Yr Elenydd 300 - Sat 11th April

[oliveriles]

A cough and cold from hell meant I was not looking forward to this ride. The wet and wind did not improve my mood.  But I battled through the first half and coasted back.  Got back at 8.15pm. Unhappy with my personal performance but at least I know I can battle through the hard times and take 5 AAA points which gets me within a stones throw of 100 for the season.

Well organised event with great control points and views- love Wales

[mikek]

It's been many years since I went under 14 hours for the Elenith/Elenydd but just about managed it yesterday. This was certainly not down to road speed though as I only managed a shade over 15mph moving average thanks to the headwinds out but was rather due to spending just 20 minutes at a time at each of the controls. As usual all controls were bang on the money and the Abergwesyn control was a much better facility than Builth. Starting at 7 meant less bother from the early rain although I rode alone from the A49 onwards as the road train was going faster than I thought sensible given the winds and hills to come. I wonder if they were being pulled along by the guy that finished in an incredible 12.5 hours?

Well done to simonp who looked chipper at Abergwesyn and was the only rider that I noticed on fixed this year. Amazing self-discipline not to eat for 200k into such winds and hills. Certainly nothing I could have managed.

I've been suffering for many years with day after nausea and headaches. I'd always assumed that I'd been dehydrated but after reading of the symptoms of overhydration I wondered if this was my problem. Yesterday I decided to drink much less than normal and apart from tea and a hot chocolate I only drank about 1.75L of water. Most noticeably I had no need for roadside toilet visits and my appetite was normal for once on the ride itself. Today I'm especially ravenous which hasn't been the case for years. It seems that I might finally be moving in the right direction and wondered how my drinking compared with others on the ride given that it wasn't generally so hot for sweating to be a concern.

I'd dearly liked to have had another portion of that lovely vegetable chilli at the finish, Linda, but I had (as too often) to dash to Wellington to get the last train home. Many thanks to John, Linda, Joolz and other helpers along the way and to all at those brilliant controls. One of the highlights of the year as always.

[simonp]

Well done to simonp who looked chipper at Abergwesyn and was the only rider that I noticed on fixed this year. Amazing self-discipline not to eat for 200k into such winds and hills. Certainly nothing I could have managed.

Not quite! I was carrying home made rice cakes which I munched as I went. They weigh 1.75kg so I was keen to get through them!

[Blade]

Well...it was certainly an 'interesting' ride.
My riding companion Stuart and I struggled against the strong headwind for the first 90 miles. Did anybody else notice a headwind?
Due to the headwind, we struggled to build any sort of time buffer at all. Leaving Abergwesn, we had 20 minutes in hand.
Reaching Tregaron, we didn't seem to have anything left in our legs and still seemed to be pushing a headwind as we left the control.
At the top of the Cwmystwyth climb we came to the conclusion that we weren't going to arrive at Rhyader within the time limit, so a discussion of what we were going to do was held.
We had two options.
1 Carry on as fast as we were able to and although our ride wouldn't be ratified, we'd done all we could.
2 Turn it into a social ride, with extra rests and no time pressures. Just getting to the finish eventually.
We chose option 2
Packing was never considered.

At Rhyader, well out of time, we telephoned John Hamilton and told him of our plans and told him 'not to wait up for us at the finish'.
Over a latte and pasties, we formulated our plans for the ride back.
We knew that Little Brampton would be closed by the time we arrived there, so decided not to visit and formulated an alternative, less complicated, route back which would hopefully include places with 24 hour garages selling food and drink.
Stopped at the garage at Cross Gates and had conversations with customers enquiring about all the cyclist they'd seen that evening.
Suffered all the way to Knighton and failed to find an open garage  Started to get a bit chilly. Put all our warm clothing on.
Near Bucknell, we detoured from the 'official' route and went on to Craven Arms. By this time it was 'DAMNED COLD'
Garage at Craven Arms was closed 
Rode up the A49 to Church Stretton. Garage was open  Girl in the kiosk said, "we don't sell coffee at night" 
We were shivering with cold at this point.
Pressed on to the finish, about 2 hours out of time. Hall was in darkness.
We'd ridden 193 miles.
Loaded the bikes into the car and drove home with the heater on full blast.
Breakfast consisted of cheese on toast and whiskey 

Great event, as always. In spite of not finishing within the time limits we still had a good day out on the bikes and it was certainly character building.
Hopefully no headwind next year.

[jamesld8]

Very tough day---and slowest of my 3 Elenydd rides, taking shade under 15 hours riding time cf 13.5 last year and got back at 12:30 am from a 7 am start. So nearly two and half hours at controls.....need to sort that out and cut back `controlling / eating` times

Wind was very difficult all way from Shobdon to Tregaron and spent far too long at control 1--home for breakfast-- than I should have done so was out on my own for that whole stretch. But very little rain and plenty sunshine; crystal clear air gave wonderful views down to Carmarthen fans from the Tregaron Mtn road.

