We all had such a good time last year we decided to do it all again. This year’s plans were slightly different in that we would just go to Cwmcarn and do a uplift day, no climbing just descending the downhill track they have there all day. Our group had grown since last year as they all wanted a piece of the action we had had last year, so this time we took a bigger tent, camped right next the trail and got very very wet.
Day one: Somehow we all managed to turn up at pretty much the same time (wasn’t even planned) so we took an uplift to the top of the xc route and sessioned the freeride park for a bit. Unfortunately now as well as the drops being removed the wall ride has also gone (some freeride park huh), I really wanted to try it this time too. It didn’t rain too much and we had a nice little play session to get us pumped up for a full day of dh the day after. The campsite was erected in the rain and mud and looked like a disaster had hit it as soon as it was up, the pitch we had was just wet sloppy mud, and everytime you moved in your sleep your felt it shift underneath you. Nice.
Day two: This was the main day, the big event, a full day of dh runs and uplifts, something we had never tried before. We woke up to lots of mud but thankfully no rain, so after a hearty breakfast and some tinkering with bikes we hit the trail. We took it easy for the first few runs, stopping at certain sections to allow others in our group to catch up and try wipe the grit and dirt from goggles and eyes.
We managed to get a couple of runs in before the lunch break when the heavens opened and the rain came back with a vengeance. After 5 minutes everybody was soaked and it made the trail even wetter and muddier if that was possible, goggles were useless as no sooner had you set off they were covered in a nice blinding layer of mud and grit. The afternoon saw the group split as a few people had mechanicals and the weather made riding the trail slippy and tricky. I managed to get a few full runs in, so no stops from top to bottom and it was exhausting, arms were aching and struggling to keep hold of bars by the bottom, can’t believe how tiring riding downhill can be. Couple of the group decided to get a few photos on the road drop after the uplift had stopped for the day, managed one or two before deciding I needed a good shower.
The last day of our trip would be to take a quick spin round xc loop, many of us had already done this trail before so knew it to be a good one. As anyone who knows this trail well it starts off a little harshly with uphill from the word go, then it doesn’t really stop going up until you hit the top, we steadily made the climb stopping occasionally for photos and to make sure we weren’t leaving anyone behind. Once up top we admired the splendid view then did a few laps of the (getting tamer by the year) freeride track.
The ride down from the top is as ever very good, some nice natural loose sections followed by some lovely wooded singletrack. The last two to three minutes of  downhill are well worth it. We tried keeping a nice tight trainline between a couple of us all the way down, it feels so much faster when following other people closely and it’s great to really push yourself if the rider in front is just that little bit quicker. The day was finished off by a trip to the cafe and some top welsh food.
