Dyfi Enduro

This weekend saw Martin take part in his first mountain bike endurance challenge - the Dyfi Enduro - 55km (34 miles)-ish of the "Dyfi forests best hidden trails" starting / finishing in Machynlleth.



Must admit I found the whole thing a little worrying:

(a) It's a looong way, and he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to do much in the way of training;

(b) The day before he was muttering about a dodgy knee;

(c) The FAQs offered this encouraging statement:
What if I fall off? - There will be at least one ambulance in the forest while the event is in progress, and one mobile medic on a quad bike, there will also be first aid staff at the event HQ. Local Hospitals are Machynlleth and Aberystwyth. If you see an injured rider, once you have stolen his food & tubes,  please inform the next event marshal you see.

It seems I was fussing unnecessarily however, as he made it back - 5 hours 13 minutes and 29 seconds later - in one piece, if a little muddy.

Although,the leaders (super-fit nutters pros) were coming in after only 2 hours 30 minutes!


His first reaction was 'not doing that again' - tales of hair-raising descents with deep ruts and huge puddles - plus the fact that one of the four people he'd set off with had taken a nasty tumble (dislocating a shoulder, breaking a finger, and cracking some ribs).

In retrospect of course he's now thinking about the next event, the 'room for improvement' on his 352nd place out of the 508 people who finished his route (the first 250 or so were sent round a slightly longer and even more arduous course) and the free flapjack (best ever apparently)!