St Lucy's Day 200K

[Jeff in Wales]

Just wanted to say thanks to JayP and his helpers for organizing this yesterday.

A very challenging ride for me due to the cold. Lots of icy patches beside the roads throughout the day indicating that temperatures were not climbing much. Kept pace with a couple of riders in blue (I think one had VC167 jersey on) on the way into Llangollen but they quickly dispensed with me on the long steady climb out - I was wondering to myself as they vanished into the distance about were they get their energy / stamina from. I wish I had some of it.

Had to stop in Bala for a pasty and to exercise the frozen extremities. Felt quite miserable on the way in to Dolgellau due to frozen fingers and toes. Legs really didn't want to turn the cranks. Some fresh snow to be seen on the mountain peaks on the approach to Dolgellau.

A substantial lunch at the Ty Bwyta Da cafe of cheese & brocolli bake with chips and onion rings washed down with a couple of cups of coffee soon warmed things up.

A better start on the return leg. Stopped again in Bala to put the rear light on although there was still some daylight left. It got dark between Bala and Llangollen so my spirits began to sag again. Passed the Hamiltons on their tandem as I approached the bridge there (didn't overtake them they'd stopped for R&R I presume).

A final stop in Corwen for Jelly Babies and chocolate. Another rider whose name I didn't catch pulled up to get some water as I was stood outside and after brief pleasantries I set off again.

About maybe 30K from the end the Hamiltons overtook me on their tandem. That provided a bit of motivation and I  managed to keep up with them until perhaps the last 5k or so. I must say, they did fairly fly down some of the descents although I caught up a little on the inclines. Not long after giving up on trying to keep them in my sights I made a wrong turn and headed down the A595 but fortunately realised my mistake before too long.

The Raven cafe that we set off from in the morning was closed when I got back at around 19:30 ish. If I'd bothered to RTFI properly I'd have known that Steve Gloster ('Jethro') was waiting in the adjacent pub ready to sign off Brevet cards rather than me posting it back to JayP. Sorry for that.

Thanks again for a good ride. Best regards to everyone else I met briefly along the way.

 
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/3868671

[The Seldom Killer]

I had a good day out on that. The journey there wasn't as much fun though. Set off from home at stupid O'clock to find the roads a little on the frosty side. Despite my misgivings I hoped gritting had occured and headed onto the Snake Pass. Alas half way to the Snake Inn things started to feel NOT GOOD. Little bumps were shimmying the van sideways and steering rapidly went down hill. I took the sensible choice and pulled into the closest thing resembling a layby. I sat there for 25 minutes resigned to my fate of being parked up for the duration and heading home when conditions improved.

Luckily for me the gritter came past freeing me from my icy prison and I pootle slowly over the top of the hill and down into Glossop. The slow progress and stoppage meant I made it to the start bang on 8am so I set off half an hour late with JayP. The good Mr Perrin's pace wasn't enough to warm me up so I started working a bit harder and rudely dropped him after a couple of miles. It was only on the couple of miles after the turn for Overton that the roads were tricky. There was ice about on the turn and in a couple of dips. After that it was pretty much plain sailing. The route was easy, the roads were good and the rising sun was countering the slight headwind.
The A5 from Llangollen to Corwen was all freshly resurfaced to a joy to ride in, although being tucked into the hill meant it was all in shade and cold. Half way from the A5 to Bala I suffered a broken spoke which was a bit of a pain but gave the rear wheel a rough truing that got me to town. Excellent service from RH Roberts, 2 spokes for a quid (one spare) and a quick replacement job put me back to normal service and the lovely run to Dolgellau.
The cafe was OK, a decent sized portion of beans on toast but crappy instant coffee despite drawing hot water from a Gaggia behind the counter. Hopefully a free control in future years because I know of another cafe in town that I prefer.
Took a while to get going again on the return leg so a bit of twiddling up hills to start with. Once back through Llanuwchllyn I was back up to speed and made it back to the Corwen in dark dusk where I bumped into Jeff. He set off ahead of me while I faffed and I might have caught up with him had I not faffed on the rest of the ride back to the finish. A stop in Llangollen to get new batteries. A stop in Ruabon to put the batteries in. A stop in Overton because hungry.
Made it back for around 7.30 but hadn't picked up the email about the finish control. So by the time I'd plodded around a bit, got changed in to civvies, bought some chips and a coffee and then asked some other riders if there was a controller, I was technically last back at 8pm.
John says the route option through Bangor on Dee has 80m less climbing so I would be inclined to go for that next time. If it's cold I'd rather keep up a flat spin than get sweaty on a climb and cold on a descent.
The scenery was stunning including views of snowcapped mountains and crystal clear lakes. All in, a great day out and about as good a winter brevet as you could hope for really. I'd strongly recommend this one as easy and very enjoyable.

[Mike Tatt]

Bit of trek out from Manchester to the start but more than worth the effort. Mainly A roads but with so little traffic and stunning views of snow capped hills they felt like b roads. Made some new Audaxing buddies with Paul and Nigel and look forward to riding more events with them some time in the future.

I was the wearer of the afore mentioned VC167 top btw. Well done all who finished this ride. Nice and sunny but the temperature made it quite challenging. Added thanks to John P for taking the trouble to host this event.