Hafren CC at the Dyfi Enduro 2013

Hafren Riders Conrad Taylor, Nathan Seymour and David Morris Tackle the Dyfi Enduro 2013!

Ride report from Conrad Taylor

The first bank holiday in May saw the return of the now legendary Dyfi Enduro.

The event, now in its twelfth year, has become one of the most eagerly anticipated mountain bike events on the calendar. This year the 800 available places sold out in an astonishing 20 minutes. It really has asserted its self as one of the UK’s premier non-competitive rides.

Riding commences in the welcoming town of Machynlleth and takes place in and around the spectacular scenery of the Dyfi forests and valley. The terrain is not for the faint hearted and includes lung busting fire road climbs, tricky steep technical climbs, long technical descents and some of the best secret trails that the UK can offer.

This year was my first year at the event and my objective was to get around in one piece on my slightly over geared 1×9 hardtail. I rode with 3 good friends, 2 of whom were also Dyfi virgins, and the plan was to stick together and have a day shredding the trails and generally having a laugh.

The weekend started with a few (some may say too many) beers in the friendly pubs in Mach and then back to the FREE camping where music, entertainment and a bar were put on by the event organisers. The following morning, with bacon butty in hand, we collected our ride numbers and prepped our bikes and gear for the day ahead. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. At 11am the riders jostled for positions near the front and as the claxon sounded the start of the ride 800 riders streamed out on to the main street of Mach, cheered on by hundreds of locals who all seem to enjoy the event as much as the riders.

The route started off on the road but quickly turned into the forest and up one of the many long fire road climbs set to test the legs. At the top of the longest climbs there was entertainment such as a drumming band, to encourage you on and it all adds to the party atmosphere of the ride. Throughout the day we met all sorts of people on all sorts of mountain bikes, all of whom had a smile on their faces.

For the entire afternoon we rode some of the best trails and met some of the nicest people, locals as well as riders, and only encountered one mechanical between the four of us. At the top of the last climb the marshals kindly informed us it was “all downhill from here” as we powered on down one of the best descents I’ve ever ridden to the finish line to collect our much coveted Dyfi Enduro Mug!

A few words to sum up Dfyi Enduro: Epic, Relentless, Exhilarating, Rad, Exhausting and Rewarding; I will definitely going back next year!