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Day two (three for me and TWD) promised to be another great day. Tyron, Pete and I had already gone up the Gap road once already when we fancied a bit of a longer ride the night before. On that occasion we were all pleased to clear the actual Gap even though it was very damp and slippery.
Today, Tyron and Pete had already reached the top when I got to the foot of the gap proper and looking back down the long approach road I seem to remember someone tipping off but I’m unsure if it was TWD or Rhomech. On the balance of probabilities I'd put my money on it being Rhomech, if I'm wrong then let me know!
The day before I cleared the Gap in first gear but had plenty of wheel spin so I decided to try second gear to try and tame the rear end a bit. Only that didn’t work out too well! The bike took a slightly different line to the one I wanted and bouncing over a step it stalled and toppled over. Restarting in first I made it to the top but I was a bit miffed so after Pete had his second go I tried again to save face – and cocked it up again! This time it was all caught on film, much to my disappointment!

Tyron successfully tackling the Gap.................Pete coming ........and going on the same section

After the tumble on the approach to the Gap things didn’t go much better for Rhomech once he attempted to conquer the Gap itself. Several tumbles and lots of blue smoke from tyre spinning and the old drz got to the top, but Rhomech was blowing hard with a face as red as you can get!
Andy T cruised up as easy as you like on his big 525 (sitting down) making our struggles look all the more daft.

I set off in the lead again and got to the big washout that cuts deep into the side of the mountain. This section has become a lot easier since the first time I rode it. The approach has been opened up and the exit smoothed out a bit.
I quickly reached the other side and grabbed the camera to capture the other guys coming through. Tyron, Pete and TWD all successfully crested the slope but Andy T made a mistake for a once and had the big old KTM in the wrong gear. It stalled and slowly rolled back down to the bottom of the slope.

Andy T sliding back down!.......................Having a go again ............................. and Tyron

Next came Rhomech and unfortunately he struggled again, I'm not sure what happened but I suspect he was being too cautious and failed to have enough momentum. Whatever happened, the end result was a stuck bike and a tired Rhomech trying to get it going again.
All this time we’d been calling out encouragement and advice (just what you need when you’re struggling) and had decided that he had to struggle as its how you learn! Inexperience in mountain riding and fatigue took its toll however so TWD & Tryon took pity on him and went to help. Tyron took the heavy drz to the top for Rhomech.

Rhomech having another go, then another .................then giving up!...................Tyron to the rescue

By now I’m sure Rhomech was starting to think what the hell he’d got himself into as he was looking kind of knackered! Time to get on that mountain bike dude!

After a bit of a breather we continued to the end of the track, following the tar road down the valley and crossed the reservoir onto the next section of the route. This part takes you down to the Talybont reservoir and there are normally some spectacular puddles on this section. One of which Scottrider went head first into last year!
This time however it turned out to be almost completely dry but I did mange to get a few quick pictures of the guys.
In this particular puddle the mud underneath was nice and deep so I was hoping for a few ‘moments’. It did almost catch Andy and Pete out but the best was Rhomech (again). His previously white shirt suddenly became not so white as you can see in the photos!

Andy T had a wobbly front ......................Pete dabbing a foot down.................Rhomech and his 'white' shirt

Shortly after the rutted section the track starts to drop down towards the Talybont reservoir on a windy rocky pathway that has some dodgy drops on your left hand side. Just as the path drops down into the tree covered hillside there is a lane that branches off to the left. Although this lane has more than it’s fair share of gates it’s still great fun to ride. Being in a larger group makes gate opening and closing easier so we could still keep up a flowing ride. I stopped and waited at a gate for the others to ride though but Pete and Tyron failed to appear. After a bit Tyron rode up and said Pete had bent his gear lever so was doing some roadside repairs.
It turns out that he hit TWD a glancing blow by trying to get past in a tight spot and ended up in the trees/hedge/wall!
We carried on down the lanes towards Talybont and Pete was a bit ahead of me when I saw him have a ‘moment’. He seemed to get all sideways then corrected it as he disappeared out of site. I laughed and thought to myself that I’ll have to give him a bit of a ribbing about that one later. When I got to the same spot I could see what had caused it. A tree trunk was laying at an angle so I made sure I hit it straight on to avoid slipping like Pete had. I looked up and about 30 meters further on I saw Pete laying in the path holding his left knee! Oh dear, I suppose the ‘moment’ had turned into a full-on crashed then!
I dropped the ktm and ran over to Pete to see if he was all right, “No my bloody knee’s gone” was the answer. After I killed the ignition on his WR as it was trying to rev itself to death up on the top of the bank, we pieced together what had happened.
He’d hit the branch at an angle and got crossed up which shot him across the path and up the bank on the over side but this was fairly steep so he didn’t break out over the top for a while but when he did he took out a small tree. Luckily for him this was rotten so it gave away easily and the wr dug into the top of the bank. Pete carried on going for a bit and ended up in the small stream running down the middle of the path.
I fed him some ibuprofen tablets for the pain & swelling and we carried on. Once at the bottom he decided the pain was too much so he headed back to the B&B via the road.

