Strata Florida

I'm a long time greenlaner with extensive experience on 4 wheels, and some on 2, but.......

I'm curious to know if anyone has (successfully) completed Strata Florida in mid Wales on their 1250GSA? I'm tempted to give it a try on mine just as soon as I have finished adding some extra protection to it. It would be by far and away the biggest bike I've ever ridden on what is in some parts a fairly technical greenlane. I'd also need to choose my day wisely i.e. a significant dry spell will be required as I am running Anakee Adventures so any sign of the muddy stuff is a definite no no!

I did most of it on an FE350 in October and a jetski would have been more appropriate in places.

Not much, if any mud, that I recall. Mostly rock and rocks.

I know people who have done it on R1200gsa LC which is kinda the same thing. That was obviously summer time. I've done bits of it on my GS.

No thanks!!

https://youtu.be/kWgvFAq0OpE

retroman said:

No thanks!!

https://youtu.be/kWgvFAq0OpE

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Yes agreed. Strata is definitely not a bikers paradise if the rivers are in spate. There are at least 3 significant water crossings. The muddier sections tend be up past the bombhole if travelling South to North.

Blimey. I've done it on a couple of KTM EXC's and that was tough enough.

It does of course depend on the water depth and your riding ability. After >20 years of enduro racing I wouldn't dream of taking my GS there!!

Good luck!

I have a photo of me walking my 400 KTM through the first deep water crossing, at the southern end, in the "Welsh" quite a few years ago when Strata Florida was a "tight" check. My KTM's headlight is shining up through the water! But I did "clean" the check

DON’T DO IT ; Strata Florida is no place for a heavy GSA at this time of year. Too much water and more importantly , mud .

abermarc said:

I'm curious to know if anyone has (successfully) completed Strata Florida in mid Wales on their 1250GSA?

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I gave up shortly after the beginning. But my mate completed it on a 1200GS LC. Last August.
So. Much. Water.
Again: August.
I don't want to even imagine what it is at the moment.

I have some (embarassing ) videos of the first bit if you want.

Watch 12mins+ . If you can do this on a Panzer , after allowing for much more water , because it’s now winter , then fab

https://youtu.be/wFkbw72txzQ

Anyone know how it came to be called "Strata Florida".

Strange name for a track in Wales.

I did it in July (for the first time), on my KTM 790 adventure r.
It was fairly dry following the long dry summer but some of the water sections were up to the top of the front wheel.
Some of the rocky sections were difficult , partly due to my inexperience but having said that some of the guys on 250’s were struggling.

I’ve done some gentle off-road on a 1200 gs but certainly wouldn’t want to try the Strata on a GSA.
200kg of KTM was heavy enough to pick up a few times even with assistance from other riders.

GrinningGSer said:

Watch 12mins+ . If you can do this on a Panzer , after allowing for much more water , because it’s now winter , then fab

https://youtu.be/wFkbw72txzQ

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Coincidentally I only watched that video a couple of days ago, is that you?

abermarc said:

I'm curious to know if anyone has (successfully) completed Strata Florida in mid Wales on their 1250GSA? I'm tempted to give it a try

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Think very carefully about it.

At risk of sounding like doom monger I know of 3 good riders who have suffered serious lower leg breaks after their big adventure bikes toppled over at slow speeds off road. They knew the bike was going over but couldn't get their leg out of the way in time. Their boots were stuck in ruts or rocks. Two of them never rode again. One was almost an amputation, lost most of the muscle on his calf.

Added to that it is just not much fun on a big bike.

MikeS said:

Anyone know how it came to be called "Strata Florida".

Strange name for a track in Wales.

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its latin for vale of Flowers....the abbey is cistercian...the road should be renamed vale of tears for those who do it when its at its wettest and muddyist!!

Wes Tripp said:

Coincidentally I only watched that video a couple of days ago, is that you?

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I see a familiar face at 0:26.

MikeS said:

Anyone know how it came to be called "Strata Florida".

Strange name for a track in Wales.

Click to expand...

It’s name means ‘Valley of the flowers ‘ , but is also associated with the abbey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strata_Florida_Abbey

er-minio said:

I have some (embarassing ) videos of the first bit if you want.

Click to expand...

Oh go on then

It would need two fit or three tired men to pick up a GS in some of those puddles - but you already know that
Still "Who Dares Wins" - though most of them died or were crocked
Stupid And Skilful

Toddmeister said:

Oh go on then

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aha – here it is.
Bit boring, I put together the final footage I had from the GoPro. I fast forwarded the video in a few bits, but still you guys might want to scan it... it's 13 minutes long.

Backstory: this was the final part of 2 days offroading in Wales. We were knackered.
Varied experience group: I'm pretty much a total beginner offroad, Steve in the middle range (guy with the blue jacket, falls in the mud), and the other two guys are fairly experienced offroad.
After the first big puddle, me and Steve decided it was enough for us. We decided to get out of the Strata Florida at the "first occasion" and let the other two guys go ahead, with the idea of meeting south on asphalt.

After they left, we realised that Steve's bike wasn't starting up anymore (electrical gremlin) so I decided to go ahead alone to either find them or find some area with phone reception to call them for help. Spoiler: there is not fucking phone reception for miles.

I ended up putting along a bit more of the Strata Florida, very slowly, until I found more and more water.
At that point I gave up, went around on the forestry roads to find some signal and message the others, then decided to go back to Steve.
On the way back I found the guys in the Range Rover, they had some tools. We cut some wires on Steve's bike and made it back to the asphalt.

Met the others near the border with England in the evening, then went back to the hotel parking in Bristol to swap tyres on my bike and re-install the windscreen.
I was back in London at 3:30am later the same day. On hindsight... I should have spent another night in the hotel in Bristol.
Anyway, one takes a lot of bad decisions when tired: lesson(s) learnt.

Despite this little mishap at the end, it has been an epic weekend (we’ve been blessed with the weather too) and cannot wait to go again.

This is the bit you see in the video:


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