Three’s

The sun was shining beautifully yesterday – it felt like Spring was finally here, despite last weeks attempt by Winter to hold on for a few more days. Beth and I went walking down at the Waterfalls near Ystradfellte, as we’d both decided to have a few days off work. You may well ask why weren’t we out on the bikes on such a nice day?

Well, last Saturday I went riding at Afan. I parked down at the lower carpark and got in a quick lap of Pen Hydd. The Wall was closed, so I rode up to do the Skyline trail. The return down the valley was to be via White’s Level. Everything was going nicely, and I was on my second ascent of the White’s/ Skyline climb when it all went wrong. I was riding at a brisk pace when my front wheel glanced off an inocuous looking rock on a short steep section and slammed into the bank at the edge of the trail. All 130mm of fork travel was taken up instantly as I came to a very abrupt halt. The forks rebounded, I overbalanced backwards and sideways, departed from my bike, bounced off a tree then fell onto some sharp pointy rocks and rolled some distance down the bank below. A general body check revealed a grazed arm, bashed knee and a broken rib.

Walking is a nice safe activity, and one that is generally suitable for people with broken ribs. To dispell that concept I slipped on some wet rocks and bashed my left knee quite badly.

The third thing hasn’t happened yet…