Coed-y-Brenin, 28-30 March 2003

[jon]

Since this site has been created in part to support the planning of visits to Wales and other MTB havens, maybe I should paste a notice to the board advertising what is presumably going tobe our next visit to Coed y Brenin.

Anyhoo ... the date being posited at the moment is Friday 28th March. I'm reckoning the plan will be the usual arrival in early afternoon (if possible) and one of the shorter rides around the Red Bull or MBR. Saturday should be alonger ride which could mean the Karrimor and Sunday perhaps a brief spin around the Red Bull. Nothing too imaginative there, but I am open to different ideas for routes.

Last time, chatting to one of the bar staff in the George, he mentioned that he would be happy to give us some route ideas, so perhaps if our first evening is spent there, we might be able to arrange ourselves something different for Saturday.

Anyway, please leave comments on this post to help establish who is likely to be coming. I'm hoping to book a cabin this time and the size is going to depend very much on numbers.

[jon]

count me in \o/

[andy]

I'm in too, finances allowing!

[cheungy]

no problemo! i'll be there!

sad really, cos i've hardly touched my WHYTE bike last year due to busy family life, so i guess i'd better book my bike in for a good service before i go. However, i have started cycling in to work twice a week to get myself all psyched up for march 28th :x ..........

fitness isn't an issue with me .... fear of height IS, (plus the inconvenience of being injured) so i guess i will have to walk downhill for the first couple of rides :oops:

[stevie]

And of course, I'll be going! I may have either one or two additional heads on their way from work, who I'm hoping will join up here before too long.

Andy, does this mean that you're not off to the sun around then?

Plan at the moment is to stay at the Bikers Retreat. Makes life much easier if we're not sure of who's coming. As long as there are some people who are certain, we can book rooms. Then if anyone is a last minute sort, they can give the place a call when they know and get an extra room. And of course they also provide a cooked breakfast which makes my life easier in the morning ;-)

I'll give them a call today and just confirm that they have plenty of rooms.

[jon]

my preference is for traws, just because it's cheaper, but that does kind of depend on us knowing who's going well in advance :?

[stevie]

Well ... it looks as though the decision has been made for us. The Bikers Retreat is fully booked that weekend. I'm guessing there must be some kind of club gathering. However, at least there are a number of cabins available at Traws. Which means that I think we are going to have to start firming up who is joining us in order to determine what size we need to get. Apparently they have a number of cabins that will take 6 in the form of two bunk beds and a double. And I can always take along a little camp bed just in case. The place would be £160 for the weekend which would be divided between whoever goes. So maybe about £35ish each.

So, I suppose I had better start taking names. So far I think we have Steve, Jon, Michael, and Rich confirmed. And it sounds as though Andy might be along too. It seems unlikely that we will have enough to merit getting a second cabin, but in the meantime, are the folks who have confirmed happy for me to go ahead and place a deposit on a cabin? I intend to do so this afternoon, so hurry!

[stevie]

okay ... that's it!
we have a large cabin booked for that weekend. they're sending an invoice for the deposit today so it should all be sorted.

if we get more people confirming we can always consider getting a second cabin or we might be able to see about what other B&Bs are available in the area.

:D

[Paul]

I'm up for it, it will be my first trip to Cyb, and i'm looking forward to it..!
I also have a car and bike rack if that helps with transport...!! :wink:

[jon]

ah.. another soul about to be taken by the not-so-spare ribs and fajitas :D

[Paul]

How many spaces are left available on the Coed-y trip?
because i believe Rob, (Ulvar7) is interested..!

[jon]

As far as i know, we can probably fit him in.

What we need to know at this point, is definites, so Rob, if you *definitely* want to come, sign up below.

It'll be worth trying to get friday off work too. Our standard weekend involves getting there for lunchtime (ish) on friday so we can get a good ride in before it gets dark.

