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  • Irish Mail 400km audax: 13 June, 2009

Author Topic: The Irish Mail 400km  (Read 24921 times)

vorsprung

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The Irish Mail 400km
« on: 08 April, 2009, 12:31:08 pm »
Quote
Pengwern SR. Traverse Snowdonia twice on your way from Shrewsbury to Holyhead and back. Basic sleeping facilities and hot food available at Glyndyfrdwy (345km). 'Bryan Chapman meets the Elenith' Martin Malins 2008.

Start with an early morning visit to Shrewsbury then a fast run into Wales for breakfast at Lake Vyrnwy. Seriously hilly middle section over the Bwlch y Groes, mountain road to Trawsfynydd then past Snowdon to Llanberis where you can recover over a pint of tea in Pete's Eats. Cross the Menai Bridge onto the flatter terrain of Anglesey and the turn at Holyhead. Easy to navigate return along Telford's Irish Mail coach road.

Pengwern Super Randonneur 2009

I've wanted to do this since reading about it in Arrivee.  I'm a sucker like that.
There is the option to sleep in the village hall the night before for us distant travellers, which is nice


Chris S

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #1 on: 08 April, 2009, 12:36:59 pm »
Is this the one with the route instruction that goes something like "L onto A5 and continue for XXX km" where XXX is rather a lot?

Salvatore

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Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #2 on: 08 April, 2009, 12:48:04 pm »
Is this the one with the route instruction that goes something like "L onto A5 and continue for XXX km" where XXX is rather a lot?

Sort of - but I think it now has instructions like "SO on at TL (A5)" just to break it up a little.

Highly recommended.
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

vorsprung

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Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #3 on: 08 April, 2009, 12:49:24 pm »
Is this the one with the route instruction that goes something like "L onto A5 and continue for XXX km" where XXX is rather a lot?

I expect you are being a bit facetious but some people are "put off" by rides with lots of A road.
 
I just looked at the route sheet and there is no such instruction, although the A5 is used a lot

I would guess that the old coach road follows a route from holyhead to Shrewsbury that may have been the basis for the A5.  But usually A roads take a more direct route than old roads by adding bits of dual carriage way etc

Personally speaking I think there is nothing finer than one of the A roads of Wales at 2am, empty, smooth, dark with no sound but the swish of your bike and the breath of the effort.

Salvatore

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Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #4 on: 08 April, 2009, 01:03:06 pm »
I've just checked - there is 79.8 km of A5 interrupted only by a village hall control.

But don't be put off - it's a super piece of road - nothing steep with some long gentle climbs and descents, a good surface, little traffic, and you won't get lost.
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et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Chris N

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #5 on: 08 April, 2009, 01:35:28 pm »
Have entered this, having missed out on riding it last year - I'm really looking forward to it.  Should count as part of my SR Cymru too.

Chris S

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #6 on: 08 April, 2009, 01:52:54 pm »
Apologies if my comment came across as facetious. It wasn't intended that way.

I'd given serious consideration to entering this - but isn't it very lumpy on the way out?

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #7 on: 08 April, 2009, 02:45:37 pm »
Bwlch-y-Groes after Lake Vyrynwy and 'Mountain Rd' to Trawsfynnyd = v. lumpy.  I was on the inaugral version of this and the mountain road turned out to be very hilly and punctuated by 5 or 6 gates.  And it was climbed in wind, driving rain and poor visibility.  Getting off to walk through the gates provided a little respite.  I was in a group of 6 or 7 and at one point slipped back after my chain came off.  The fear of being left on my own in those conditions proved something of an incentive to rejoin the struggling, steaming comfort and company of the damp little group.  I gather that last year the weather was a lot more benign.

Chris N

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #8 on: 08 April, 2009, 04:06:29 pm »
I shall be prepared to gear up for the return leg. :thumbsup:

Salvatore

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Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #9 on: 08 April, 2009, 04:17:09 pm »
Don't let them put you off, Chris.

The climb up to Bwlch y Groes is the 'easy' way from the east, not the 10-chevron climb, but you get the same view at the top.
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et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Chris N

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #10 on: 08 April, 2009, 04:26:17 pm »
I'm not going to!  I've only been up the Bwlch once - that was from Lake Vyrnwy.  I descended the 10 (or is it 11?) chevron side in the rain with full camping gear.  Character building, I think they call it.

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #11 on: 08 April, 2009, 04:34:58 pm »
I'm no mountain goat, but I got through OK didn't die. The problem I had last year was the heat. It was a gloriously sunny day, but that got me overheating on the climbs - I remember turning the dogleg on the climb up towards Llanberis, and relishing the sudden head wind as it cooled me down and actually made me faster!

The ride is well worth the effort and hills really aren't that bad.


vorsprung

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Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #12 on: 08 April, 2009, 04:40:56 pm »
The problem I had last year was the heat. It was a gloriously sunny day

This is a problem I will also hopefully have

simonp

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #13 on: 08 April, 2009, 05:16:03 pm »
I am thinking of entering for the second time, and starting for the first.

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #14 on: 08 April, 2009, 05:24:06 pm »
I was on the inaugral version of this and the mountain road turned out to be very hilly and punctuated by 5 or 6 gates.  And it was climbed in wind, driving rain and poor visibility.  Getting off to walk through the gates provided a little respite.  I was in a group of 6 or 7 and at one point slipped back after my chain came off.  The fear of being left on my own in those conditions proved something of an incentive to rejoin the struggling, steaming comfort and company of the damp little group.  I gather that last year the weather was a lot more benign.

