Sarn Helen Day 2

Out of camp at 9.15, to fly down the hill to Coed y Brenin. A quick blast along the Minataur trail, with some whooping and holaring took us to 'route 82' along the river to Dolgellau....a very quick 15 ish Km. The smells from the cafes and bakeries were almost too tempting so we carried on riding before we gave in to our bellies.
We continued to follow route 82 out of Dolgellau towards Cadir Idris. Beautiful views of the majestic Cadir and Sunny Barmouth beaches kept us going up the hills with out too much of a worry. We branched off to Ffordd Ddu (Black road), which apparently was closed and unsuitable for any motorised vehicles...we continued. Dave soon commented on how the road 'isn't that bad!' Yet soon enough we came to realise why it was closed. Think of the biggest muddy, wet, boggy man eating puddle you can think of, times by ten and you might be close to what we faced....definately not one to chance on the bike, you might never return!!! We circumnaviated the bog and the six footprints which went in, but no further, trying not to get caught in it ourselves. Back on our bikes to climb further to Braich Ddu forrest. The decent then started :) A long, rolling decent, reaching 50km and feeling much faster!! Soon enough we reached Bryncrug for a well earnt stop for lunch. 3 hours riding and we'd already covered nearly 40km so we decided to stop for a good rest.
Re-fuelled, rested and ready to go we headed of to Rhyd-yr-onen to climb our last substantial hill of the day. On our way up the first section on the road, my day was made up by one guy in his car and his comedy waves. He waved to Dave by putting his thumb up to him (man wave) and when he past me he did a little cheeky flirty wave...(if you are the waving man, then thanks!) We have riden down here before so knew what to expect, but it wasn't as hard as we anticipated, fuelled up by jelly beans, we soon got to the top :) Another great downhill, although the loose, wet rocks had me on the edge of my seat for most of the decent! Once we hit the road it wasn't long until we reached the campsite...and we made it there before mum!! 56km in total, no falls and no punctures! :) More post treats from mum, fruit salad, orange juice and a cornflake/puff pastry cake.