops for a few yards then goes straight up a steep ten yard climb... Fortunately gravity relents for the remainder of this section and there is only one very short upwards bit on the way to the nearby 'High as a Kite'. This trail is as fine an example of what can be achieved with very little loss of height as we have ever seen. Riding along here will make you feel like you're on an Imperial Speeder Bike as you dodge trees a split second before impact and trust your feelings just as far as you dare. What a brilliant end to one of the very best mountain bike rides in Wales.
Bartender! Set 'em up.
Nant
yr Arian Route Guide
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