[stevie]

I think that there are currently 7 of us confirmed (best ever!) and one probable who works with me. I have ended up booking an extra small chalet so we now have two double beds, three bunk beds and (I think) at least one sofa bed. which means that we should be able to fit 9 without trouble and potentially more if people aren't shy about sharing a double bed or sleeping on a camp bed (which I might take just in case).

Just to check, these are the people I believe are confirmed:
Steve, Jon, Andy, Michael, Rich, Paul, Volker

And these are possibles/likelys:
Tim, Rob

Please shout if I have forgotten you or if I have treated you as confirmed when you're wavering.

Cheers,

Steve

[stevie]

And when I think of Coed y Brenin, my mind tends to wander towards food. Or maybe it's just that I have been at work since 7am and haven't eaten anything yet :?

I was thinking that especially if there are a good number of us, perhaps we should book tables in advance? Especially given that the past couple of attempts at getting into the Rhyw Ghoch have been a bit crowded.

So ... what might people's preferences be? My thoughts were leaning towards the George on Friday evening and Rhyw Goch on Saturday. The Ponderosa is nice, but really doesn't cater for veggies. Especially veggies who don't eat mushrooms :wink:

Last time there were a couple of the staff in the George who are keen mountain bikers, so I was hoping to get a few tips off them or see if they wanted to join us. Although with so many new people, I think it best if we stick to the main tried and tested routes.

btw ... I think we should try the Karimoor. It's long and painful, but it has improved so much since the first time we tried it. It really is superb and has possibly the best downhill sections in the area ... IMHO even better than the Red Bull. It might make a difference if we actually stop at the cafe near the top of the mountain for half an hour or so. Take it easy rather than trying to do the whole thing in one? Even if we do take our time, I can heartily recommend getting yourselves as fit as you can for the occasion! The last couple of miles can be torture :twisted:

[Rob]

I am definitely up for it. I'll talk to Paul to sort things out etc but you can add my name to the confirmed list. :D

[stevie]

omg!!! most likely 9 people coming this time ... it's going to be quite a weekend :shock:

[jon]

w00t!



My aim was to be well fit enough for the Karrimor this time around but i've been ill for 6 weeks and am only now starting to shift this chest infection with some antibiotics :roll:

I'm still hoping to be capable of doing the route, but you might have to be gentle with me :D

[andy]

I just ordered a turbo trainer in an attempt to try and get some fitness back in time for cyb. I'm not getting chance to go out weekends and I get home about 7pm in the week so hopefully an hour or so on this each night may get me some CV fitness... Hopefully I will survive the Karrimore!

[stevie]

I think things should be reasonably slow anyway given the number of people and especially the number of new people coming along. Hopefully we can try starting the Karrimor earlyish (i.e. morning :P ) and give ourselves plenty of time. We don't want to put the newcomers off :!: ... or even the folks who struggled bravely once and have been pressured into trying again :wink:

There is what appears to be a nice little cafe near the top of of the main initial climb (the one that takes for ever and ever and ever) around the half way point which would probably be good to stop at for a while. It looks a bit like it's just someone's house with some tables out in the garden. I don't know what food they have on offer. For some reason on the two occasions I have done the route, I have always just ridden on by and ended up exhausted. But I'm sure they at least have tea and cakes :)

[jon]

i like cake!

[stevie]

Just thought I'd mention that I have received confirmation of the first cabin and an invoice for the deposit on the second. Conveniently, they are both quite close together (148 and 140). I'm planning on scanning the map of the site tonight so I'll post it for everyone's convenience.

Rich may not trust any directions provided by me (all roads lead to Shrewsbury town centre!), but hopefully they will be better than nothing :wink: so I'll probably add a few tips on getting there. I can only really give tips on coming in from the south, the Shrewsbury, Welshpool, Dolgellau route so it's probably worth someone else providing some tips from the north. Maybe Michael or Jon?

I'm thinking of adding the details on the event in the calendar entry:
http://www.mtb-thrashers.com/index.php?module=PostCalendar&func=view&viewtype=d etails&eid=1

Let me know if there's anywhere else you would prefer to see the details.

