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We did it! 2 girls on hardtails took on over 500 kms of Welsh trails, 15,000 Merida metres of climbing, 4 special stages including 1 night time trial and survived 2 mechanicals and 1 injured leg to return home with the Women’s Team category win and an overall time that would place us 27th in the Men’s Team category. This is the SheCycles.com Women’s Team rider report by Kim Hurst
Day 1: Home Coming
For me the trip to Builth Wells for the start of the inaugural TransWales event was filled with sentiment. Builth Wells is where I first jumped on a MTB at the age of 15 and under the watchful eye of BAD (Builth and District) CC big daddy, John Lloyd, rode my first MTB race in 1995. Many of the opening trails were the ones I cut my teeth on as a teenager and provide some of the most varied MTB riding from technical rocky slate descents to fast forestry singletrack and arduous high level moorland crossings.
240 riders consisting of some familiar local faces and some less familiar but equally friendly European ones lined up for the big roll out. The opening linking stage consisted of a steady 10 kms on tarmac before hitting the dirt and climbing up through forestry ahead of a windswept moorland crossing of Drygarn Fawr. The slog up over Drygarn was rewarded by a flowing natural singletrack descent into the Elan Valley before the 80km route headed northwest towards Nant-y-Arian. We rode a steady pace throughout the day averaging 15km/hr, having both agreed our strategy for the event was to ride as efficiently and consistently as possible on the linking stages so we had enough in reserve to let it all hang out on the special stages. Having never ridden together, Heather and I quickly realised on day 1 that we were of similar speed on the technical descents and comparable strength on the climbs, which made life easy when it came to riding together. We arrived safely home after the first day in the saddle well within the cut-off time and set about sorting the bikes for the next day’s racing.
Day 2: Racing Snakes
The start of day 2 had an altogether different feel. From a sociable endurance ride on day 1 the riders were now preparing for the onslaught of the first special stage. The course was a slightly modified version of the Summit Trail clocking up 600m of climbing over the 16km purpose built route and was raced as a relay time trial with the handover at the 8km mark. The first half of the trail followed a downhill profile with gradual climbs with a mirror image for the second half consisting of a long grinding fire road climb before some sweetly flowing singletrack to the finish. We anticipated that 5-time TransAlp-finisher Heather was likely to maintain her high output power throughout the week more effectively than me – the newly returned XC jey-girl racer – so agreed that I would ride the climbing section for this relay and Heather would ride the climbing section for a subsequent relay later in the week. Heather flew down the course and after a rapid handover it was my turn to grind out the climb making good time with the super swift Continental Speed King tyres eating up the fire trail. We clocked 48:59 mins for the route and took the lead in the Women’s Team category.
After a civilised post-race pot of tea and welsh cakes at Nant-y-Arian visitor centre, we set off further north on the 33km linking stage towards the next race village site of Machynlleth. Climbing out of the forest onto the Plynlimon mountain range we met the Mach 3 trails and gained the 529m Creigiau Bwlch Hyddgen ridge before dropping down a steep loose slate chute, which left the riders buzzing all the way home. The TransWales route was proving to provide some of the best varied natural and man-made Welsh trails on offer and we loved every bit.
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Day 3: In the Buff
The start of day 3 began with the Leader’s jerseys on display, including the SheCycles.com team donning the white Buff sponsored Women’s Leader’s jerseys. After a short spin on the road the course sent riders straight up a long steep road climb to the summit of 317m then ducked into the forest before riders reached again for the granny ring on some steep technical climbs out over the Rhydoriw pass at 401m. The pay off for all that climbing was some top grade descending towards Arthog with a notable change in the surrounding scenery to the slate-grey craggy outcrops of North Wales compared to the rolling hilltops of Mid Wales. The course had been re-routed due to some last minute access issues, so after a quick bite to eat we joined the Mawddach Trail cycle route to Dolgellau. We ate the miles up quickly on the cycle route and were easily lulled into a false sense of security that the day’s hard work was almost over. As we neared Coed-y-Brenin we were back into the granny ring for some steep climbing before riding the newly created trails around the new Coed-y-Brenin trail centre before blasting some more trails to the campsite. We managed to arrive home before the rain made its’ appearance. It was definitely time for tea and cookies.
