Llandegla Bike Park - Novice First Ride! 19 Jan 2025 4K

Описание: Welcome back to the channel and thanks for watching this video!

Today's ride is a little different to my usual uploads. I joined a group ride at Llandegla bike park in North Wales on a very cold January morning. It's something I've wanted to do for a while and was very excited to finally get together with a great group of riders with a mix of skills and abilities, exploring the trails and fire roads in Llandegla Forest. It was a chance for me personally to learn and experience proper off road riding and to get a feel for the capabilities of my Whyte E-160 on more technical terrain.

The first couple of hours were fantastic! The riding was was really exciting (for a novice like me at least!) and the people in the group were friendly and welcoming. Although it was a cold misty morning, the views from the hillside were stunning and I can only imagine how much better it will look without the misty conditions. It was a brilliant day out and I can't wait to do more bike park visits during the year.

However, things didn't go entirely to plan... First, I got a puncture in my front wheel, and although it was repaired quickly with the help of the group, it could have been avoided if my tyres were set up as tubeless rather than running tubes (it was a snake bite puncture on the tube!). The bike has now had the tubeless conversion for the next ride. Second, and far more serious, is I had a crash on the B-Line black trail when I mis-judged a feature about 2 hours into the ride. I came off the bike and landed on my chin, resulting in a broken jaw and a few cuts and bruises that needed a bit of surgery to repair. The crash isn't in this video as the camera battery ran out before then, but after a few weeks thinking about it, there are some valuable lessons I've taken away as a positive. Although I was wearing a good quality trail helmet that did it's job well, taking the impact and protecting my head, I should have been wearing my full face helmet. If I'd been wearing the full face rather than leaving it in the car, it's likely that the broken jaw, surgery and weeks of recovery could have been avoided, and it would have been a much better choice given that I'm inexperienced with this kind of riding. It's a hard lesson, but one I've taken on board for the future. I also learned that there's no shame in taking your time and slowing down to check the trail ahead if you're unfamiliar with the location. Better to know what's ahead and prepare for it based on your skills and abilities than send it blindly and hope for the best, especially important for a novice rider.

It would be easy to be completely put off bike parks after the issues I had, but the truth is I really did have a brilliant time and can't wait to get back out again, albeit with a little more thought and preparation next time! Even while I was stuck in hospital being treated, my lasting feelings about the ride were very positive and I'm so glad I did it.

Thanks for watching, and even bigger thanks if you read this description to the end! :-) See you on the next adventure.