[jon]

Pretty easy from where i live..

M62, M60, M62 again, M6, M56, A494, A4212, A470..

it takes about 3 1/2 hours depending on traffic - best time is 3 hours, worst is 4 1/2 hours..

[stevie]

We have cabins 140 and 147 booked :D
We're down in the lower left hand corner, so it should be easy to find the cabins for everyone just coming off the main road. The image below may not be big enough for some, so there's a high resolution version on my own site:
http://www.gratiartis.org/images/cyb2003/TrawsHolidayVillageBig.jpeg
And yes, it is really big:!:

http://www.gratiartis.org/images/cyb2003/TrawsHolidayVillage.jpeg

[jon]

cool :D we can cut through quite nicely there!

the cabins in that section have looked decent when we've driven past in the past 8)

[cheungy]

cheers stevie for your effort AGAIN!!! :wink:

with so much info about when and where we're going, lets hope we get a group of girly mountain bikers stalking us? :D

[DHMadboy]

YES, Cheers Steve, definately think we all owe you a drink for sorting this out and Jon and yourself for the work on this site. I'll be up for giving the Karrimor a go but at the moment even though i'm playing football and cycling to work i'm now upto 16st. in weight, with my bike and pack, it puts me around the 20st. mark all inclusive, so you can count on me leading from the back :roll:

[jon]

i'll keep ya company mate ;) :oops: :oops:

[Paul]

Well if I don't get any training done soon, I think I'll be at the back of the pack with you guy's. Which begs the question, will anyone be at the front?
I hate this f**king cold, it's getting me down and I can't train..!
:cry: :x

[jon]

expect to see mikey at the front on the climbs :D

i'm not sure about the new guys but i'm traditionally the one responsible for bringing up the rear :roll:

if your cold isn't shifting go see the doctor.. my cold wouldn't go after 4-5 weeks, so i went to see the doc and it turned out i had tonsilitis! sometimes antibiotics are the only way to shift what you have.

[Paul]

I think i'm over the worst of it, I just have a sniffle left in me, but i'm waiting for it to fully clear up before I start with the heavy training. although i'm thinking on doing some light stuff to start with.

What are we doing about transport then? I should be able to take three people including myself & bikes, presumably that will be Rob and Rich?

[stevie]

I have a feeling that Michael is going to be way out front on his own :(
Though he may be joined by Andy?

I think we're just going to have to take our time over the whole thing. Or at least the Karrimor. I fancy trying the Red Bull at maximum speed just to see how quickly I can do it! (probably not very :oops: )

Anyway, yet another version of the map is now in the gallery:

http://www.mtb-thrashers.com/index.php?module=My_eGallery&do=showpic&pid=13&ord erby=titleA

Hopefully it's big enough to make out the numbers and I have tried to highlight the cabins we have.

[Rob]

Hi everyone. This all looks very organised something I'm not usually used to. Cheers for all the info and I hope you don't mind me gatecrashing your trip.

Paul we should head out on a few rides around Warncliffe or Chessie as soon as you're feeling up for it. This sunday afternoon?

As Paul is the only one I know from the list I have a few questions for you.
Does anyone else live around the sheffield area or manchester way as me and a few mates regularly head off to edale/hope for weekend rides? If you fancy coming along then drop me a mail at R.Manning@sheffield.ac.uk and we can sort something out.

What type of riding do you lot mainly get upto? I'm mainly into xc type stuff as the big jumps give me the willies. I've got a GT avalanche as thats as far as I could stretch to being a poor student.