Control @ Abergweswyn really good, nice  welcome and plenty food even at tail end of field. Stopped briefly at Tregaron reached at 16:00 hr, looked enviously at the Scotches the controllers were imbibing, avoided and settled for a pint shandy and jkt spud instead,  and then fortunately had advantage of tailwind  from then on, but although easier going average speed didn`t pick up that much.

From Rhayader onwards just decided to take it steady being now an hour behind planned schedule; Wheelwrights stop seemed a long time coming. Temperature by then was dropping quickly and near Ratlinghope Garmin recorded 2c, full winter gear weather. Then a great long descent down thro` Longnor and back 

Thanks John and Linda for another great event and your hard work getting it all together

[Aunt Maud]

Well that was a fun filled long weekend of Welsh touring.

Up and over the staircase both ways was fun and it was nice to see a bit of scenery and some old/ragged faces.

[Andydauddwr]

Well...it was certainly an 'interesting' ride....

That's the spirit of Audax right there - well done!

I last rode the Elenith on the front of a tandem with Jasmine back in '11.  It had been long enough to forget how much 'fun' all of that climbing provides and that's not factoring for John's added value since taking over the ride.  That plus the fact that I wanted an interesting 300 qualifier for PBP and where better to spend the weekend...

The rain was a bit character building to start with and it was a long unrelenting slog into the wind all of the way to Tregaron.  Call me old fashioned, but I actually like to stop and eat at controls although aimed for no more than 20 mins in each and more or less stuck to that.  I was out-geared on the staircase so had to walk most of it, but rode up everything else.  I had some pretty serious back ache by Tregs, but gather others were similar.  The run back was a lot more pleasant with a good push from the wind plus climbs that I regularly train on.  It was another one of those rides where my pace didn't quite suit anybody else, so I spent most of the riding time alone.

The final leg dragged on a bit and the decent wasn't worth the climbing really trying to find a line between grit in the road centre and potholes nearside.  Still that plus a regular stream of twunts driving past kept me awake to the end.  I got in a little after 10 which I was happy enough with.

I couldn't face another night in the hall due to my excellent light sleeping skills, so bedded down in the car until first light and then made my way home on nice empty roads.

Many thanks to John, Linda, Joolz, Edwin, Gareth and team in Tregaron and all of the other helpers for making it happen!

I wanted to do something a little harder than usual and I think this met the bill.

Now just need to recover for a rather more sedate 400 next weekend in the form of the Blinder.

Andy

[crazy diamond]

Absolutely wonderful day out.  Magnificent scenery, and all those hills.  Blue skies and sunshine, well after 8am anyway. I enjoyed every single moment, but seeing the Red Kites above the mountain road was a bit special.  I rode the second half with Ben Ryle, and both of us were first timers at 300 km, albeit at very different ends of the age scale.  I've left it a bit late, at 3 months short of my 65th birthday, but was very touched by people congratulating me at the finish.  Thanks.  And thanks also to John Hamilton and all his team for their efforts.  Very much appreciated.

[mattc]

Well done to simonp who looked chipper at Abergwesyn and was the only rider that I noticed on fixed this year. Amazing self-discipline not to eat for 200k into such winds and hills. Certainly nothing I could have managed.

Not quite! I was carrying home made rice cakes which I munched as I went. They weigh 1.75kg so I was keen to get through them!

Whatever - have a pat-on-the-back from me for doing A Long Ride without:
- going off too fast, OR
- bonking at least once.

With practice I think you could get quite good at this game. 

[vistaed]

Not the worst ever Audax for me, but that was only because of some excellent highlights. I was (still am) getting over flu, my sleeping mat deflated rapidly during the night resulting in a terrible night sleep, actually sleep is not something I did much of, and I'd forgotten to pack to waterproff, overshoes, sealskins or anything that would help to keep any part of me dry. I'd not even started to ride yet. As expected, I lacked power, my throat got worse as the day went on sucking in the cold headwind, swolllowing and talking became painful. To be honest, I would probably have called it a day at Shobdon if it had not been for my long term riding partner. He moved to Bristol early last year so we don't get to ride much these days and despite an 80 mile spin last weekend hadn't ridden more than 40 miles since last July. I wasn't going to quit and mess up his ride. But enougth of the moaning, the rain eased off soon enough and the sun came out leaving beautiful valleys. I do love seeing such a defined trailing edge of a front disappear away from me. Highlights of the ride were - getting out on a ride with my friend - getting from Rhayder to Little Brampton in 2 hours (I found my legs) - hitting 46 mph on two occasions - and as always the excellence event organisation. Many thanks.

