A Retro Grouch Remembers Lanberis 1995
In October 1995 I rode the Llanberis path up and down with my brothers. It was the very day the first voluntary ban came in, unfortunately it hadn't been publicised very well as we made quite clear to the jobsworth ranger at the summit - you can't respect a ban you don't know about! Things seem a bit better organised these days. Ironically, out of the dozens (not hundreds) of walkers we met that day not one was anything other than cheerful and friendly - mind you we made sure we showed walkers respect too.
Our gear was pretty bog-standard - hardtails with 50mm travel forks. I'd upgraded my rigid Diamondback Ascent with Halson Inversions, this was before I went to 24 speed XT and added v brakes, but I had purple bar end handles and a 6" long stem to put my weight directly over the front wheel for rapid descents (err... shome mishtake surely?) and SPD clipless pedals (best thing I ever did was swap them to my road bike!)
Jer had a Kona with ballistics and Joe had something Orange that probably wasn't an Orange with ballistics again, or maybe rockshox judies?... The track up is/was essentially a landrover track so it was pretty much rideable all the way up, and as I recall all the way down.
Some excellent weather all the way up, then clouded up near the summit and stayed grey until we got down. We were all fit, and the ride was a blast. I suspect it wasn't a black or even a red trail in those days... or perhaps we just went slower.
Was it any good? - Well its still a great memory 23 years later!
Good points:
What can be better than being a REAL mountain biker?
Bad points:
None!
Would you recommend?
Yes
Date written:
10/04//2018 - almost 6 years agoWas this review helpful to you?
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