Well I'll see you all at the end of march if not before,

Thanks again,

Rob

[cheungy]

you are all so modest! :shock:

to all the newbies, don't worry about being last because there is no prize for being in front - it's the taking part of the wkend trip and enjoying yourself that counts! believe me, the 2-3 days that you are going to be there are very addictive which is why this is our 3rd year running in organising trips to Coedy.

ulver - it's mainly xc stuff but a few steep downhills (that's when i usually get off my bike and push :oops: ) hence, why i'm usually at front going uphill, so that i can keep up with the 'cool and the gang'

[stevie]

I think that only Jon and Rich are really confident when it comes to jumps and such. Andy was doing a pretty good job of keeping up with Jon on the downhills last time he was at Coed y Brenin. The rest of us tend to wuss out when we can't see over the lip. But we do try occasionally! :oops:

Andy and (I think) Rich are both Sheffield based. So you may be able to organise something with them. Jon's based in Harrogate, so he might be close enough. When we're in Wales we keep talking about sorting out additional weekend rides around Yorkshire or in the peaks since it's probably about the most convenient region for most of us to get to. Maybe now we have this site, it might help us to organise a few more such events this year :idea:

Based on an earlier poll, there are a few people who might try a 24 hour race or an orienteering event:

http://www.mtb-thrashers.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB2&file=viewtopic& t=10

If you see any interesting events advertised, try putting it up in the events section on the site and start up a new thread in the forum. A few of us might be able to get together for it. I'm hoping that this approaching visit to Coed y Brenin will just be the start of an active year :!:

[cheungy]

i agree, Jon and Rich seems to have really good balance on their bikes, regardless whether it's downhills, jumps or round tight bends ... even when Rich falls off his bike, he falls off with grace :wink:

[DHMadboy]

It ain't good balance i have, when i'm falling off i used a tree to steady myself, if there's no tree available thats when i end up on my arse. My main advantage is i'm practised at taking damage, so I get used to it, so then when I go round corners I concentrate on taking the corner not hurting myself when I fall off, which means I can be more focused to where I want to go, as alot of the Pro's say if you look where you want to go when turning you have half the battle won as you tend to go in the direction you look, so the moment you start to look at how close those trees are getting, well.... you know where you'll end up :?
Not that I'm good at it, as the scares will prove :wink:
At the moment i'm more accustomed to dodging Buses :twisted:

[jon]

hehe :D

I wouldn't say i'm particularly confident over the jumps, i just enjoy the downhilling ;)

I treat mtb like sledging - getting to the top is merely a necessary evil so i can go down the other side :twisted:

Rich comes off simply because he pushes so hard. God knows what would happen if we gave this guy a full-sus bike!!

The key to going downhill fast is unsurprisingly not using your brakes :lol: seriously tho, the more you're on your brakes, the more your tyres are being asked to do things other than get you round the corners. Rich has this down to a fine art, as anyone who's been out with him on the standard Dronfield/Barlow loop will testify. He's a master of minimalist brake use.. sadly this does mean there are a number of occasions when the odd bend is beyond his steering :shock:

The point rich made about going where you look is a good one - trust me, if you look where you want to be rather than where you don't, you'll steer there! The effect is much more pronounced on a motorbike, but the result is the same ;)

[jon]

Cheers for all the info and I hope you don't mind me gatecrashing your trip.
you're not gatecrashing anything :D the more the merrier :lol:

I've got a GT avalanche as thats as far as I could stretch to being a poor student.
let's see a piccy of it in the gallery then :) i'll resize it to 640x480 if it comes in any bigger though :P


paul & rob you really are going to enjoy the trip, cyb r0xx0rs :D

[Paul]

Well I tell you I'm really looking forward to it, I'm gonna bust a gut to get fit for it, coz I don't want my fitness to spoil my fun of the whole experience.