[Von Broad]

Well....there are longer rides and I'm sure there are harder rides on the AUK calender, but I was thinking yesterday as I was hauling my way round the Elenydd, that this must surely be serious ride by anybody's standards.

Must admit, I felt very disconnected from everybody and everything in the hall prior to setting off, I was really quite
nervous about whether I could get round again, particularly on the recumbent I was riding and the newly revised Undulates version of the event [new to me that is]. I was always on the time limit in Kidderminster, so this was going to push that a bit more. And then, just prior to setting off, the rain started. Great.

Made my usual stop at the bakers in Bullith Wells for a pie and savoury slice.

Chain snapped on the pass out to Tregaron. We are empowered when we have chain-links. Never go anywhere, like this, without them.

It was well windy, but the sun shone, and when it does it lights up the whole landscape, and there's such beauty out there, it's always a delight to see.

Good to see the chippie's still open for business in Rhayder. I always drop in there.
After Rhayder, I felt really quite vulnerable in those lanes after turning off the A44. Blimey, It's dark and quiet out
there isn't it? Like..... where are the villages? Where are the houses? You'd expect to be passing through some kind of habitation, but there's not a lot out there, that's for sure. This ain't the place I want a mechanical! As Andy was saying that descent in Shrewsbury takes plenty of concentration in the dark, especially after the tiredness that is 280km. I must have got through a set of disc pads controlling the descent speed.

A small somewhat self-interested, but quite pleasing stat for me was to see that my first Elenith on recumbent in 2007 [glorious weather] was 19.50hr, and yesterday was 19.30hr. Eight years older and still hanging in there, albeit by a thread, but still hanging in there.

Blade - your words speak clearly of the suffering. You were still in time at Tregaron, but it's such a problem when you know you've got to stop, you need to stop, but ideally, it would also be good to keep going too because time is ticking away.

Once your up against the time limit on a ride like that, it's so hard to claw anything back. And then it all starts to slip
away. But well done to both of you for making your way home. Strength in numbers too.

It's an absolute classic ride, and I've not regretted any of the six times I've ridden it, but it will always be a bit of a
brute that has be grappled with - right on the edge of what I'm capable of finishing.
That may be the last outing. [At some points in the ride it was going to be my last Audax ever....sometimes I think I'm getting close to that now]. Until the next time maybe. What a ride.

Many thanks to John and Linda [nice to see Joolz at the start], the team at Abergweswyn and everybody else who made it happen.

[Von Broad]

I've left it a bit late, at 3 months short of my 65th birthday, but was very touched by people congratulating me at the finish.

Hey, that's great.

[jamesld8]

Absolutely wonderful day out.  Magnificent scenery, and all those hills.  Blue skies and sunshine, well after 8am anyway. I enjoyed every single moment, but seeing the Red Kites above the mountain road was a bit special.  I rode the second half with Ben Ryle, and both of us were first timers at 300 km, albeit at very different ends of the age scale.  I've left it a bit late, at 3 months short of my 65th birthday, but was very touched by people congratulating me at the finish.  Thanks.  And thanks also to John Hamilton and all his team for their efforts.  Very much appreciated.

Well done Chris---glad you enjoyed it (and didn`t need a wake up call  ) and sorry not catch up with you after event, just as I got in you were heading off to your VW. It`s a real classic event and the weather was brilliant, you got a superb day for your first 300 !

[simonp]

John told me at the finish that he's thinking about putting on his hilly 300k next year. 6000m climbing - I might have to take gears to that one.

[vistaed]

John told me at the finish that he's thinking about putting on his hilly 300k next year. 6000m climbing - I might have to take gears to that one.

Sounds like fun

[Somnolent]

Nobody's mentioned the lambs.... innumerable numbers of small fluffy lambs, still that perfectly almost-white colour, and did I mention they were cute?

Although in the last group back last year we failed to achieve lanterne rouge.   Rectified that this year though.  Just 12 minutes to spare per the GPS.    Sorry to John & Linda for keeping them up so late at the end of a very long day, but fabulous event as always.

[Aunt Maud]

Yes, the sheep were lovely and fluffy. Nice to see someone else cutting their weekends rides on the fine side too.

Was that you doing the Blue Peter craft demonstration at the breakfast table ?

[Somnolent]

No sticky-back plastic in sight !
but yes, I have been know to modify and fabricate various bits of kit 

[bikey-mikey]

A fabulous day - OK I got a bit behind getting ready for the start, and as I left at 7 mins past 6, everyone had already b*ggered off....

