Strata Florida - this Friday

[Trugga]

I intend to drive the seven mile Strata Florida this Friday (accompanied by my mate "Sandy in a Landy").

We'll be meeting up in a carpark for about 12:00 on the north side and expect to take about 3 hours to driver the route.

For those that don't know, it's near Tregaron.

If you would like to join us, there are currently two spaces available.

Once we're done, Sandy and I will be making our way over to Radnor forest to marshal on the Baja GB 2006 3 day event.

Shout up if you fancy joining us.

Lawrence

[BUMPTJ]

Would have loved to have come but got to work bummer

[BUMPTJ]

Mind you its Driftwood's fault he wants his cheap pads!! Not that that 2.0l should need much stopping

[Drift]

Lets go anyway
Ste

[Trugga]

Well, the LWB is packed with all the marshalling stuff and the camping stuff plus about 120 bars of chocolate. Just need to remember to pack the food into the fridge in the morning, fill a couple of flasks and not forget the vid/stills camera.

Will be meeting up with a guy from the Difflock discussion forum for a bit of laning as he apparently knows of some "good" lanes between Strata Florida and Radnor Forest. He will also be marshalling the Baja.

Strata Florida apparently has 15 river crossings !!! - has it been raining recently

Have a good weekend - I'll catch up with you on Monday.

Lawrence

[I Live For FOG]

[sollihull]

Loads of Rain here!
I hope the weekend is good to you Lawrence

2.5ft of water in Solihull Ford at 8am this morning!!!

[Drift]

[sollihull]

[Trugga]

[Trugga]

[Drift]

[Trugga]

Strata Florida

As Sandy an I were to be marshalling three days of the Baja GB 2006 in mid Wales, we took the opportunity to go a day earlier and explore an infamous lane in the area.

The Strata Florida lane is associated with water, so much so that if you research this lane on the internet, the majority of the pictures you will find will most likely be of a Landrover upto its headlights in water. A couple of people suggested to me that the lane should be passable in a standard 4x4, so we decided to give it a go.

The resonably dry summer suggested that the route should be easily passable, but the rain during the week prior did give me concern. On my drive from the West Midlands over to Wales, it absolutely hissed it down. I arrived at the meeting point to find Sandy sheltering beneath a copse of beech trees - an idylic location for coffee and plesantaries.

It was just on 12:20 that we started the lane, that coincded with the tail end of a 300 strong mountain bike race. We stopped on three or four occasions to let them pass - all very courteous.

Strata Florida is rocky, stoney and occasionally on bedrock. The majority is also sunken. This lane also follows the path of a river as it meanders through the valley. There are numerous occasions where the lane crosses the river, either straight across or at an angle. At one particular crossing, the river actually flows down the cutting of the lane, running parrallel to it's main course.

We need'nt of worried, as the deepest we experienced was about 16". There are a couple of mild axel twisters and some rocky steps which is a nice change. The lane also crosses the Forestry Commission roads and care must be taken to avoid manic logging lorries.

Once at the end, we turned round and drove it in the opposite direction, finishing at about 17:00

Both vehicles managed without damage, with only minor undersite scraping heard from the LWB Frontera.


Typical surroundings:


Part flooded track, leading to the river:


River to the right, track to the left:


Interesting angles:


A technical ford exit:


Muddy water:


About the deepest it got:


Same crossing, different angle:


Dropping down into a shallow ford:


Lawrence

[Drift]

Heyyy nice one Lawrence great pics good write up as usual
Ste

[Trugga]

Bugger - video was greater than 10MB so it was rejected - I'll recreate it and post it this evening.

Lawrence

[sollihull]

Very nice Lawrence.
I had heard about the Strata Route before and was a bit concerned as it's known to get nasty.
I'm glad you guys got to experience it & returned safe.
Nice Pics & Good write-up as per usual. can't wait for the Vid

[Trugga]

Video Clip Now Available

If you get bored ! look out for the "moment" at 3m08s Also note, that even though Sandy now has a steering guard and a snorkel on the Landrover, they did not stop his number plate falling off

Enjoy

Lawrence

[sollihull]

Grrr it's Zippy and my ie not working together! flaming thing!
BUT in all fairness since I've seen other "Trugga Production" Videos I know it'll be absolutly blinding

[gazza]

cool video. on the welsh two day motorcycle enduro, we have 22 minutes to do the 6.8 miles of the strata florida. all the gates are open but it is pretty hairy at that sort of pace down there i usually complete it in 20 mins, once got down to 18 may give the sport a go down there next time we are on holiday and not racing there.

[Trugga]