It's all true what you're saying about Rich, I've been out on many rides with him and Jon.
I look up to both of them, their style of riding astounds me, at first glimpse, you think their mad and not quite all together upstairs.
But when you actually sit back, think and watch them it all makes sense. Keep up the good work lads :wink:

[Rob]

Cool hopefully we can get a sneaky ride in before the real deal kicks in. I've never been to CYB before but all I've heard about it is that it's truly fantastic. Role on March!! :lol: :D

We are planning a trip to the Kona 100 at the end of may. I registered last year but public transport scuppered that. So far we have 4 confirmed but maybe another two as well. Does anyone here fancy taking it in.

laters,

Rob

[DHMadboy]

can i just add that i should have put 'scars' not 'scares', the only time i tend to end up with brown shorts is when the mudguards are off :wink:

Paul and Jon have both had the pleasure of seeing me throw blood all over, Jon when my hub broke from landing off a tabletop, that lost me all the skin on my left arm and Paul when i missed a bend hit a rock and severed a vein in my right elbow, that one truly flowed :roll:

I'm thinking it might be time to slow down, and enjoy the scenery, so i'm going to buy a cagoule, a saddlebag rack for my bike and a bell :shock:

nah!! whom i kidding :twisted:

[DHMadboy]

ok, so me and paul went for a warm up ride today, and guess who didn't where his shoulder pads, and guess what happens when rich goes out with part of his body unprotected....

YES, i collided with a tree, steep down hill(jon will know exactly what i mean by that, it's about 100ft and hard enough to climb/descend on foot), showing paul how to not use his brakes so much, by seeing if i could do it without using my brakes(well actually pauls as i'd borrowed his bike) at all, oops, the chosen tree was a solid sized oak and i pretty much rugby tackled it with my right shoulder and chest then i was flung round in the air and i landed on my left side, and just to prove i do it with style(mike), as i slide past paul i put on a catalogue pose, then i checked my shoulder, as i thought it might have broken from the impact, i saw it was bleeding so feared it may have been a compound fracture, but no it was just badly cut, so you know what i did, YEP... picked up the bike went back to the top and tried again, and the funny bit........ i did exactly what i did the first time but luckily somehow avoided the tree and just went arse over tit to the left :roll:

i think theres meant to be a lesson in there somewhere :wink:

I owe pauls bike a new shifter, but everyone will be happy to know, no trees were hurt in the making of this story.

anyway when the bruising has come out fully i'll post some pictures :?

[jon]

Paul,
I hold you fully responsible for this, because as you well know, rich isn't capable of being responsible once you stick him on a bike :lol:

[Paul]

OK I admit it, the last two times rich and I have gone out on a ride, he's managed to injure himself in one way or another.

However in my defence, this is the man who was walking to the top of the hill to make a run at it forgetting his helmet and leaving it at the bottom of the hill.
So I ask you, what kind of fool attempts a steep down hill without some kind of head protection?
Answer, well we all know who... :wink:

Does any one know if you can buy the visual display/indicator for a XTR shifter separately instead of having to buy the whole damn unit?

[stevie]

Phew :!: For a moment I thought it was going to be one of those "Rich went for a ride and sliced an artery/broke a limb and can't make it to CyB" stories :wink:

What's all this climbing back up and trying again business? I thought that usually if you had a crash you threw your bike at the nearest tree. It sounds as though Paul's bike had a lucky escape :P

[jon]

I was fearing the same Stevie :D

Paul, i don't think so.. but at least if it's the r-h pod you won't have to buy a pair..

[DHMadboy]

in my defence, i did get my helmet. and yes i did attempt it again and failed, what do expect when you use no brakes at all :roll:

i'm quite bruised now, didn't sleep well :?

[Paul]

Just been down to JE James and ordered an indicator, they say it should be around £17, or at least that's the cost of a XT indicator, should be in by the end of the week.
:D
Those cunning boffs at shimano have designed the components so you can replace any given part, (within reason) the indicator pod just unscrews from the main body of the shifter. Well it's better than spending £60 on a whole new shifter... :lol:

[Rob]

Sorry i ducked out on the ride as it appears I missed a valuable lesson. If you're up for it I'm free for a ride this sunday.

Laters and get well soon Rich

[Paul]

So what happens on these Coedy trips regarding food n stuff :?:

[jon]

And when I think of Coed y Brenin, my mind tends to wander towards food. Or maybe it's just that I have been at work since 7am and haven't eaten anything yet :?

