TransWales report: Day one
The Exposure Lights Maxx night time trial gets underway (Matt Skinner)
The first stage of the 2008 Merida Bikes TransWales began at 9am on Sunday, taking the riders from Builth Wells through to Cilycwm, Llandovery 67.5km away. It was the ideal warm up for the evening’s Exposure Lights Maxx night time trial.
The route swept
riders out of Builth Wells and up a gradual climb that gave way to a fast
forested descent. Riders then traversed Llangammarch Wells and headed into
Although Saturday’s bad weather had cleared, the conditions on the track were still treacherously slippery – particularly over roots and rocks. Large mud holes and deep puddles unseated many riders, pitching them painfully to the floor.
Even some of the experienced riders thought better of it.
“The first bit of woods for the special stage was so dark it was initially very difficult to pick a line, so I thought it was quicker to run with my bike and then pick a line once my eyes had adjusted,” said Trek 69er Collective’s Matt Car. “But the dark never disappeared, so I ran pretty much most of it.”
Matt’s efforts placed him well, guaranteeing him an early start for the time-trial in the evening, but others weren’t so lucky.
Last year’s TransScotland Men’s Solo champion, Andy Barlow (Whyte Bikes) had an uncharacteristically tough time, ending up finishing way back in the field, upsetting his title defence at this early stage.
It took the fastest riders just over four hours to complete the stage, so upon arriving in Cilycwm to a bright welcome they relaxed, dried out their gear and prepared to take on the pitch black single track stage that evening.
Exposure Lights Maxx night time-trial
Cwmrhaedr is a purpose-built trail, roughly 7km in length. It’s split evenly into two sections, 3.5km of sharp ascent followed by a tricky decent. But a deceptively smooth appearance belies a fickle underbelly: loose flint, rock slots and shards litter the trail, waiting to snakebite the unwary.
In the end, punctures would claim a fair few riders, including the seeding stage time trial winner Jean Claude Van Derf Veken.
“It all went wrong and I got a puncture on the downhill,” he explained afterwards, “I lost three or four minutes riding down on the flat as I didn’t take any spares with me, which was really foolish. I’m gutted.”
His misfortune helped Scotland’s Andy Barlow to make back some serious time as he blitzed his lap to finish second behind Builth Wells local Ryan Bevis, resuscitating his dream of a title defence.
Day two will see
the second linking stage taking riders 71.5km and up 1,985m from Cwmrhaedr to
Llansawel via
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