Hardest day on the bike for a while. I hadn’t checked the forecast the day before so was surprised to be told it’d be raining for the first few hours. It was light drizzle until just before start time at which point the rain picked up. I rapidly got dropped by nearly everyone as I was trying to pace myself. The rain didn’t last too long but it remained cold with a strong head wind. Keeping my HR down in such conditions meant a slow pace even before it got hilly. I had to stop to collect my water bottle on a descent as I hit some broken surface which caused it to shake free. That bottle got put into the seat tube cage as it was covered in roadside mud. When I got to Shobdon there wasn’t much of a queue to order food - but I had a policy of bouncing controls until 200km. So I just got my stamp and washed mud off the bottle.
The run to the village hall at Abergwesn continued with the theme of me riding slowly and people who’d stopped at Shobdon coming past me. By Abergwesn most of the field had controlled and quite a few of the 7am starts. I just had a coffee here but it still ended up as a 20 minute break.
The trees being down on the Devil’s Staircase meant for a great view as I walked up it. I had a false start as it was still too steep when I tried to resume. I was passed by the Elliptigo as it made its way up the climb. I had to also walk the next climb from the first hairpin, but the third one I managed to bully my way up. However any idea of my heart rate being in the moderate zone was out the window at this point. The wind was a nuisance over the top.
At Tregaron I just had a coffee and an orange juice. I think it would have cost me only a little more time to eat, tbh, but I stuck to my plan. The run to Cwmystwyth was the final time I had to get off and walk, at the usual place. Once in the valley we had the tail wind we’d been expecting all day, and the climb was relatively easy. I’d had to de-layer somewhat at the end of my stroll, as the tail wind and uphill riding were making me hot. It only got up to about 12 Deg C all day - a contrast to the previous few days.
Arriving in Rhayader, I was really ready for some food. Bangers and mash went down really well. The first bite of sausage was like manna from heaven. This set me up well for the ride to the Wheelwrights control at 260k or so, but I was now being dropped to being under-geared rather than to be slow. I was passing people on climbs now, whilst remaining in my HR zone. On some descents my HR was over 150 at the bottom - above my target limit.
I loved the food at Wheelwrights, the stew was just what was needed along with crumble and custard. The final stage isn’t too hard, though the descent into Shrewsbury is a bit of a pain on fixed. I rolled in to the finish at about 11.45pm, so slower than last year. Food at the finish was great - I loved both the cottage pie and the carrot and coriander soup. Despite the noise in the control, I slept pretty well, only getting up once at around 4am for a trip to the loo, and waking up at 7am. I got breakfast in Telford on the way home, stopped again for coffee on the M5 and once more because my eyes were very tired.
Time for a bath…