I was thinking that especially if there are a good number of us, perhaps we should book tables in advance? Especially given that the past couple of attempts at getting into the Rhyw Ghoch have been a bit crowded.

So ... what might people's preferences be? My thoughts were leaning towards the George on Friday evening and Rhyw Goch on Saturday. The Ponderosa is nice, but really doesn't cater for veggies. Especially veggies who don't eat mushrooms :wink:

Last time there were a couple of the staff in the George who are keen mountain bikers, so I was hoping to get a few tips off them or see if they wanted to join us. Although with so many new people, I think it best if we stick to the main tried and tested routes.


for evening food, read the above that was taken from page one of this very thread ;)

breakfast - well we'll need to take our own food. I'll bring some sausages for the meat-eaters from our local butchers - they are gorgeous 8)

lunch - well, when we bother, we get something from the cafe at the visitor's centre.. hmm.. monster jacket spuds loaded with beans and cheese :twisted:

otherwise for lunch we usually make do with energy bars during the ride, or something similar. The visitor's centre shop is reasonably priced, or you can buy your stuff before you go. Holland and Barrett sell maxim stuff, i usually get my energy gel stuff from there..

It's useful to remember we're on self catering for the whole weekend so the more you prepare, the more you'll probably save. It's well worth budgeting for a proper evening meal out though - we've kind of made it a traditional part of the trip and doesn't cost *that* much ;)

[stevie]

Yep ... in terms of food, all you need to take is something for breakfast and maybe a few snacks for when we get back to the cabins in the evening. You will probably find it easier to get your trail snacks before going, although the shop at the visitor centre does sell various bars and gels. I have been known to cook sausages and eggs in the morning ... and I'll bring along some dish washing stuff. Cooking implements, plates, mugs and glasses are provided.

And on the self-catering side of things, remember that you will need to take your own towels and bedding. There are duvets and pillows provided, but you will need your own sheet/duvet cover/pillow case. Or like Andy you might just decide that it's easier to take a sleeping bag.

I think that evening meals usually price at around £10-15 depending on whether you have starters. Main courses are about £6-10. I must admit that starters are probably not necessary at the Rhiw Goch, but they are very very nice :D

[Paul]

That's great, so all we need to take is our own stuff for beakfast, energy bars for lunch or something similar and money for everning grub at the pub.
I suppose we should bring drinks to, certainly of the alcoholic variety :lol:

I think i'm just going to take my sleeping bag, it's much easier, and it's warm & comfy :D

by the way Kendal mint cake is fantastic stuff, instant energy in a bar..!! :wink:

[jon]

kendal mint cake is good for instant energy, but some of the more complex (read expensive) products provide electrolytes and a mixture of sugars to provide an instant boost and then some more down the line.

I'm a big fan of PSP energy drink stuff - it's good pre, during and post-ride but you have to remember to wash out your water bottle or bladder or it grows a beard bigger than chris bonningon's :shock:

I also use the gels from maxim, as they're similar to psp but it means you can keep your water supply as just water. Stevie and Andy have found them too sweet and sickly for their tastebuds, but i don't mind it.. the lemon flavour is like eating lemon curd! yum!

[Paul]

This sounds like a good new topic for the forum, :wink:
What energy bar do you use? and why?

[jon]

Hence the 'Fitness and Performance' forum section ;)

[stevie]

I generally prefer just putting a load of PSP in my Camelbak. I find it hard to eat solid food or gels without stopping, but with sipping regularly on the move, it's an easy way to keep the energy levels topped up. But it tends not to be quite enough on the longer rides.

I think the Karrimor is about 45km these days. Towards the end, maybe the last 5-10km I found last time that I just completely ran out of energy. A total sugar crash :cry: It became a real struggle to ride up anything at all. So I might give the gels a try again this time. And I'll have to try nibbling a bit more on the move, maintaining some energy for the entire ride. Hopefully it will help in the latter half of the ride if we all make a point of stopping at the cafe near the top of the mountain and having a proper break.

