Ok, despite some serious temptation, I've not read the above trip-report by Stuart and so here's mine (let's see if any of the 'facts' tie-up):
After a great night's sleep in Stuart's bunkhouse (my first night on my new sleeping mat - comfy, just like your own bed!) I woke up and took a look around Stuart (and Dee's) place.
I'd heard some noises in the night which I'd presumed were owls but I couldn't figure out why they were so close and not moving until I saw the two handsome little buggers behind the bunkhouse - here's one looking all dignified:
So.....after some breakfast and some serious time spent faffing, fettling and chatting, we set off.....
Here's one of the Lama's as we begin the road climb away from the house:
Now I'm sure my trip-report won't be as geographically accurate/informative but let's just say we climbed some and descended some and ended up, before long, in Mach for the first of many 'Star Bar pit-stops'.
Suitably supplied we set off again out of town and up a stinky climb!
Once we reached the top we got to ride a really great trail up/over/down some (often tricky) bed-rock worn trails which was a joy and made the fact that it was a gradual climb irrelevant.
Here's Stuart and Kevin enjoying a little rest:
After a little stop and some decision making regarding potential bivi-spots for the night we began a really nice semi-technical descent.
On the way down, whilst skipping happily over a really nice rocky section, my hand slipped off the bar and I went down like a sack off potatoes - no real harm done to either bike or rider (save some knee skin I won't be getting back and financial damage as I'll be needing some new bib-tights) and so we carried on.....
Later, after a couple of attempts, we finally settled on a site to sleep for the night and began to set-up camp.
It soon became obvious that two of us were considerably more experienced at pitching-up and so I was still fannying around with my tarp while Stuart and Kevin were enjoying a nice cuppa and getting ready for bed.
I did eventually make a weather-proof (if UGLY) place to sleep just as it started raining and so I gave-up on the idea of cooking any food and ate some nuts/trail-mix, French salami and fig-rolls before getting my head down.
(I'm hoping that neither of the others posts a photo of my embarrassing tarp set-up)
During the night two things happened:
1. My calf/knee/shoulder/most-other-parts began cramping (as a result of the fall and general fatigue) and I gave serious consideration as to whether I would be able to continue in the morning.
2. My sleeping mat/bag combo were so damn comfy and warm that I woke rested, happy and feeling a hell of a lot better than I had been earlier in the night - and ready for more.....
Here's the nice shot of the woods we'd slept in (on the left) and our route down to the sea (Barmouth) for breakfast:
After a hearty fry-up we set-off once again into the hills.....
We wound our way through some fields and ended up at 'Something (insert local/famous name here) Bridge' which was nice (as you can see in the photo below) before embarking on one of Stuart's 'short push's up a tiny mountain in 60mph winds - it was fulfilling it's promise of being an adventure and we eventually made it to the top a little knackered.
Heading along the top Kevin fell in what could have been really a really nasty accident but luckily he kind of just rolled off a steep edge (in what looked very controlled and almost practiced), stood up and walked back up to the path and we carried on.
As we neared Coed Y Brenin the rain started and so we opted to spend the night in a bothy (which I didn't take any photos of???) and so another warm/dry night was enjoyed by all (as it rained all night again).
This time though I didn't wake feeling too good at all.
My left knee was eventually feeling the effects of both two days cycling and being smashed against a rock in my fall and so I set off on day 3 in a little bit of pain.
As the day wore on the pain increased and I can only apologise once again to Stuart and Kevin for my piss-poor effort at keeping up using a combination of riding incredibly slowly and (on anything above about 2% gradient) 'speed limping' my bike back to Stuart's.
I took no photographs of Day 3 as I was too busy limping and wincing but, once again, the scenery was real puuurdy!
We arrived (much later than planned due to someone, naming no names, being slow) back at the ranch safely and packed-up and said our goodbye's.
Despite me being a pain-in-the-ass on Day 3 I had a great time and enjoyed every second of my time.
Thanks so much to Stuart and Dee for putting us up (you've got yourselves a beautiful place there!!!) and to Kevin - I'll be seeing you again sometime soon (Bear Bones 200?) and maybe next time I'll manage to keep up???
Cheers folks and let me know how you get on with your reconnection with the humble 'Star Bar'.
Gairy.
A decision was made to try and get as close to Barmouth as we could before setting up for the night. Getting close to Barmouth involved gaining some height and the higher we went the windier it became. A handy forest offered a certain amount of cover, so that became our overnight spot.
It continued to rain throughout the night and the wind continued to be windy, very windy.
