Author Topic: Cambrian Series Permanents  (Read 105063 times)

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #400 on: 13 July, 2015, 08:44:17 pm »
I know the area very well as grew up around there, in fact it will pass my childhood home
nam dan on fb

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #401 on: 14 July, 2015, 01:02:08 pm »
Cambrian 1K (proposed) - Maesteg – Treorchy – Hirwaun – Maerdy – Mountain Ash – Ferndale – Maesteg (106km) 2200m ascent
sounds great although  some of them controls sound like hopping over and doubling back into same valleys in odd order

I tried putting the route on the map and couldn't work out exactly what CET has in mind. either the controls are not in order or theres an extra one that needs deleting.

Will be a tough old 100kms when its finalized. Enough climbing for an AAA 200.

Will have to give it a go if/when its added to the list.


I suspect Aberdare rather than Mountain Ash is more likely, maybe just a slip?

I.e. Maesteg, Treorchy, Hirwaun, Aberdare, Maerdy, Ferndale, Maesteg...?

Rhigos and Bwlch aren't very difficult climbs from either side though  - beautiful and worth doing I should add though  - the only climb that scares me there is the Maerdy one.  Should be doable and a fine route.
It's a reverse Elvis thing.

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #402 on: 14 July, 2015, 01:26:05 pm »
Actually, CET's route does work...


http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9273132


That is quite savage looking at it.
It's a reverse Elvis thing.

SkidBr

  • Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #403 on: 14 July, 2015, 01:51:20 pm »
Planning to have a crack at the 3A mid August starting from Chepstow but seeing as its the summer and - hopefully - nice and warm was thinking about camping the night before and whats left of the night after. Had a quick google around but couldn't find that many obvious camps sites close by to Chepstow.
Any recommendations? 

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #404 on: 14 July, 2015, 04:01:05 pm »
Actually, CET's route does work...


http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9273132


That is quite savage looking at it.

you are going maesteg -> treorchy -> hirwaun -> mountain ash (not maerdy) -> ferndale -> maerdy -> offroad to the rhigos ->maesteg

as said the combination looks odd
nam dan on fb

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #405 on: 14 July, 2015, 04:03:06 pm »
Yeah I didn't check it very carefully - and yeah oops, got it even more mixed up than I gave it credit for. Soz.

It's a reverse Elvis thing.

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #406 on: 14 July, 2015, 04:10:57 pm »
So just swap Mountain Ash and Ferndale and you get


http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9275045


(Again not checked very (at all) carefully).
It's a reverse Elvis thing.

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #407 on: 15 July, 2015, 01:10:31 pm »
yeah thats more like what I was thinking without the sketchy unchecked bit through tonyrefail, and id prob go over llangeinor and then through bettws which would prob take mileage down and add more climbing.

https://www.strava.com/routes/2818019
nam dan on fb

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #408 on: 15 July, 2015, 09:16:49 pm »
3730 m climb in 100 km - ouchy wouchy - though ridewithgps climbing figures are not to be taken literally in my experience, that's still likely to be some work  ;D
It's a reverse Elvis thing.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete

  • Miles eaten don't satisfy hunger
  • Chartered accountant in 5 different decades
    • CET Ride Reports and Blogs
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #409 on: 17 July, 2015, 06:28:14 am »
The tricky bit goes Hirwaun, the west side of Aberdare, over to Meardy, back over the same climb, and then down to Mountain Ash, cuts over little roads to Ferndale.  The shortest way back is then to Treorchy to retrace steps to Maesteg. 

I lost trust in Strava's climbing figures when looking at Zigzag's log of the rides we did in the Alps last summer.   It was very easy to find the total climb from topographic data (the bottom height in the valley subtracted from the height at the top of the col) as we were either going up for a very long way or down and no middling bits.  Strava's figures were always 20% higher than reality and sometimes as much as 30%.  The Cambrian series rides are calculated based on contour counts (which can understate climbing in rolling terrain and miss out those little kick ups and downs in valley roads).

I have, I think in this thread warned people who rely on GPS, especially Strava data, that they will record more climbing in the Cambrian series events on their devices than the measured amount.  I did once do a route which genuinely had 3700m of ascent in 108km.  Le Bourg d'Oisans - Alpe d'Huez, Col de Sarenne, Les Deux Alpes, D211A (that's the crazy road at the top of the cliff that joins Alpe d'Huez at Garde d'Huez), Le Bourg d'Oisans, Villard Notre Dame, Col du Saulude, Villard Raymond, Le Bourg d'Oisans.  Neither Zigzag nor i are known for our hanging around although we did spend an hour for lunch in Les Deux Alpes, and it took us 8 hours to do the distance.  To put it into context this is 6.7% average gradient up and down the whole ride.
Eddington Numbers 130 (imperial), 182 (metric) 571 (furlongs)  114 (nautical miles)

bikey-mikey

  • AUK 6372
  • Yes, I am completely mad ! a.k.a. 333
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #410 on: 17 July, 2015, 01:28:16 pm »
As an aside, ref Garmin climbing figures etc, I had a route from an org, which was one of those 'very small' files. When loaded into bikehike it did indeed show the way round, though it missed the actual road most of the time, and proceeded in a series of straight lines that were more or less in the right place...

Climbing around 2,100 metres..

I then used bikehike's facility to reroute, but re routed along the same roads, doing it in many small sections, to make sure it went along exactly the same route, thereby increasing the file size from about 60 Kb to 1.7 Gb

Climbing now around 3,200 metres..

