Heatstroke and heartbreak - 13/07/13 - Hottest day of the year so far!

Still trying to cool down after yesterday's effort, so haven't done a write up yet. If Vino or Lantern feel the urge to do one in the meantime I won't complain! Suckers for punishment yesterday were Patron, Hughesy, Tudor, Robbo, Beast, Lantern, Brownie, Ronnie, Craig and Vino and I can't remember the last time there were such massive time gaps and so many broken bodies at the end of a ride.....

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Brenig ball-breaker - 06/07/13

Le Patron mustered the Crapi peloton for 9am morning prayers, before what he promised would be a ‘brute’. Faithful disciples included Robbo, Vino, Gaz, Hughesy, Ronnie, Rocket, Craig and new recruit Ian Higgins. The weather was set fair, and we all set off up the drag to Bwlchgwyn without a care in the world! The pace (and route) to Ruthin wasn’t bad, but the work rate steadily increased from Denbigh as we toiled up and down the interminable drags to Henllan and Llansannan. After a quick shop stop at Llansannan, le Patron decreed we should turn left to ascend the climb to Llyn Aled, and recounted his conversation 5 minutes earlier in the village shop..... “So you’re going up to Llyn Aled are you”, enquired the shop occupants, smirking as they secretly thought “a fat bastard like you won’t make it up there!”. And they were right, for no sooner did we start the climb when we discovered that the fine folk at Conwy County Council had rendered the climb completely un-rideable as a result of their cutting-edge road resurfacing techniques. We did attempt the climb but had to abandon at the top as the gravel was just too deep to ride through. Rather than walk all the way down again, Vino put his CX skills to good use and hopped over the fence with his bike to descend the farmer’s field. All soon followed suit as we made our way across two steep fields, dodging cowpats as we went (see photo). I imagine the scene the previous week had played out something like this..... Dewi is a newly qualified, eager to please civil engineer, and on his first field assignment he is paired up with Dai and his highly experienced Conwy Council road resurfacing crew, the envy of councils throughout the land. Their task for the next fortnight was to resurface Ffordd Gogor, a little used route to Llyn Aled, which probably needed resurfacing about as much as the Lantern needed an afro comb. “Right Dai, where’s the tarmac?”, enquired Dewi, keen to get started. “Over there” said Dai, casually gesturing with thumb, forefinger and fag end to a barrel marginally bigger than le Patron’s tea mug, warming up over a disposable barbecue. “F*ck me Dai, what are we supposed to do with that miniscule amount of tarmac?" exclaimed Dewi, who by now was beginning to have some doubts about his chosen vocation with Conwy CC and his mentor for the day. “Well lad, you run up to the top of that hill, and when you get there, you’re going to tip that weak cocktail of tar and rat’s piss down the hill see. Then me and the boys’ll come behind you and drop 50 megaton of slithery, bike-crippling death-trap gravel on top of it like”. “What happens then Dai, are we going to steam roller it to get it nice and compacted?” “Nah, we’ll just leave the gravel about a foot deep and the cars and bikes and tractors will work it in for us see, all being well it should be good enough to use as a road again in about 12 month’s time” “But Dai, isn’t it dangerous to just leave a shit load of loose gravel on the road like that, what if someone skids on the 20% slope?”. “F*ck em”, replied Dai with a faraway look in his eye, as he contemplated the thought of finishing another resurfacing job 13 days ahead of schedule.... The next road we came upon was an undiscovered 25% brute, and by the time we got to the Brenig visitor centre at the 50 mile mark we were ready for a rest. On the return leg, Patron, Rocket, Hughesy and Ron opted for the A5, whilst Robbo, Craig, Gaz and Vino took the rollercoaster road to Pentrellyncymer and Ruthin, before the final drags of the Nant y Garth pass and Llandegla. 82 miles and over 2100 metres of climbing, the difficulty of the day is reflected in the average speed of 14.5 mph.