Cwmcarn 16th March 2014

Over night I developed a sore throat and was feeling slightly under the weather with a cold just starting.

Feed a cold they say, so cereal and then a cooked breakfast, plus tea and toast was consumed.

The bill was paid, cars packed and we were off to Cwmcarn. Incredible weather again, hotter than yesterday, with only 1 layer being worn.

The climb was as bad as Piers had suggested and my legs weren't playing ball at all. I crawled up the ascent feeling (and possibly being) the slowest person riding. Piers despite having ridden Friday as well as all day yesterday, was still climbing well and having to wait for me frequently.

It was worth the climb though, the descents being excellent and we made it to within 10 minutes of the finish before Piers crashed at high speed. It looked like his front wheel slipped off the trail, turning the bike and flipping him off. You'll see from the video that the bike ended up facing the wrong way and Piers was thrown clear of it. Amazingly given the rocky terrain, he fell on the smoothing dirt section of the trail and ended up battered, bruised and blooded, but still able to ride the final descent.

With the floods we have just encountered and the constant rain, to have picked the best weekend of the year with summer like temperatures and sunny clear skies was a complete fluke, here's hoping that my luck holds for Cannock in May




140316 Cwmcarn.mp4 from mark holttum on Vimeo.