A WILD RIDE
REACHING THE SUMMIT OF SNOWDON AS THE LIGHT TURNED TO GOLD, I SOAKED IN THE SCENE. THE DESCENT SHATTERED ALL MY EXPECTATIONS...
My heart pumps in my chest, my fingers grip the brakes and the ground drops away from my wheels. Even my breathing is focused, exhaling as I exit one technical section and inhaling before dropping in to the next steep slab. I’m in Torridon, descending from last night’s bothy towards Achnashellach. The pure beauty of this place, combined with the bone-rattling intensity of the riding, explains why this trail is one of the must-rides of British mountain biking.
During my planning I’d come across a list of the UK’s top trails. Torridon was the first I ticked off, but not the last. Some blew me away, others were hell on earth, but the highlight has to be the hairraising descent from the top of Snowdon that finished off my three peaks. I’d sat patiently for four days waiting for the customary Welsh rain to break. Finally a clear day dawned, but I could see the clouds drawing in as I hung around, waiting for the clock to strike five – the time when it’s permitted to ride the mountain in summer.
I set off up the Llanberis path with crossed fingers, surprised to find much of it ridable and only broken up with a few hike-a-bike sections. Reaching the summit as the light turned to gold, I took a minute to soak in the scene before pointing the bike downhill. The descent shattered all my expectations, with the steep technicality of the Ranger’s path being followed by an all-out speed-fest down Telegraph Valley – it was easily one of the best trails I’d ever ridden. I could tell many more stories from well-known trails like these, and it’s for that reason that I included them on my route. I don’t imagine for a second that I found anything new, but every inch of this journey was new to me.