Page 106 - WishStream Year of 2023

Exercise
WELSH
RIDERS
OCdt Canfield
Ex WELSH RIDERS was a Mountain Biking Adventure Training Expe- dition to the Snowdonia Area in
North Wales which saw now Senior Term OCdts test their skills and partake in some very arduous physical activity. The location was a good 5 hours away which gave us a sense of freedom from the yearlong training. We started off the week doing some basic low-level skills in very wet conditions which acclima- tised us quickly to what the week was going to throw at us. We practised how to navigate rocks (both up and down) as well as turning corners at fast speeds to get the speed going for the inevitable up hill. All in all, it involved learning the basics of how to navigate burns, change the centre of gravity of
the bike as well as getting used to the speed that you can reach and feeling comfortable in doing so. A very wet day meant some excellent ground appreciation. The term “rollable”, mean- ing being able to roll your bike down a hill instead of jumping and falling off, became a favourite on the first day but, after some confidence was gained, jumping became easy.
On our later days in the week, we were completing 30Kms a day through great scenery and reaching some great speeds; however, the legs felt it the day after. The highlight of the week was scaling Gwydir Forest which offered the best balance of committing to the uphill and allowing a gradual downhill with plenty of jumps at high-speed corners. The Gwydir Forest route was a well kept trail which allowed us to get to high speeds after we did our 800M climb. With Mount Snowdon in the background, the views were lush and the mountain biking was tough.
The bikes held up apart from a few minor chain breakages which were quickly fixed by our Instructor, Oliver Key. All in all, mountain biking is defi- nitely the best AT to choose out of the options, The hard physical activity pays off with exciting speeds and it’s a great opportunity to start off your leave with a phys plan.
104 SANDHURST