The distance for both was much of a much, but the climbing, bearing in mind both were from bikehike's same data, were enormously different.

I would speculate that the difference comes from the number of separate points being measured and how far apart they are... and of course the much larger file had its points much closer together.

Probably analogous to contour counting at 50 metre contours versus 25 metre contours, or 10 metre contours.

So if your Garmin is set to record every second, you get a higher climbing figure than if you use smart record...
I’ve decided I’m not old. I’m 25 .....plus shipping and handling.

Cycling heatmap
https://www.strava.com/athletes/4628735/heatmaps/6ed5ab12#10/51.12782/-3.16388

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #411 on: 17 July, 2015, 04:39:14 pm »
The tricky bit goes Hirwaun, the west side of Aberdare, over to Meardy, back over the same climb, and then down to Mountain Ash, cuts over little roads to Ferndale.  The shortest way back is then to Treorchy to retrace steps to Maesteg.
It was that skip back i thought would be a mistake but having just planned this route, it looks absolutely brutal and I can't wait to do the proposed route. If you need a crash test dummy let me know.
nam dan on fb

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #412 on: 17 July, 2015, 06:12:52 pm »
Planning to have a crack at the 3A mid August starting from Chepstow but seeing as its the summer and - hopefully - nice and warm was thinking about camping the night before and whats left of the night after. Had a quick google around but couldn't find that many obvious camps sites close by to Chepstow.
Any recommendations?

yes---try Beeches campsite up near St Briavels; OK it`s 8km out and downhill allway to Chepstow, obviously back up though afterwards; however I`ve used it 4x times now for 400/ 600 audaxes out of Chepstow and found it very pleasant and climb back up (200m ascent) ain`t that bad  ;D
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #413 on: 17 July, 2015, 06:17:06 pm »
6A---anyone got a .gpx file? I`ve just stuck route thro` RWGPS and get a 647 km / 8 400m route so there should be some shortcuts off that---rwgps is using a lot A roads eg A40 Brecon > Llandeilo

ta :thumbsup:
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Aunt Maud

  • Le Flâneur.
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #414 on: 17 July, 2015, 06:52:27 pm »
You obviously didn't "stick it through" very well  ;)

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/5848540

When are you riding it ?

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #415 on: 17 July, 2015, 07:13:00 pm »
Thanks Adam  :thumbsup:

when ?? who knows exactly, maybe during PBP as my riding that is now looking very unlikely due to some very unfortunate recent personal events :( :( :(
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Aunt Maud

  • Le Flâneur.
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #416 on: 17 July, 2015, 07:20:15 pm »
Sorry to hear that James.

I found the 6A very hard, but that was partly due to poor equipment choice.

I may give it another go some time next season, as it's a really nice ride.

Cambrian 2b route
« Reply #417 on: 17 July, 2015, 09:15:46 pm »
I am planning to ride the 2b sometime soon.


This time I am starting in Chepstow then anticlockwise. anyone care to comment on the route I have planned for it.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9291991

Not the shortest possible (I drew one at 201kms) this one has slightly less climbing .

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #418 on: 18 July, 2015, 05:20:38 am »
Seems fine although you are, at your own admission !, missing key hill sections of Erwood> Painscastle > Hay and Monmouth > Trelleck > Chepstow which would shorten distance but add altitude ;D
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Aunt Maud

  • Le Flâneur.
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #419 on: 18 July, 2015, 07:55:12 am »
I thought the whole point of riding The Cambrian Series Perms, was that you actually ride/dab up and down all the hilly bits and work for the AAA's......

Maybe that's just me being weird.

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #420 on: 18 July, 2015, 08:15:23 am »
I thought the whole point of riding The Cambrian Series Perms, was that you actually ride/dab up and down all the hilly bits and work for the AAA's......

Maybe that's just me being weird.

I would tend to agree with you (not the weird bit though.... ;D ) :thumbsup: why enter an AAA ride and then try to reduce amount climbing by choosing longer and flatter alternatives ?
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #421 on: 18 July, 2015, 09:39:42 am »
I thought that all Cambrian rides are free routes .There are no "official routes"or if there are then I have never seen them?


Maybe I will re route it via painscastle if people think that will improve the ride or keep more to the spirit of the series.

if there are a list of the original organizers intended routes perhaps we should make them available to people who enter instead of just criticizing them for not guessing correctly first time....

This is another route I did for it. I will start at Chepstow though  as its easier to get to for me. Also going anticlockwise appeals for some reason.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/8503087
Any constructive comments on this route?



 


Aunt Maud

  • Le Flâneur.
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #422 on: 18 July, 2015, 11:23:26 am »
It's entirely up to you how you ride it, but you did ask for comments on your choice of route.


I am planning to ride the 2b sometime soon.


This time I am starting in Chepstow then anticlockwise. anyone care to comment on the route I have planned for it.
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9291991

Not the shortest possible (I drew one at 201kms) this one has slightly less climbing .

My bold.

Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #423 on: 18 July, 2015, 12:25:54 pm »
Fortunately some of the replies have identified bits of route I should have included so I can have another look at it.

Constructive criticism is great.

Others chose to criticize but offer no advice .Takes all sorts.




Aunt Maud

  • Le Flâneur.
Re: Cambrian Series Permanents
« Reply #424 on: 18 July, 2015, 02:32:20 pm »
Never mind.