Singletrack

Balls. The walkers, sensing blood, hang around as I push back
up. Double balls. Now I’ve got to do it. And, miraculously,
I do, buzzing the rear tyre as I hang off the back, bouncing
downwards and hoping for the best. I’d like to claim there was
skill involved, but really I just hung on.
And breathe.
A flattish section gives us a breather. Ahead, the Ranger
continues to the road – fun all the way. But we need to get
to Llanberis and, as the number of walkers is increasing by
the minute, we turn right over a grassy rise. Cresting the top,
a small valley comes into view. Through it we can see the
Dinorwig slate quarries, the Snowdon train chugging away,
and walkers on the track we climbed earlier. But none of these
hold our attention, because in front of us is Telegraph Alley –
a perfect narrow trail, dropping gradually for as far as the eye
can see.
The only downside I can see for single chainrings is
that you can no longer describe things as ‘big-ring’ territory.
Instead, tracks like Telegraph Alley are just plain old ‘fast’.
It’s smooth, but interrupted by rock drainage bars. If you’re
happy hopping them, the trail is flat-out fun. You can see
for miles, so nothing takes you by surprise and the speed is
intoxicating. If you don’t fancy hopping, it’s still fun as the
bars aren’t particularly vicious and there’s loads of room to
slow down. Everyone’s a winner!
On that happy note, we whiz into Llanberis. The ride is
over. It’S now done (see what I did there?) but, thanks to the
early start, the day is still ahead of us. First, we need breakfast,
so it’s into the cafe for a couple of mugs of tea and some beans
on toast. What next? Sadly, remembering we’ve all got work
to do, we should head for home. I get five minutes down the
road before pulling a swift U-turn. Snowdon’s left me buzzing
and I want more. A quick lap of the nearby Gwydir trail
seems like a good option. It’s fast, swoopy and fun, and by the
time I’m done I’m a sweaty knackered mess, but as happy as
I’ve ever been after a ride.
Then I spot something at the back of the car park. Is that
Andy’s car?
Another trail, hunted and ticked off the list.
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