Behind Bars
Applies to
LFR Rideout
A bright and blistering hot sun welcomed us to the Garw Forestry
for the LFR Ride Out. For the uninitiated, the Legal Forest Riders organise rides in the forestry plantations of
Wales. They have been instrumental in getting trail riding accepted by the Forestry
commission and they have full permission to have legal access to the many areas
of Wales that are governed by this body. (see www.lfr-wales.co.uk for details)
A bunch of vans were pulled up along the track and men in
various states of undress were changing for action. It was already pretty warm
and I instantly regretted my decision to do without armour but don my favourite
riding jacket instead. Unabashed I got the AJP out of the van, dressed, signed
in and waited for the off, passing the time discussing the little AJP with the
many riders that showed an interest. I learned that one rider had asked for a
little personal attention to bring on his skills, so bearing in mind my utter
lack of recent riding, I opted to join him. There followed a brief interlude
where the South Wales TRF presented a cheque for £1000 to the LFR in recognition
of their efforts and to fund even more access plans in the future. Most welcome!
So we had the briefing and set off trailing the “Sportsmen
group, (an even more competent “clubman” group was also out on a different loop)
splitting off when they tackled a particularly steep uphill climb through the
trees. Our own route snaked through the forest on increasingly tight trails of
variable quality, when our leader “safety morris” got a call to go back and
open the gate
Left to our own devices, “Drifter” and I negotiated the way
ahead, up some fairly steep climbs and steps and along a long steady ascent to
the liaison point – or at least where we thought it was. Turns out we only
missed it by a hundred yards and we were soon back on the Sportsmens tail for
another trail along the forests edge. Sweeping branches out of our way we made
swift progress through a variety of terrain, then we lost them again and headed
up to a flat area in the mountain top where we could practice hill descents and
ascents, as that was an area drifter specifically requested help with. We spent
a good 40 mins up there, practising hill stuff, I was pretty much OK with it, but
it was fun to impart some help and tips to a new-comer to trail riding.
We headed off on yet another loop, to find some new descents
to test his new-found skills on – we found them! A steep rocky descent,
followed by a seemingly never ending climb up a loose rock strewn path, this is
where we encountered our Sporstman friends once again, who ascended the Hill
just after us! We did the loop again while his confidence was high, and lo and
behold, he “cleaned” the sections once more, another box ticked.
Once again we went our separate ways and struck out on some
small nadgery, rutted paths, “look ahead” was the instruction and you won't get
caught up in the rut…fair enough, but what about the low hanging branches that
whipped at your eyes! You couldn't even see ahead more than about 10 yards!
After a good bit of this tight stuff, we came across some
quite deep puddles to test the Trails Tyre's I had fitted, no test really, they
just sailed through. At this point I haven't even mentioned the bike, that's because
it just lapped up everything I threw at it and kept coming back for more. The
AJP 200 (in Ultrapassar guise) PR3 proved more than up to any terrain it came
across, even hitting top gear once or twice on the forestry roads between
sections. It blasted though glutinous bogs and sailed across thigh deep puddles
with ease. On the rocky stuff it fairly skipped along, kicking rocks in the air
in its wake. While the clubmen were suffering punctures and even a busted head
gasket, it just ploughed on.
We kept coming across the Sportsmen and joining the back of
their ride for a bit, before heading off to do our own thing on some different
and testing sections. It was a good mix and fun to ride in a larger group, at
least you could follow people's tracks through the muddier bits!
All too soon the days was over and we headed back to the
Vans. Drifter had a Fab day and picked up some really good riding tips and I
got my confidence back. Maybe I'll be ready for the Sportsmen next time…
Return to the previous page
