| Flintshire Challenge '04 |
After being told about this event Sabine wanted to give it a go. 50miles was a lot further than she had ever ridden but I
thought she would be able to make it. As the event drew nearer we got together with the lads from the Edge, in
Chester, and some of their friends to make a good social ride of it.
On the morning of 10th Oct we set off from Mold Leisure center at about 9.15am. The road section at the start seemed
to pass by quite quickly and it was not long till we were into the off-road sections. At the bottom of the first proper
descent we had a rest as I removed an arrow shaped stone that had speared my rear tyre, so deeply that it came out in
the tube and didn't stay in the tyre (a new one on me that!). The Clwyd Gate climb followed which was the start of my
interval training for the day. Speed off ahead, stop to take some photos, speed off to catch everyone else up again.
thought she would be able to make it. As the event drew nearer we got together with the lads from the Edge, in
Chester, and some of their friends to make a good social ride of it.
On the morning of 10th Oct we set off from Mold Leisure center at about 9.15am. The road section at the start seemed
to pass by quite quickly and it was not long till we were into the off-road sections. At the bottom of the first proper
descent we had a rest as I removed an arrow shaped stone that had speared my rear tyre, so deeply that it came out in
the tube and didn't stay in the tyre (a new one on me that!). The Clwyd Gate climb followed which was the start of my
interval training for the day. Speed off ahead, stop to take some photos, speed off to catch everyone else up again.
| Gareth on the Clwyd Gate climb |
Mark and Sabine on the Clwyd Gate climb
| Sabine 2/3 of the way up the Clwyd Gate climb |
After regrouping at the road we
set off on the climb up Moel
Eithinen. The entertainment
for the long climb was seeing
Mikey tackle the steep sections
on his 1.3inch slicks. Not really
the best for off-road riding. A
good downhill brought us into
the first check point in Moel
Famau lower car park. While
there we met up with Trev and
the boys for about the third
time that morning. Chris
thought this would be a good
place to have a puncture so we
left them there. After riding
through the woods we made
our way along the track to
Cilcain, through the mud and
over the planks. Free tea and
cakes were at the next check
point so we didn't mind waiting
there till we could all regroup
again. It was then a long, but
scenic, climb to the gate on the
ridge by Moel Dywyll. The
descent after is a good blast
with lots of corners and loose
gravel. I've done it lots of times
set off on the climb up Moel
Eithinen. The entertainment
for the long climb was seeing
Mikey tackle the steep sections
on his 1.3inch slicks. Not really
the best for off-road riding. A
good downhill brought us into
the first check point in Moel
Famau lower car park. While
there we met up with Trev and
the boys for about the third
time that morning. Chris
thought this would be a good
place to have a puncture so we
left them there. After riding
through the woods we made
our way along the track to
Cilcain, through the mud and
over the planks. Free tea and
cakes were at the next check
point so we didn't mind waiting
there till we could all regroup
again. It was then a long, but
scenic, climb to the gate on the
ridge by Moel Dywyll. The
descent after is a good blast
with lots of corners and loose
gravel. I've done it lots of times
| Mike and Phil on the Clwyd Gate climb |
| Stu and Phil on Moel Eithinen |
Trev descending to the first checkpoint
Sabine descending to the first checkpoint
Mike descending to the first checkpoint
Chris descending to the first checkpoint
| Me and Trev stamping our cards |
| Everyone at the first checkpoint |
| Sabine, Mike, Mikey, Gareth in the forest |
| Sabine on the planks |
| Gareth on the planks |
| Mike on the planks |
| Phil, Mark, Eddy, Sabine riding out of Cilcain |
| Mikey climbing to the gate on the ridge by Moel Dywyll. |
| Sabine with her free tea at the Cilcain check point |
before but this time I decided to loose the back end and
hit the gravel arse first, at speed. After checking the bike
out and sorting the gravel rash we got going again. It
was then the climb up to the check point at Moel Arthur
car park and we all knew what it's like. Sabine did well on
tired legs and rode the whole thing. At the top we were
informed that in 10mins riders would be advised not to
start the next loop on the route as it was getting late.
Some had to go home and others had not caught up yet
so me and Sabine decided to complete the full distance
(Sabines' determination coming out at this point). We set
off by ourselves and headed towards Nannerch woods.
We were glad we made the choice to carry on as we got
to ride in a fantasic Autumn afternoon, cool breeze, clear
views, golden sun and firm trails.
hit the gravel arse first, at speed. After checking the bike
out and sorting the gravel rash we got going again. It
was then the climb up to the check point at Moel Arthur
car park and we all knew what it's like. Sabine did well on
tired legs and rode the whole thing. At the top we were
informed that in 10mins riders would be advised not to
start the next loop on the route as it was getting late.
Some had to go home and others had not caught up yet
so me and Sabine decided to complete the full distance
(Sabines' determination coming out at this point). We set
off by ourselves and headed towards Nannerch woods.
We were glad we made the choice to carry on as we got
to ride in a fantasic Autumn afternoon, cool breeze, clear
views, golden sun and firm trails.
| Mark climbing to the gate on the ridge by Moel Dywyll. |
| Sabine and Mike climbing to the gate on the ridge by Moel Dywyll. |
| Sabine, singletrack on the way to Nannerch woods |
| Chris and Skinny on the climb after Nannerch woods |
| Sabine after descending the singletrack near Hafod-y-cwm |
We hooked up with Trev and Chris's group again and kept each other
company all the way round the top loop till the climb back up to the Moel
Arthur check point. At this point Sabine started feeling the distance, about
40miles, with a long climb still ahead of us. Just finishing was all we wanted to
do now, and still get our t-shirts, obviously. We were lucky enough to find the
check point still had water as we were out and still had about 6miles to go. We
had gone through the worst part on the previous climb and just throttled back
to conserve energy. We did walk the steep hill by Loggerheads but by that
time it didn't really matter. I still worked quite hard as I pushed both bikes up
the hill while Sabine hung onto one of the saddles (very tired would be the
polite way of putting it). At the top we got back on the bikes and rode the final
miles back to the Leisure center in Mold. Even though we didn't make it back
till 5.50pm not only did they have t-shirts left but they still had our sizes. There
are definite plans to come back next year and to ride the loop in a faster time.
company all the way round the top loop till the climb back up to the Moel
Arthur check point. At this point Sabine started feeling the distance, about
40miles, with a long climb still ahead of us. Just finishing was all we wanted to
do now, and still get our t-shirts, obviously. We were lucky enough to find the
check point still had water as we were out and still had about 6miles to go. We
had gone through the worst part on the previous climb and just throttled back
to conserve energy. We did walk the steep hill by Loggerheads but by that
time it didn't really matter. I still worked quite hard as I pushed both bikes up
the hill while Sabine hung onto one of the saddles (very tired would be the
polite way of putting it). At the top we got back on the bikes and rode the final
miles back to the Leisure center in Mold. Even though we didn't make it back
till 5.50pm not only did they have t-shirts left but they still had our sizes. There
are definite plans to come back next year and to ride the loop in a faster time.
| Sabine on an empty tank riding the last miles back to Mold |
