European biking meetup

[ultra_whippet]

OK, so we're planning to have a biking meetup in South Wales in the spring, on the weekend of 9-11 May.

Currently we have:

Big Good Wolf
fredrikw
spug_myers
StevieP
bob_summers + emma_core
benzilla
FormicaLinoleum + 1
.flux + JP
+ me


Info on Afan Forest Park:
http://www.afanforestpark.co.uk/

Info on bike hire:
http://www.skylinecycles.co.uk/id34.html
http://www.afan-valley-bike-hire.com/page2.html

Accomodation will be here, and you have the option of staying in the bunkhouse or camping.

[Big Good Wolf]

I'm interested. Wales sounds good to me.
What's the format likely to be ?
B&B for a weekend with a ride out and return each day ?
On road or cross country mountain biking ?

[fredrikw]

me me me

[SpugFab]

[dublin dave]

I'm up for it if it's in Wales. I've not got a road bike but I am up for mountain biking. Perhaps we could stay in the Capel Curig Youth Hostel (Snowdonia) and bike in the forests around there?

[ultra_whippet]

It depends what activities people are interested in. There's a Velodrome in Newport which we could use, and some top class purpose-built MTB centres nearby. I'm presuming people will be bringing mountain bikes, although there's no reason why we couldn't take them onto the road for a day and do a long ride. Personally I think it would be nice to have one day of each (Velodrome/MTB/road) but if people are only interested in the off-road then we have a bit more flexibility regarding the location.

[fredrikw]

going road biking on MTB's... I'm more in favour of a long ride on perhaps less technical forest or gravel roads, if there are any, than going on asphalt with a MTB.

otherwise it sounds excellent. MTB and velodrome sounds good.

do they have some kind of bike rentals there? could be good for people not bringing bikes, or who don't have a bike suitable for this but want to take part anyway.

it's a bit hard to say any definite about the day right now for me, I don't have my schedule for the spring ready yet.

[ultra_whippet]

There are a couple of places near Afan Forest park that hire MTBs:

http://www.skylinecycles.co.uk/id34.html

http://www.afan-valley-bike-hire.com/page2.html

£25-£55 per day depending on how flash the bike is.

I also have one spare MTB that I could bring along.

There's also the option to do a MTB riding skills course if anyone is interested in that.

[Big Good Wolf]

I will probably have a spare bike by then as well.
I'm in Worcestershire which is sort of on the border between Wales and the civilised world. I may be able to help with transport, pick up from Birmingham station or whatever, with three seats in the front and plenty of room for bikes and kit in the back of my 110.

Edited to add;
I should have said I'm a mountain biker, not a road cyclist as well.
The spare bike will be an MTB.

[fredrikw]

sounds excellent

I think the best choice is MTB, it's easier to accomodate different fitness levels on the trail than on the road, it's more fun for a beginner, and I won't have to deal with scary left hand traffic

[Oak]

I'm love to come for some cycling adventures.

Unicycling anyone?
Oak

[StevieP]

I would love to join in on the off-road stuff in Wales.

I've just come back from Mtbing in Spain - bent frame, bent disc, fractured brake casing, bent rear mech and split tyre.

From a vegan point of view, the interest came on the day we had exhaust the lift-ups and now had to peddle. I'm not the greatest down hiller but was most fearing the climbs as I'm also not one to do a lot of training - perhaps I get out 3-4 hrs per week.

The morning climb was fairly small and I plodded away near the back keeping my own pace.

We had a pizza lunch, mine cheeseless of course. Now for the 2000m climb. Straight away I'm at the front. Our normal fastest climber make a valiant effort to catch me but he burns and I have a long lonely ride to the top.

There are 2 possibilities, 1, they tried to hard in the morning on the small climb, or cheese and hill climbing do not mix.

We went we these guys: http://www.ciclomontana.com

This other parties blog gives you a better taste of what it was like:
http://www.thebikinghub.com/mtb/mountai ... andalucia/


Also,

If anyones interested in a less demanding destination I'll be happy to guide around the Chilterns and give some accommodation.

Stephen

[bob_summers]

yep i'm in.. although i don't have an MTB (yet), but have a road bike or two spare...

[ultra_whippet]

Great, sounds like we should have a good turnout for this one If there's any dates that any of you can't make then please let me know.

[Oak]

Hmm well the only kind of dates that I can think of just now are the weeks at the end of November and the end of December.

How many months away were we thinking?
Oak