Joining mr Fearless

I am Dutch; I was practically born on a bicycle. And it is not surprising for quite a while now people have been suggesting I go for a bike ride with Martin. But I am Dutch. I totally see the point of a bicycle as a means of transport. If I have to, I can even see it as a tool for staying fit. But I just don't see it as a tool for getting adrenaline kicks. I am not an adrenaline junkie in the first place, and I prefer to get the adrenaline I still generate from activities that aren't actually dangerous. I know; mine exploration can be dangerous, and there certainly sometimes is adrenaline involved. But otherwise; if I want to be scared I will go climbing. I know I am on a rope, but that doesn't mean I'm not scared. But if I fall? In the worst case you swing a bit and end up with some cuts and bruises. At the level where I climb, serious accidents are, I think, rare. So given that Martin quite likes hurling himself down heart-stopping slopes with bumps and jumps, I hadn't really felt like joining him. If I can do a route, it's dull for him; what he enjoys would land me in hospital. I can do without that! And I can of course just walk scary bits, but then we're back at the dull argument.

Then one day after seeing my standard loop on Strava he had suggested that we do a bigger loop together; he had more or less the route in mind I had done the first time I took my bike into the hills, but then in the opposite direction. I had made sure I reminded him of my bike before we agreed on anything. He knows I am not a mountain biker, and when he would feel just how little suspension that thing had, I figured he could make an informed judgement on just how slow I would be coming down the challenging part of that route, and whether he then still wanted to go together. But he didn't change his mind. And then he sent me a link to a Strava recording of a ride he had done with his e-bike (that same loop, but with a detour to the summit of Moel Wnion) and suggested a day for it. And I said yes!

I didn't intend to suddenly turn into some daredevil, but I did decide to wear a bit more protection than I normally do; my new biking routine only featured a helmet and riding glasses. I got out my knee pads, elbow pads and gloves. I had picked my standard route on the basis of it being easy, and this route had difficult bits! 

We met at a convenient junction. And he had showed up on his analog bike. That seemed the wise choice to me; he had floated the idea of going electric just the day before, but I figured he would already be spending so much time waiting for me at the bottom of the slopes; if he would also have to wait for me at the top of the slopes it would get very dull. And we started fairly steep uphill, on what was still my standard route. We didn't push it too hard! And we weren't even out of the gate into the moorland when I had to put my foot on the ground for the first time.

The path quite soon has a very soggy bit that people avoid by taking small renegade paths a little higher up on the hill. I have never managed to negotiate that without a little bit of walking! And today was no exception. But as we were going uphill, getting off your bike doesn't make you an awful lot slower.

From that soggy bit onwards there is a long stretch that is totally doable for someone like me. But I knew that there was a rocky bit coming up after that. When we reached it, Martin said it was a good place for a breather. I didn't need a breather, but I was happy to join in. He wanted to get his heart rate back down, but mine hadn't even gone above the level down to which he wanted to get his, which took a few minutes. I figured the exam period hadn't done him any favours.

I gave the rocky bit a go for about one meter and then gave up. It is treacherous, and if you fall over you'll probably break some ribs! Not my idea of fun. But it isn't far. I knew, though, that there would be several individual rocky patches in the way that were a bit too much for me. But given that we were still going uphill, I don't think I was slowing us down considerably. I did let Martin pass there, though, and that way we reached the pass.

From the pass, a path goes up to the summit of Moel Wnion. It is grassy with barely any rocks, so fairly easy to negotiate! And this was in the route he had proposed. His front wheel was pointing downhill on the other side, though. I reminded him of the proposal. So we went up! And it started quite okay, but there was a nasty steep a bit in it. I noticed Martin was lagging behind. I did consider that the route he had sent me on Strava had been done on his e-bike. In hindsight I figured he had wanted to avoid this bit! Oh dear. But he stepped up to the game.

It took me quite some stubbornness to bike up that hill. It might have been grassy, but so steep my breathing started to sound like a swift. But I got to the top, and I was quite chuffed with how things had gone so far! And I was impressed with my cheap-ass bike that had never been meant for more than Menai Brigde-Bangor ferrying. And I knew that for me, the easy bit was over now. From now on, everything would be downhill. And if it is so steep you turn into a swift biking up, then it must be scary coming down.

Tired old bike on Moel Wnion

After a while Martin appeared. Together we admired the view, and we took a summit selfie. And then it was time to face the downhill! Martin put his glasses and helmet back on, and then basically changed into Roadrunner. A figure getting rapidly smaller and vanishing towards the horizon at implausible speed! I followed with a lot more caution. But even the steep bit was quite doable and I arrived without further ado back at the pass. But then the real challenge appeared. Martin did his Looney Tunes thing again; it would've been interesting to watch, but I had to focus all my attention on what my front wheel was doing. There  were quite some bits where I decided this was not for me and just carried the bike over! But Martin wasn't complaining.

Approaching silhouette under dramatic sky

Summit selfie

Somewhere halfway the difficult bit we bumped into a pedestrian we had a chat with. And then we went on our way; I was glad to see the end of the difficult bit. Maybe one day I'll bike this, but it will need a better bike and a lot of practice!

Beyond the difficult bit there is a nice long smooth grassy slope down to a wall with an awkward ladder stile over it. I enjoyed that! The slope, that is. And it was so relaxing I could look at some crazy sheep that came dashing from the right at implausible speed, only to make a U-turn, and make an effort to run in front of Martin's wheel at still the same speed. Fortunately, no collision ensued.

Soon after the wall, you join the North Wales coast path, and that is a very civilised gravel road. We zipped down that! And from there we were back on country roads.

I said goodbye by the gravel road that leads me back to my house; Martin has a fair bit more of the asphalt road to do to get home. I said thanks and hoped we’d do it again! And next time, maybe on a different bike. And that might hold for both of us. It looks like the mountain biking is here to stay, and like most things, it is more fun in good company!