Was 2007 the inaugural version? I got a rim blow out just when the climbing started after Lake Varney. Luckily, I manged to limp back to Upton Magna on a soft tyre without the rim completely coming off the rest of the wheel. I picked up the A5 at Druid, and although busy at that time of day, wasn't too bad at all.

In the end it turned out to be an enjoyable 200, and the weather on that return journey was lovely, very different to what everybody else was to experience up in the mountains.

I saw enough to want to go back again.
Garry Broad

JohnHamilton

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #15 on: 08 April, 2009, 06:23:21 pm »
I would guess that the old coach road follows a route from holyhead to Shrewsbury that may have been the basis for the A5.  But usually A roads take a more direct route than old roads by adding bits of dual carriage way etc

Not the case here though. In 1801 the Act of Union with Ireland meant that Irish MPs needed a quick way of getting from their constituencies to Westminster. Telford got the job of building a road.

As far as Shrewsbury the coach road simply followed the old Roman Watling Street, but after that everything was built from new. At the time the cost/mile was equivalent to building a motorway today. But the quality of engineering meant that when it came to upgrading and the modern road classification system the A5 just followed the coach road. The only real changes since have been bypasses around Chirk and Oswestry. The rest is pretty much exactly as it was in 1839 when it was originally finished.

It's a great night leg though - easy to navigate, excellent surface and because it was built for horse drawn coaches, the gradient never exceeds 1:20 - perfect when you've got 300k in the legs.

The first year in 2007 we didn't have the control at Glyndyfrwdwy so there was a nearly 90k section along the A5 between Bangor and the next control at Chirk.

JohnHamilton

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #16 on: 08 April, 2009, 06:25:58 pm »
I'm not going to!  I've only been up the Bwlch once - that was from Lake Vyrnwy.  I descended the 10 (or is it 11?) chevron side in the rain with full camping gear.  Character building, I think they call it.

I've been down it on the tandem, without a drag brake. That really was character building. Think I'd rather go up.

At least the gate at the bottom (round a blind bend so you couldn't see if it was open or not)has been replaced by a cattle grid (after a car went through it).

Photos from last year here http://www.cycleshropshire.org.uk/irish_mail_audax_2008.htm

JohnHamilton

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #17 on: 08 April, 2009, 06:27:07 pm »
The problem I had last year was the heat. It was a gloriously sunny day

This is a problem I will also hopefully have

That's the question. What will the weather be like this year? Wall to wall sunshine last year, wall to wall water the year before.

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #18 on: 08 April, 2009, 06:46:10 pm »

The first year in 2007 we didn't have the control at Glyndyfrwdwy so there was a nearly 90k section along the A5 between Bangor and the next control at Chirk.

Glyndyfrwdwy was much appreciated last year. Bacon sarnies in the middle of the night in an otherwise shut North Wales can't be beaten.

It was riding this last summer that persuaded me that it was feasible to ride from Basingstoke to Bangor and back at the end of January. As the snow closed in on the way home (the night that snow brought the UK to a standstill) I looked longingly at that village hall, remembering a beautiful summer night and a warm welcome.

I'm trying to figure out if I can fit it in this year; the one last year is one of my all-time favourite rides.

Martin

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #19 on: 08 April, 2009, 08:52:32 pm »
The problem I had last year was the heat. It was a gloriously sunny day

This is a problem I will also hopefully have

That's the question. What will the weather be like this year? Wall to wall sunshine last year, wall to wall water the year before.

well I usually have knack of cursing rides (my first FNRTTC was the first wet one) so if I promise not to enter you might stand a chance

ps the A5 section is one of the best bits; hope there's a full moon this time.

that Arrivee article in case you recycled it (check out the photos too; superb)

http://www.cycleshropshire.org.uk/irishmail.pdf

Chris S

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #20 on: 08 April, 2009, 09:18:07 pm »
I still have trouble with AAA points.

Dorset Coast 200 was 3 points, and was officially hard work.

Irish Mail 400 is 5.25 points. This sounds very much like it's close to twice the work. Someone will be along shortly to say "It's nowhere near as hard as the DC200" and that's where I get lost. Is it a failing in the points system, or am I just being dense?

Chris S

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #21 on: 08 April, 2009, 09:19:51 pm »
Also, it's a week after the Cambrian 600. I may as well stay in Shrewsbury for the week.

Martin

Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #22 on: 08 April, 2009, 09:23:39 pm »
I still have trouble with AAA points.

Dorset Coast 200 was 3 points, and was officially hard work.

Irish Mail 400 is 5.25 points. This sounds very much like it's close to twice the work. Someone will be along shortly to say "It's nowhere near as hard as the DC200" and that's where I get lost. Is it a failing in the points system, or am I just being dense?

hard work? pfft! I got 3AAA out of 177 on Sunday and that never went more than 20 km from the start! (actually the DC is officially a b'stard IMO too)

The IM gets its AAA (it was only 2 before the rule changes) from a very hilly (but doable) 100 or is it 150? within a longer ride and as such gets a real bonus from the new system; the hilly section would only be worth about 1.5 or 2 in isolation; there are virtually no hills of note before the climb up to Lake Vrynwy and after Pen y Pass; trust me; you really will not notice those on Angelsey or on the A5  :)

but 5250 m is 5250 m so bring some gears unless you are one of those with steel fixie legs

scottlington

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Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #23 on: 20 May, 2009, 07:14:17 pm »
Entered!  :thumbsup:

Manotea

  • Where there is doubt...
Re: The Irish Mail 400km
« Reply #24 on: 20 May, 2009, 07:33:02 pm »
I'm thinking about this one. Possibly even riding out to the start mini tour stylee. tbd.