I would recommend it because IMHO the best downhills of all the routes at Coed y Brenin are in the final stages of the Karrimor. They are quick and (I found) extremely technical to ride due to numerous small drop-offs that just need to be ridden off at speed. And it's good to have a little bit of energy left for a descent like that :!:

[stevie]

btw ... It looks as though we might even have a tenth person in the group :!: Hopefully I'll know later today. In which case I'll need to upgrade the small cabin to a larger model 8)

[jon]

Yeah, i think the karrimor is sufficiently long enough to warrant either a cafe break, or at least a planned intake of energy-rich solids :D


btw ... It looks as though we might even have a tenth person in the group :!:

see if you can convince the guys that are coming to register on the site ;)

[Paul]

How are we going to get round transport?
I should be able to take Rich and Rob in the car with me plus bikes and kit. I thought it would be easier if I look those two, coz I don't live far away from them and I know where they live..!! :P

[jon]

Paul, rob, rich, andy...

I've created a new thread here (http://www.mtb-thrashers.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB2&file=viewtopic& p=149#149) for us to arrange transport

[DHMadboy]

Well it's good and bad news, first my injuries have healed, still some bruising, but on wednesday and thursday i managed to play football as goolkeeper. bad news is when i went out cycling with paul i was wheezing slightly, this has developed into a full-on chest infection and all my glands are up so i've been tested for glandular fever :?
so for 10 months of me telling the doctor my throat was constantly sore and me getting ill and them doing nothing, they've decided to put me on a 2 week course of antibiotics.
nothing will stop me going to CyB but my fitness will be shite as ever :wink:

[DHMadboy]

Did anyone know there was the CyB Fat Tyre Festival being held the weekend after we go to CyB?

[Paul]

eerrrr no, where did you dig that piece of info from?

[jon]

Fat Tyre Festival is the weekend after on the 5th and 6th April.

http://www.mbwales.com/scripts/viewnews.asp?NewsID=59

[stevie]

see if you can convince the guys that are coming to register on the site ;)

They keep looking around the site and promising to register, but they never do :cry:

[jon]

i'm not surpised with an avatar like that :shock:

you're scaring them all away :lol:

[DHMadboy]

steve i'm quitting the site, your too scary, your bum looks too much like your face :wink:

[stevie]

At last I got around to fixing my site again, and it looks as though my local copy was pretty much up to date. Now that it is restored, my avatar has gone back to being a bit smaller and more obscure ... a photo of me in the dark with a glowing blue mohican in case you can't work it out :wink:

And for those of you who do not understand the references of the previous two posts, for the past couple of days, my avatar has been this:
http://www.gratiartis.org/images/stevie2.jpg
It's no wonder people have been complaining :!:

[jon]

my avatar... [is] a photo of me in the dark with a glowing blue mohican in case you can't work it out :wink:


you'd have thought that would have helped, but i still can't make it out :D

[Paul]

And here was me thinking it was a pic of stevie with his head down the toilet. :P :D

[jon]

lol!

[Paul]

Just to let people know, I will be bringing a load of mtb-thrashers stickers to Coedy with me, but you can always get them before hand, then you'll have no problems sticking them on a nice clean frame :D

Oh and who's bringing a CD player :?: :twisted:

[jon]

we've never needed a cd player in the past.. you'll not be sat around bored i can assure you ;)

[stevie]

That's handy ... bring along a couple of stickers for me :)

So far I haven't actually noticed the absence of a CD player. Last time, I think that the cabin had a VCR, but obviously nobody had taken anything along, since none of the previous cabins had anything like that. Nothing against taking a CD player ... just depends on your musical tastes ... anybody for some gabba :?: :twisted:

[Paul]

I'll bring enough stickers don't you worry, at least you'll be able to decide what size you need, (or what will actually fit on your bike) :D

