I wanted to explore somewhere we had not been before. We spotted a route in the VTT Ariege book which took us up from Castet d''Aleu to the Col d'Ayens and then along a route forestiere for several kilometres before heading back down a zig-zagging track/road and back to Castet.
It didn't start out well, when I discovered that my front hydraulic disc brake was jammed on. I bit of fiddling about with the hydraulic fluid reservoir seemed to release it thank goodness, so we were good to go. But within a very short while, I realised that my front derailleur was not changing - a closer inspection revealed that the cable attached to the derailleur was in fact NOT attached to it! Again, more fiddling and eventually we were off. The route was lovely, taking us up quiet roads and tracks above Castet with amazing views of Mont Valier and the high mountains. It was a steady climb up to the Col d'Ayens where we sat and had a butty and admired the view with the clouds building on the tops.
Then on to the proper piste forestiere track which involved more gentle climbing before the gradient eased and we had some good steady riding which was fun. Then the descent began which was even more fun... until the bit where we were obliged to follow a steep, narrow footpath which was a definite get off and walk jobby! Fortunately, that only lasted a couple of hundred metres and then we were back on good track/road again for a quick descent back down to the D618 and a blast back to Castet.So a good outing - 24kms with 700m of climbing. We were out for approx 2hrs 30 mins. One thing that I realised today is that I enjoy hill climbing much more on my roadie than I do on my mountain bike. I just didn't seem to be able to find a comfortable gear on my MB and it didn't help that I was getting gear slippage on my lower gears either. Reckon the bike needs a good servicing before the next outing.... that may help.
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