On 10 August 2023 eleven members of East Midlands Universities Officer Trg Corps (EMUOTC) began their journey to Wales in order to experience 8 days of mountain biking. For some in the group, this was their first time mountain biking on technical terrain, while for others it provided an opportunity for them to hone their skills. The group was split in two, with excellent instruction being delivered by three reservists who had a wealth of combined cycling knowledge.
The idea for this expedition started in the middle of 2022, whilst EMUOTC’s mountain bike team were racing at one of the Army events. The idea grew from there and the trip eventually aimed to deliver a holistic experience of mountain biking to the Officer Cadets. The plan would deliver 5 days of trail riding on technical terrain followed by 3 days of bike packing on the Triban Trail.
Days 1 – 4: Trail Centre Riding
The trip began with visits to Coed Y Brenin, Llandegla Forest, and the notorious Gwydir Mawr a Bach trail. All of these routes provided an excellent introduction to those new to the sport, and a great challenge for those more familiar. Mountain biking itself, as many found out, requires a great deal of not only physical fitness, but mental awareness as well. Trail features, such as drop offs, roots and rocks all come at you very quickly and all need to be overcome to ride well.
Some on the trip struggled initially to push past the fear of some obstacles. This was exacerbated by the amount of rainfall that Wales was experiencing, making the trails more slippery than before. Although, with some fantastic instruction, everyone managed to overcome this and safely get down everything they were faced with.
“When I first looked at some of the features, I didn’t think I could get down them at all. It was so wet that I just thought I’d have no grip. Getting down them was a massive confidence booster for the rest of the expedition.” OCdt Blackburn
“Taking the time to consider my technique and look at what others did really helped me to get smoother and quicker.” 2Lt Daniels
Day 5: Bike Park Riding
As everyone’s confidence and ability grew, we were able to visit the uplift at Antur Stiniog, where instead of riding up hills, you are taken to the top in a vehicle and ride down.
This was an amazing opportunity for people to experience even more technical terrain in some fairly arduous weather conditions. The bike park also allowed us to rent out full suspension downhill bikes, which gave people an insight into different types of bikes available. Everyone developed massively throughout the day, with the group completing over 15 runs of the bike park, using all the lifts offered from the first of the day to the last.
“Today really was the culmination of all the skills I’ve learnt so far. Everything was very technical and pushed me outside of my comfort zone, but doing so greatly developed my riding.” OCdt Regan
Day 6 – 8: Bike Packing
Despite everyone’s legs feeling quite sore at this point, anticipation was high for the bike packing experience that lay ahead. The Triban Trail itself consists of three days of riding, usually on bridleways and gravel road, which cover around 45km and 1000m of elevation gain per day. Everyone was certainly pushed both physically and mentally, with the terrain often becoming challenging creating long days of riding.
“Bike packing was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. The hills were challenging but the views at the top always kept me going.” OCdt Bayne
However, after the second day on the trail, the weather started to roll in, with the instructors making the call to ride somewhere more sheltered on the final day. This was definitely a shame, but the right call to make, with everyone having a great final day riding together and demonstrating all that they had learnt.
The expedition was hugely beneficial to all that partook in it. Developing particpant’s confidence, determination and resilience – no matter what people’s previous experience in mountain biking was. This wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance of the Ulysses Trust and EMUOTC are very grateful for their support.