When you're  light, like me, the headwind is a real bitch.. still I made good progress, bounced a few controls, and made my way through the field... Then came the Staircase... I've been up there at least ten times before, and never had to walk, however they've just cut down all the trees, and the wind was gusting from the northwest, unhindered by trees, and that first ramp goes northwest. I was going up just fine - full effort for sure, but getting there, and then a random gust of epic proportions just completely stopped me, like hitting a wall mid pedal, and I thought "shall I try to balance till it passes, or get off before I fall?".. as I'm useless at balancing I unclipped and ended up walking ten metres to the bend, where I was able to get back on again...

As the day wore on I had fun playing tortoise and hare with a few mini pelotons... they scream by you burning off their glycogen, then collapse at the next control to refuel while I sail on by... Then it happens again, and again.... Of course if there are five of them, riding tight on each other's wheels, then four are at a 20% advantage, and the one in front gains 10% (rough figures gleaned from endless Tour de France commentator drivel..) ..... I wonder if I'd have seen any of them more than once if they'd been riding solo??

I just had to have a sanity break and some of the speedy food at Tregaron, having nearly become a bug on a range rovers windscreen.  What gives him the right to drive round blind bends on a single track road at nearly 50 mph I wonder??? OK I was going nearly as fast, and thank heavens for my hydraulic discs....

It was great to meet friends old and new, and the welcome back at Upton Magna was as good as ever.. Nice to see Joolz, and John n Linda's catering was 'above' scratch (meaning excellent)

Congrats to all the finishers, whether in time or not, and congrats to the org's team for a faultless event !!

[tonyh]

....the bend, where I was able to get back on again

Seriously impressed!!

Thanks all for the excellent and varied accounts.

[Ultradiscostu]

Short report of my Yr Elenydd ride here http://www.ultradiscostu.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/elliptigo-yr-elenydd-300k-audax-ride.html

don't take any offence about my comment that cyclists always moan about headwinds!  hehe

[Ultradiscostu]

And to the chap who I was discussing his new fancy OnePlus phone with at the last control - that one conversation has just cost me £290 today thanks for that! 

[U.N.Dulates]

Thanks everyone. I've managed to catch up with the paperwork (and sleep) now.

Provisional results are up on the AUK website - 6am start and 7am start.
[EDIT 7am start link corrected]

Final combined stats - 144 entries, 114 starters and 107 successful finishers.

Entries for the 7am start were significantly lower than the 6am, and with a much higher DNS rate. So it didn't really achieve its target aim of spreading the field out before the first control, and there didn't seem to be any extra overall demand resulting from PBP year (everyone looking for an easier ride I reckon) and just meant it was 3am before I got to bed rather than 2. So it's unlikely that I'll repeat it.

A few notable mentions...

A new record for the 'new' Elenydd course with the first rider back in 12h25 (still got a way to go to beat the 'old' Elenith record of 11h33 tho'). Either we had more fast riders this year or the wind wasn't really that bad as 9 riders made it round in under 14 hours.

First trike completion (Dan Howard) and first recumbent (von Broad) on the new course.
2 ElliptiGO completions (ultradiscostu and Glyn Marston)
2 tandems (& a new tandem record from 321up)

Jessica Connor and rabbit joining the exclusive club of solo female riders (now up to 4)
Mrs PpPete joining the even more exclusive club of ladies who've ridden more than once

As always, massive thanks to all the controls and the volunteers who came out to help run them. The Elenydd wouldn't be the same without them. The new control venue at Abergwesyn seemed to be well received, definitely one to keep for the future.

My ride didn't go so well. A late call from Ed Hargraves offering to help rather than ride meant I got a late pass out to ride my own event for once. I did need to be back for midnight though to put the organisers hat back on for the late shift at the finish. A combination of general lardiness, still having the route check from the previous weekend in my legs meant I just didn't really get going. Organising work in the week before the event doesn't really make for stress free relaxing build up to a big ride. The wind from Shobdon then finished me off so it was nearly 4pm by the time I got to Tregaron and was playing yo-yo with vonBroad on his recumbent. The midnight finish wasn't going to happen so I bailed for the train back from Aberystwyth.

That's it from me for this year. After 12 years of organising culminating in last year's Mille Cymru it's time to take a break so I'm not running any other events in 2015. There is still Ed Hargraves Snowdon & Coast 400 and accompanying 4 Rivers events at the end of May for anyone looking for another fix of Shropshire/Marches 'undulations', and I'll be back in 2016 for the 30th edition of the Elenith/Elenydd.

[swiss hat]

Thank you John, Linda and all the team for the 2015 Elenydd. A great ride!

[veloboy]

+1 to that!! I'm already lloking forward to the 2016 edition!!