so today i got up around 8am, had an awesome full breakfast and off i went to coed y brenin, about 5 mins from my hotel in Dolgellau.
todays weapon of choice was the ST4, for those that know the trails here they are pretty rough rooty and rocky, perfectly rideable on a hardtail but i think full suss is the way forward. the ST4 has 100-130mm up front and about 100mm at the back.
this particular ST4 is a 'Strange' it's essentially the same as the normal version of this bike but the head angle is the same as the 5 (of the same year 200
and the b/b is slightly lower. so for trail centre like this it rides perfectly, it climbs really well on the technical stuff and the handling down hill is flawless, the only thing i would say is that on non technical climbs it feels a little draggy but the rest makes up for it. i can get up technical climbs on this easier than my hardtail but obviously the hardtail is better on the fireroads etc.
anyway, i decided to do the 'dragons back' trail, i think it's about 33km, which doesn't sound to far but with the exception of the downhills it's quite a slow trail because of the climbing. the estimated time for this trail is 3 to 5 hours! i did it in 3 hours 15 mins so i am quite happy with that, i bet there will be people who can knock it out way quicker but to be near the 3 hour end of the estimate is good enough for me.
again today the trails were largely empty
when i started i saw a group starting but luckily they hit a different trail, i think it was a skill school group. then i only saw one other rider. mid week riding is definitely the way forward!!
the dragon's back trail does include the adams family trails which are awesome, anyone who like singletrack downhills will love them.
anyway here's a couple of pics from the day
