Author: Riaz Rahman
Date: 11 March 2023
Fox Antifreeze, brilliant event!
Was worried about the weather especially as I passed through a snow storm on Saturday to get to Coed-Y-Brenin. nothing to worry about as the snow/rain had subsided and we had great weather (am pretty sure I saw an orange orb in the sky at one point) 
I was a little nervous about the event, but it was super friendly. So many eMTBs at the start, my bike felt positively retro still having a double chainring 
Although it wasn’t a race it was a timed event, we were set off in small groups to minimise the congestion on the trails.
From the start you went straight into a technical singletrack section, which then led into the first big climb. Start of the climb I had my first incident as I dropped the chain, it got sucked into the spokes off the back of the cassette! Had to remove the wheel in order to free it. after what felt like an endless climb into some flowy single track which then led into a section of the “beast” trail. A very steep rocky singletrack decent with lots of drops and steps, I was getting into a groove and hit a particularly big drop off with what I thought was enough speed. Sadly not quite enough and wasn’t far enough over the back wheel, resulting in a launch of rider over the front wheel. impact of head and shoulder with the ground and a full somersault ensued 
After a brief sit down on the side of the trail I dusted myself off checked the bike wasn’t broken
Got back on the bike but had completely lost any confidence over the rocks but managed to get to the bottom of the trail.
Climbing up a short steep incline to the next trailhead my chain snapped! 
Luckily I’d packed spare quick links in my bag, although had to borrow the use of a chain tool from a passing biker.
After fixing the chain and that being the third incident I decided that self preservation was the order of the day and took the fire trails back to the start, which meant I missed out another beast of a climb! Although at this point I was the furthest point on the course so still had to ride another 6k!
At the end all riders got a commemorative pint glass!
I will certainly be going back to tame the course (might invest in some rocks & drops training first)
I can definitely recommend Coed-y-Brenin though as outside of the few events the trails are really quiet but there is plenty for all skills (I think I’ll go back to the blue trails for a bit) 
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