Did the Moel Famau ride yesterday with a friend, gorgeous warm day, but also one of those days where things start going wrong and then keep going..
A mile in...practically straight up..realised I had left my phone on the dashboard of the van.
Went back for it..grrrrrr.
Got two punctures, within 300 yards, then my chain kept popping off the chainwheel, everytime I stopped pedaling.
Eventually discovered the freewheel had locked solid, which you dont notice straight away on a midrive because it doesnt try to turn the pedals, just the chainwheel, and the resultant slack caused the chain to flip off...so had to do the rest of the ride always under throttle or pedal, which is very difficult indeed.
Bumped into the rangers at the top and a cordial argument started on wether the path was a bridleway/ unrestricted path or footpath.
Ordenance survey maps were drawn from holsters...nervous walkers looked on.
I mean its only 1200 years old, youd have thought we would have sorted it by now.
Opinion was undecided and feelings were running high.
We retreated, only to find every single hiker backing the rangers were going our way and the entire ride back was punctuated with dissaproving looks and loud tuts.
We had wanted to fly the drone around the top, so we flew it from a few miles away, which was quite epic , unbelievable how quick it got back up there, did a full cinematic circle then flew back.
Havnt got any pics..waiting for the drone SD card off my mate and editing the vid.
Only got this silly drone special effect he sent me...thats me pumping up the tyre..
Watch this video on Streamable.
streamable.com
The monument at the top..which has mostly fallen down..was built in 1800 to honour King Charles 3rd, the guy who lost the American colonies, bit harsh to judge him just for that, he was also King when we defeated the French and youd all be speaking French over there if we'd have lost.
Which obviously would have been an horrific outcome.
It never actually got finished and was strangely built in Wales...maybe losing the war of independence means you go to the back of the list on monument day.
Edit.
Hes just sent me a short clip.
Watch this video on Streamable.
streamable.com
It was like I had a little rain cloud following me the whole route, strangest thing ever haha! It was such a fun ride despite the rain, it makes a big difference when there is very little wind, that made it so much more enjoyable for sure! It actually felt like Spring for once!
There are actually sings of things warming up at last, not quite the 90's thankfully (I hate heat
