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After we had all gathered at the top of the largest hill we had a bit of a chat and a breather. The views up here are great and when the sun is out and you're trail riding with a bunch of mates its hard to imagine anything better. We set off once again and this next section was a real mix of different surfaces. The first part is open & fast tracks where we had a good blast, lifting the front wheel over small puddles and rocks. After a while you cross a fire road and the going becomes very rocky and the scott damper comes into its own here. I could blast along safe in the knowledge that the front end was not going to go all 'loony toons' on me! This section really does work your arms a lot and 'arm pump' can become a bit of a problem if you hang on too tight.

Once again the going changed after a fire road and this time it was back to the ruts again. Something that TWD has always struggled with, and today was no exception! Not sure how it happened but once again Andy T's helmet cam managed to catch it. TWD got it a bit wrong and the next minute he was flying though the air and landed a fair old distance away from the bike, upside down next to a barbwire fence. No damage was done, he landed on his head.

As we were coming down the mountain towards Neath (still on the dirt) at a gate a somewhat irate farmer approached us. He had red and blue lights on the front of his Range Rover so we stopped and took off our helmets. He immediately went into a 'you are not supposed to be here' etc etc but Andy T was having none of that and he launched an offensive attack quoting names of people in various organisation that said this section was a byway and was open for use. After a long friendly chat (if somewhat heated at times) everything calmed done and it would appear we had been misinformed about the TOR and had missed the sign near Banwen. We parted on good terms and carried on to Neath as we required petrol and lunch.

A quick stop to talk about the whole 'run away' experience!

After a good feed in the Tesco petrol forecourt (we know how to live!) we set off on our return journey. As we had to go back the way we had just come we decided to sneak back up the Byway. As we got to the very same gate another Range Rover came flying up the road at a huge rate and stopped in a cloud of dust in front of us, but on the other side of the gate, blocking it.

M mmm, Andy and I were at the front of the group so I looked over and asked "what now, stay or run away"? Mr Rover was on his mobile phone so we did what any big tough biker would and ran way! With the sound of "run away, run away" from Monty Python and the holy grail echoing in my head we charged back down the hillside in full race mode.

After a bit of a 'what now' session we headed back via the road to Banwen but not before our hearts leapt into our mouths one more time! We were heading north on a duel carriageway when up ahead we could see the bright yellow jackets of a road block. Oh no, I thought, this is going to end badly, please don't let us end up on TV again. Turns out it was a bloody lorry inspection stop! We head back north again at Banwen and were soon back onto the dirt trails.

It wasn't long before we were back at the river crossing again and Andy T went ahead to get some film of us crossing. Rhomech also went ahead too take pictures and one by one we all followed. The river being the lowest I've ever seen it there no issues when we crossed over.

Pete Crossing the river (first of many)..................Tyron..............................RBJ

RBJ crossing ............................ followed by TWD on approach and ....................... crossing

It was so hot now that we all needed a bit of a rest and I took my shirt off to splash water on my face and even drank a little, mmm nice. Everyone was very chilled out in the sun but Pete had other ideas. As he had made a bit of a cock-up of the crossing in the morning he decided to have a bit of practice and went up and down about six times, and (I'm sorry about this Pete) only cleared it once!

Pete on several of his many attempt at the river crossing

After a while we headed off again and in no time we were on the last leg of the journey. I went ahead to get a few pictures and got some nice ones of the guys going though a puddle. After taking the shots I hit the gas again and must have overdone it a bit. I got a pinch puncture. I think I even know what rock it was, I was lifting the front up often to avoid larger rocks and came back down onto a small rock that was sticking out like a point.

I had all the gear needed to change the tube so got stuck in but bemoaned the fact that it had a heavy duty tube at the B&B. I had run out of time to fit it before the trip. Rhomech had a new HD tube on him so instead of fitting my spare I slotted that one in, handing my HD tube to Rhomech once we got back.

Rhomech ....................................Pete ...........................................Tyron

Fitting a new tube......lots of advice from the peanut gallery!

We were soon on our way and once we got to Brecon Pete Tyron and myself decided it was too early to go back to the B&B so headed up the Gap road. Once up the top we turned arround again and headed back to have nice hot showers and some great steaks at out newly found favorite pub, the Seland Newydd Inn in Pwligloyw (01874 690282). A big thanks to Rhomech for supplying so many great pictures for this report! Keep it up mate!

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