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Showing posts from March, 2008

Wall Whites Wall 09 March 2008

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The Afan Valley is situated in the centre of the old County of Glamorgan. To the North is the Rhondda Valley, to the East is the Llynfi Valley and to the West is The Vale of Neath whilst to the South is Port Talbot the Coast and The Bristol Channel. The old mining scars of the past 150 years have all but gone and in their place are 110km of some of the best Mountain biking trails in the country and they are right on our doorstep. There are four trails which start in two centres situated in the valley. Two at the original site of Afan Argoed; Penhydd, graded Red 22km long and The Wall, 23 km long also graded Red. The other two are at the new centre in Glyncorrwg which also has a cracking Cafe and bike shop. Whites Level, apparently 9km long with a 6km climb, I think this is wrong as it certainly feels longer. It has a tricky section everyone calls the Black Run and a new section 'Energy'. The final route is Skyline, a full 46km and graded Black due mainly to the distance. So las

Coaching Weekend - Penzance 01 March 2008

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Following a request on UKRGB web site I managed to get a free place on a Level 3 Sea Coach Assessment Weekend, organised by Richard Uren of Paddlecrest Coaching at Penzance in Cornwall, acting as a guinea pig. It is a long time since I received formal coaching in a Kayak so I looked forward to this and I was not disappointed. I had an overnight stop just outside Plymouth on Friday night and after an early start I found myself in a car park at Marazion with a lovely sunrise over St Micheals Mount in Mounts Bay. I am keen to move outside my comfort zone which over the past few years has included the odd B&B and plenty of stops in the motorhome. This will hopefully help prepare me for a lightweight overnight expedition in the sea kayak up the West Coast of Scotland. After cooking breakfast in the van I headed over to Penzance Canoe Club to meet up with the rest of the course. Eurian was already there having blagged an extra days paddling with Simon Osborne. He had spent Friday trying