Chilling out at the Grwyne Fawr reservoir and having lunch

See an extra one of TWD fixing bike after tumble here

We grabbed some sandwiches and petrol at a petrol station on the A40 before heading off towards the Grwyne Fawr route. We blasted up the dirt track towards the reservoir and I gave the ktm and the steering damper a good workout on the way up.
Chilling out on a nice grassy bank eating our lunch we all agreed how great it was to be out in the mountains on dirt bikes instead of being at work!

After lunch we carried on up and over the mountain and then tackled the very rocky and step filled descent. I went first and stopped to get some pictures as the others came past. Andy T was last as normal as he likes to film with the helmet cam. This time he came down with his feet over the front radiator scoops! I carried on and he had stopped to film again so I thought I’d have to go one better and stood up on the seat as I went past!
Once at the bottom I commented to TWD how worn down the first 90’ rock step had become, so much so that now it was possible to easily ride round it at the top. Years ago when we first tackled the corner we had to lift the bikes up.

Self portrait on the way down................TWD Rhomech & Tyron behind............followed by Andy T with feet up!

Once we got to the bottom we teased Rhomech that now we had to go back UP the route and the look on his face was priceless! “Mmm, I think I’ll see you later then” was the response.
I stripped off the rucksack & jacket, turned around, and gunned it back up the slope at the bottom of the mountain with Tyron and Andy T following close behind. I didn’t intend to go up all the way at first but that’s what we did. I stopped at the bend waiting for the others and Tyron gunned it round the top of the corner so I had no choice but to follow suit, nice caught on film as Andy arrived!
Rounding the next corner Tyron was parked right on the only viable line, which is to the left of the track. However flushed with confidence after clearing the previous corner I hit the gas and tried to bounce the ktm over the rock steps on the right but all I managed to achieve was launching the ktm straight up into the air and I ended up in a heap next to Tyron with the now very heavy 450 landing on my left ankle.
“What the f**k are you doing you mad bastard” asked Tyron as he looked down at me rather quizzically!
I’m sure without the heavy duty armour of the Sidi hinged joints I would not have been able to continue, as it is I’m still struggling with it now over a month later. Putting on a brave face I got up after a bit and carried on regardless. I tried to keep up a good momentum and managed to bounce the ktm up and over all the other steps and obstacles. Tyron and Andy followed but Andy was having a few problems with his bike stalling. Again a quick breather and we went back down to join the others.
From here we carried on and explored a few lanes that I had marked on my map. The highlight of which was a fantastic lane that crisscrossed a small stream more than a dozen times and each time it was coupled with great ups and downs. It was one of the best short lanes I’ve ever ridden and the last crossing was captured on film by Andy who had gone ahead. The small stream was surprisingly deep and was a real wake up call being drenched in cold mountain water! Last to cross was Tyron who thought he’d pop the front wheel up but all he managed to do was drop the front end into the deep part of the stream and crush his nuts against the tank!

After that it was a few more rutted lanes and then we had to make our way back to Brecon via the tar road, not far, but Andy seemed to be in a bit of a rush, closely followed by a small little Metro that drove like a madman to stay with him!
Another great day over, topped off by more great food in the pub!
Turns out Pete had damaged his knee a bit more worse than previously thought, and was told to stay away from all sports for six weeks and given a knee brace to wear. Get well soon mate!

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