Coed-y-Brenin was host to the most special of special stages that evening. The 10km route featured 280m of climbing up the fire road to the Red Bull singletrack sections of Snap, Crackle and Pop before dropping onto the Karrimor trail before entering the dual slalom course for the final fly to the finish. The time trial was to be ridden by both riders with both times added together. We decided whoever felt stronger would ride ahead of the other, although under the red mist of a race neither of us was willing to let the other one go so we ended up pushing each other hard around the course finishing neck and neck and posting a great time (combined time 1hr 14mins). The day’s earlier rain had left the course ultra-slippery but we managed to negotiate the rocky singletrack safely with just a few crash avoiding dabs en route. We crawled into the comfort of a sleeping bag just before midnight and had no trouble falling asleep.
Day 4: The Longest Day
It was raining again as riders dragged themselves out of their sleeping bags to prepare for what was going to be a long day in the saddle. After 3 linking stages and 2 special stages we now faced a 75km stage with a massive 3,000m of ascent. There was a noticeable difference in the pace people were pushing with challenging conditions were taking their toll on tired legs. On the start line we had noticed the strain our tyres had been taking on the last few days, with notable cuts in the walls.
We decided to dash back to the van to grab a couple of spare tyres in case the worst should happen. As we got going on the stage we were riding consistently and climbing well, the TORQ Ribose we had been using to aid our recovery during the event must have been doing the trick. We entered the final area of forestry with plenty of time in hand, although the incessant rain had turned parts of the wooded trails into mud slides so our progress slowed but we remained on our bikes. With an hour’s riding to go our good fortune took a slight detour, Heather had snapped the grub screw on her rear mech leaving her with limited gears and little option but to ride a bigger gear out of the saddle. A little further down the road, the sidewall of her rear tyre blew. Having carried spare tyres with us all day we had a chuckle about it and quickly replace the tyre to finish the stage in good time. We opted for a quick wash in the river before more tea and cookies then sat down to give the bikes a thorough clean and servicing ready for the rest of the week’s riding. For the mud onslaught ahead we opted for Continental Vapours and Verticals and a fully functional grub screw!
Day 5: Riders of the Storm
The CliMachx trail was host to the 3rd special stage, billed as a 15km team relay with a 340m dose of climbing on the first leg to the handover before a couple of short climbs and a 4km descent with drops, jumps and compressions. Sticking with our plan that had been set earlier in the week, Heather picked up the climbing leg whereas I had the more sedate ride to the summit to wait for her arrival. Heather has some impressive strength endurance and this showed through on the relay as she took no prisoners on the ascent. The descent of the CliMachx Trail was my favourite moment of the whole week’s riding. The course has a great mix of natural technical drop offs with man-made berms, compressions and sneaky opportunities for grabbing air. Some of my rusty DH skills were becoming a little better-oiled and I caught a couple of blokes on full sussers. We continued to hold our own in the overall standings posting a time of 50mins 20secs and had some of our favourite Raspberry & Apple flavour TORQ bars while waiting for the quick turnaround for the next stage.
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After the out and out race speed of the morning, we were back to riding at a steady pace for the 5th linking stage from the CliMachx trailhead to Llanafan. The 65km stage with a sizeable chunk of climbing took us back towards Mid Wales, although a missing course sign early on saw Heather using her well honed Polaris navigation skills to put us back on track. The day ended with a steep grassy granny ring climb up to the final summit then a long descent down to Devil’s Bridge. We were second home so had the pleasure of a queue-less hot shower on our return!
Day 6: Water, water, everywhere
Our Mountain Hardwear Paclite waterproofs were certainly getting some use this week and day 6 wasn’t going to be any different! The stage broke with a clap of thunder and lightning as we headed over the high open moor. Sheltering was not an option as we gained the 479m summit on our way south to Bryn Llyn Egnant before dropping down to Strata Florida abbey. Things could only get wetter as we followed the track along the valley of the Tywi Forest taking in many, many river crossings en route to lunch at the bottom of the Devil’s Staircase. As the rain gave way to some drier weather, we took in the Afon Doethie valley – 5km of picturesque singletrack hugging the valley’s edge high above the Afon Doethie river meandering below. As we left the Afon Doethie valley behind, a niggling pain in my achilles tendon became a creaky painful sensation. At first I wasn’t sure if it was just very wet shoes then I realised it was definitely coming from the tendon. We stopped and cut the back out of my Shimano shoes to try to remove any pressure. It worked for a short while but unfortunately not for long enough. We kept the pace around the final 7km loop in the forest to an absolute minimum and finished the stage ahead of the cut-off. Both of us were worried about the injury as we rode back to the campsite.
