You can find a YouTube of the campsite here , a run at Antur Stiniog here and the Snowdon hike is available here

After returning from Nepal I wish I had stopped off in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain for a few weeks, as a stepping-stone back to normal life!

Alas I didn’t, and returning to my little house in Banbury, I found I couldn’t knuckle down into finding a job. The weather in the UK, different from the past three years, where we’ve had sunny weather in the springtime, was a combination of sun and showers, and sometimes cold and rain for days on end.

Around these rainy weather patterns, I meticulously planned a tour of the Highlands of Scotland, camping with my mountain bike, and riding new-to-me trails. Bearing in mind I only have my downhill mountain bike, I had to plan around that also. For instance, there’s no point in going to a forest, that may have beautiful trails, but would involve pedalling. The weight of the downhill bike, and it's geometry makes it very difficult to pedal uphill.

I was keen to ride the Glencoe downhill trails, which was to be my first stop. I knew there was snow higher up in Glencoe, and did think about learning to snowboard whilst there. Unfortunately, I didn’t find out until the morning I was due to leave, Friday the 4th of May, that the Glencoe mountain bike trails wouldn’t be open until mid-June! So, I hadn’t planned so well after all!!

No matter, I loaded the car as I'd decided I would go to Wales instead, riding a couple of downhill parks that I’d ridden before; Antur Stiniog and the Forest of Dean. By now it was lunchtime, a very silly time to set off on a road-trip, the Friday of a Public Holiday weekend!