Welsh Shakedown Day 2

Its 8:30am on Saturday and my head hurts from Welsh liquid hospitality. 

Whilst the other guys showered i used Jason's Garmin Oregon 450 to upload the trail maps(GPX files).   On the previous day i used my Garmin Zumo 550 for the trail maps, but being a road device it didnt display the offroad sections well, you just end up following GPS line through a vast 'nothingness'. No trail or elevation detail, nothing. It makes it really difficult to understand which track to take when you come to 'Y' section / turn.  (so you can end up going the way and having to turn around)

The Oregon on the other hand has a base OS map, so it contains all the geographical detail and you overlay the route over it,  great!  But you can't use it to plan a quick road route to fuel station.  Using both of the devices we had the best of both worlds. 

After breakfast we prepared all three bikes and debated whether to take any tools. After much procrastination we packed light (who needs tools?) and set off in the same direction as the day before and carried on beyond.  My bike was still making odd noises. 

First stop as Jason's camel pack had leaked into his pants (comfy) and the Zumo had calculated a new route home (useful, not)

A lane that's partially a running stream

The Garmin Oregon came into its own here when the lanes split and the Zumo was out of its comfort zone. (Nice one Jason!)

As we continued down the lane we came to this spectacular site. In the background, dominating the landscape is a huge old Dam.  Those familiar with TopGear may recognize it as the Dam that Hammond or Captain Slow used to test a Landrover winch. (they winched up it!)

We weren't about to winch up it, but we did face our first real challenge.  A water crossing.   OK its not the Mississippi, but it was our first and we did have an audience.  Those little white specs in front of the truck and below house.

First river crossing success!  Jason just went for and we both followed. 

The spec's of colour in the photo above where actually these guys.  A guided tour comprising five blokes on top notch customised off road / adventure machines.  One was on DRZ, like me, the others were all on new machinery with adventure spec custom parts. The chap waking towards the camera lens in the photo is the guide. 

I didnt catch his name (the guide), but he did kindly offer some advice; That we should loosen our inner tubes valve restraining nuts to allow the tube to move, and that we should reconsider taking the Strata Florida lane.  (without further ado he then loosened all our valves)  Apparently he'd taken a guided group down the Strata Florida last year and his bike was swept away in one of the river crossings! (That was the second such story we'd heard in two days) 

He said that he'd not been down there this year and that it was 8 - 10 miles of difficult rock and boulder surfaces split by several dangerous river crossings.   Then very kindly he said we could tag along with his group.  Bearing in mind the rest of his team had paid for the day, i thought that was a good offer.  Rightly or wrongly though we decided to go it alone, is it really adventuring if you have a tour guide?

We moved on, following our route around the hills and up to the Dam. Amazing scenery. 

Below, the WR250R Fuel Tanker (look at the size of the petrol tank)  When the rest of world has run out of petrol there will still be some in WR's tank.

The path around the Dam continued for miles, bliss.  A favorite part so far.  We eventually came to a sign next to a bridge that said 'No Vehicles beyond this point' next to the bridge was a river crossing.   As luck would have it we could see some distance behind us a trail of dust coming our way.  The dust trail was caused by the  friendly guide and group from earlier, so we waited for them to arrive.    Upon arrival he explained the bridge was private, but the lane and river crossing were not and all we had to do was cross the river, so we did and went on our way.  (cheeky sign writing monkeys)

Strata Florida

By early afternoon we'd reached the start of the Strata Florida. Apprehensive and unsure we'd made the right decision we pressed on.   The guide was right, it was rocky.  No more smooth lanes, just bumpy rocks, tree roots and ruts.  Ken and I were enjoying the challenge, im pretty sure Jason was(nt) :)   (he could be heard over the weekend shouting 'i hate ruts' through his helmet.)

The Strata Florida cuts through hilly forests and valley rivers changing elevation rapidly, it was great. (see the elevation map on the previous page).  Then came our first challenges, flooded sections. Ha! no problems. 

No problems at all, until floods got deeper, darker, muddier, wider and there was not passing place.  Jasons boots filled with water, he loved that. Then Ken dropped his bike sideways with the engine running in a water thigh height. Balls. The engine couldnt be kicked over due to hydrolic lock, that meant that water had been sucked into the cylinder head.  Double balls.   Three novices stuck in the middle of nowhere, Ken's bike drown, few tools and worst of all Jason had wet feet. 

I decided to help Ken by laughing.  Jason filmed him.  What are friends for?

To Ken's credit though, he got his WR operational!  Good lad.

Cold feet. ...rather than risking another fall he decided to walk it through. 

We left this section of the Strata and joined the fire / logging trails and nipped along the easier lanes for a few miles.   After a distance and a few wrong turns the logging trails crossed the Strata Florida again. Ken scouted ahead and said it looked fine so we turned down it.  im not sure Jason agreed with this decision and it quickly got challenging when we encountered the river crossings.   There were about seven, they were deep, we were out of our depth physically and metaphorically.   Ken walked, Jasons technique was pin the throttle and go for it, both worked.  Thats when the worst thing happened to me that day.  My boots filled with river water and i stepped in a bog to knee height.

Its probably just as well it happened on the trail - it saved Ken and Jason from pouring water into my boots later that night. (spiteful buggers!)

Loving it...  

It was getting late. We'd completed the Strata, triumphant we took the scenic route home.