The last special stage was the remaining opportunity to make time on the opposition. The new community project trail at Cwm-Rhyiadr provided the stamping ground for the 7km time trial with a long fire trail climb gaining height before a fast singletrack descent. Only one time would count, although both riders could ride. My achilles was definitely taking some strain so we decided that in the interest of self preservation I should sit out the stage and Heather would ride solo. We rode down to the start together and I provided some vocal support while Heather stormed up the climbed, posting a time of 24mins 12secs, which was by far the fastest women’s time of the day. The girl did good.
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Day 7: Final Touch
The final day was upon us. Unfortunately, my right achilles tendon was less than happy. My ankle had swollen considerably in the night and I was reduced to hobbling around the race village. A few tears and a swallowed pride later we decided I wasn’t going to be able to ride the last stage. We would receive a time penalty for not finishing the final stage but would still take the Women’s Team title as long as Heather finished the stage within the cut-off. I had every faith that Heather would finish the stage but felt a bit sad as she set off minus a team-mate into the rain for the final 67km to Builth Wells. Despite this being the final stage, there was little ease up in the demanding nature of the trails, with plenty of steep tough climbs, river crossings, open country to traverse and of course much more rain. Heather survived it all and rode home for the SheCycles.com team ready for the What Mountain Bike magazine sponsored post-race party.
The End!
We had done it, 46hrs 17mins and 51secs of riding over seven days for the first ever UK based multi-day mountain bike challenge. It had been a long week, covering some of the best trails Wales has to offer in some of the worst summer weather! At least it didn’t snow. Our time gave us the win in the Women’s Team category and placed us in the top 30 teams overall.
Special Thanks
A special thank you to: SheCycles.com for supporting us for the event and bringing together two girls from different extremes of MTBing (an ultra-endurance multi-day adventure racer and a short-course XC rider) to race together; Mike and Dave at BikeMagic.com for providing jerseys and banter; Katy Boocock (Queen of Extreme) and Peter Ferguson (Prince of Pies) for allowing us to use their van, gazebo, chairs, food, and supplying endless entertainment, innuendo and one-liners; Julie the Physio for effortlessly providing massage and continuous behind the scenes support; Cambrian Tyres for providing Continental tyres that allowed us to rip up the trails all week long; Mountain Hardwear for providing the latest PacLite waterproofs which got lots of use courtesy of the weather; and TORQ for fuelling us through 46hrs 17mins and 51 secs of riding.
Very special thanks to Heather Dawe for being an awesome partner for the event and providing a piggy-back to get me to the podium at the end of the week! I’m looking forward to our next event together (once I’m fixed!).
Finally, due to the injury this will be the last event of my 2006 season. Thanks to www.Sportstest.co.uk for providing me with race clothing for XC racing this year.
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Heather Dawe tell us about her highlights of the TransWales
The Transwales was one of the best events I’ve done, I really liked the
format; riding steady during the day, enjoying some brilliant
mountain biking and then working as hard as you can on the special stages.
The combination of open moorland trails with the more newly built riding at
the forest centres was spot on. The laid back nature of the linking stages
enabled loads of banter amongst competitors and really added to the
friendliness of the race. It was great to get to know some people I’ve seen
loads at other events but never really had the chance to meet properly
before.
Kim and I really enjoyed riding together. We were fairly evenly paced on
both the uphills and downhills and spurred each other on throughout the
week. Neither one of us would let the other go on the night time trial at
Coed y Brenin, we worked sooo hard to stay together!
Mike Wilkins, John Lloyd and team did themselves proud. This was the first
event of it’s kind in the UK and it must have required loads of planning
and attention to detail. Competition was fierce in the ‘Pile your plate as
high as you can’ category. We were promised as much food as you could eat
and weren’t disappointed. Furthermore the catering was brilliant, loads of
pasta, roast dinners, bacon sarnies for breakfast, ensuring none of us went hungry.
My best memories of the event include blasting down ‘The Shoot’ heading down to Machntllyth, the exhilaration (and pain) of the night time trial, the
swoopy trails of Nant y Aran and the fine mountain scenery heading down
into Barmouth on the third linking stage. Finishing felt pretty good too!
More photos taken by Jon Brooke at the TransWales event can be viewed and purchased for very reasonable cost on the
www.sleepmonsters.co.uk website. Check them out now – an excellent souvenir of an epic challenge!
Coming Next:
TransWales is probably the toughest kit test ground we could find. All the kit we used during the event has been tested and rated and will appear on SheCycles.com soon.
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