CyB MBR March 19th

After a strenuous Karrimor ride the day before, the posse we still keen to get their knobblies turning around the mid Wales trails but on the slightly shorter MBR route. Farqui had ridden this many times before and found it just the right length, pleasant challenging with some fabulous flowing sections that he hoped would be appreciated after the difficult trail yesterday. Sure enough, after the short fireroad climb the riders were all whizzing through the first couple of downhill sections with grins from ear to ear :D The terrific weather was also helping which helped make some of the open, fireroad climbs much more pleasant with the sun warming your back.

Mid way around I had a score to settle with a long, steep and technical climb that had always defeated me on my ol'Marin. This time I was feeling much fitter and armed with a steed that should easily be able to complete the ascent, the pressure was on. With Rob for company we winched our way steadily upwards and were amazed to see three brave lady's talking the route on fully rigid steeds, the pressure was mounting ! This climb is a beast as it saps the energy from your pins and needs 100% concentration to stay on track, thankfully the trail is wide else that steep drop would be even more off putting. With my legs on fire and several near offs behind me the climb gradually levelled off and a score had finally been settled, hurrah.

The next few sections were steep afairs, both up and down with many of us now very tired after the accumulation of miles but I think all were still enjoying the sweet bits. The views both on top of the hills and down in the valley bottom around the water course were fabulous today. Rob and I had a good tussle all wkend with his taught 4" XC steed reaching summits first and my 5" AM beastie spanking back down the descents which suits each of us perfectly.

This time the trail managed to keep the posse together right through to the finish for some well deserved tucka. IMO the MBR simply flows much better than the Karrimor but still has enough interest to keep everyone keen and riding rather than hobbling through any really difficult bits.

Sicknote takes the award for the most courage as he hadn't tackled anything near as technical before but soldiered on throughout and really started to get the hang of things on day#2.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable wkend and although I was sad to leave my lickle legs would have found it difficult to crank out anymore miles on such arduous terrain. The lads were all good fun with a good mix of experience to spice things up. Even the 170mile journey to get there (and back) wasn't too stressful for a driver who cycles more than he drives these days.

Ride pic's can be found here.

Injuries: A few minor slips and slides by all and Graham managed a face plant on the exit of a section.

Mechanicals: DangerousDave had some initial drama with his Marz not holding air but it was easily overcome and held up throughout the ride. He also had another flat, on the rear this time. Roger experienced a chain snap on just the third section and a loose stem towards the end. My rear mech began to get sluggish and reluctant to shift in the low and high use gears - a cable lube required me thinks.

Weather: Much warmer day than yesterday with more sunshine and less wind which saw most of the crew removing garments after a couple of climbs.