Well I have a portable CD player that lives in the car, so I could bring some speakers too, then we've always got it if we want it :wink:

[DHMadboy]

if me or jon takes the dreamcast, then we have games and cd capability :D
plus we can play 4 player chu chu rocket :twisted:

[stevie]

As long as it doesn't rain :!:
I seem to remember that rain + dreamcast = day spent in cabin
:(

[cheungy]

sorry for being so quite for so long - off sick with chest and throat infections - at least it's out of the way and i'm now trying to get fit for 2 wks time .....

stevie, i'm down at Reading this wkend visiting Aubrey. I might be able to get some riding time around that area if you are interested? i might have to ask permission first - it looks bad when you suppose to go and visit someone but then pisses off riding instead. hopefully Aubs might come too? anybody else?

[DHMadboy]

stevie, just wondering if theres any spaces left for CyB??
as my brothers a photographer and he wouldn't mind coming and taking some shots :)

[stevie]

Currently we're full unless a camp bed is taken. However I checked with them last week and they still had the larger cabins available. Currently we have aone large and one small booked and they would be okay with upgrading the two-bedroom one to three-bedroom. Let me know if you're sure and I'll give them a bell tomorrow to check if they still have the larger cabins. If so I'll upgrade.

[stevie]

I'm stopping in southern Wales for Thursday night, so hopefully I'll be able to get to Coed y Brenin fairly quickly. My plan is to try to get there for about 12. There will presumably be some messing around with keys, opening up cabins, general greetings, etc. So depending on when people are arriving, hopefully we might be able to head for the forest around 2pm? Even earlier if we're lucky.

I'll warn you in advance that attempting to coordinate things by mobile phone tends to break down once near Coed y Brenin. There is a weak signal in the towns nearby, but only certain providers have a signal that reaches the holiday village. If it looks as though anyone is going to be really late, we will probably aim to meet them in the woods. We'll leave a note on the cabin door if we can't achieve verbal communications ... all very retro I know :wink:

In case it helps on the day, my mobile number is: ***** *** ***.
You can send me yours here (I think): stevie@mtb-thrashers.com
It may be useful if everyone sends me their number. I'll then mail out a full list. If you have been before, it may be worth reminding me whether you were able to get a signal or not.

Remember to print out the map:
http://www.mtb-thrashers.com/index.php?module=My_eGallery&do=showpic&pid=13&orderby=titleA

We are staying in cabins 140 and 147. If you are the first to turn up, just head up to the office. They are usually happy to give you a key before I turn up with the receipt and the balance. Don't forget to put the kettle on :wink:

edited by |fury|... i removed the mobile number :D

[cheungy]

weather report said this fine weather we are having is going to end this Friday ..... it's going to start raining on friday, possibly for the wkend .... bummer, lets hope they're wrong! :x

[Paul]

Thought it might be a bit much for the weather to last until the weekend.
Well keep fingers crossed, and as you say, let's hope they're wrong :roll:

[cheungy]

damn the weather! :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=2525&links

double raindrops on friday, cloudy saturday and back to normal sunday!
:cry:

[stevie]

i'm happy with a cloudy saturday. we may not get the views, but the karrimor can be hard work on a hot day ... or any day ;)

probably the worst thing about rain tomorrow would be the smell of large quantities of wet bike clothing drying on the radiators :oops:

[Paul]

So then Stevie, how much do we owe you for the accommodation :?:

[stevie]

I can't remember whether the larger cabin is the £70 or £80 version so I'll have to check the receipts, but the total is either £260 or £280. Which between 8 means either £32.50 or £35 each for the weekend.

btw ... I recommend picking up cash for food and stuff in advance since the nearest cash machine is a few miles up the road in Trawsfynnyd.

[stevie]

I'm off home now :)

They are close together, but just in case it makes any difference, we'll probably meet up at cabin 147 since it's the largest.

See you there :D