A Bridge Too Far

[Cycling Viking]

Doing first 600 in this event so on a scale of Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh to maybe doable - What's the event like?

[Lonewolff]

Very good event, mostly flat, a nice starter 600 I would say (but then again it is organized by our club so ...)

[MattH]

I'm very tempted by this as my first 600 - though mainly because it is one of the only two calendar 600s I am available for (the other being South then North).

[Cycling Viking]

Very good event, mostly flat, a nice starter 600 I would say (but then again it is organized by our club so ...)

Cool hope its a lovely weekend. In Widnes now watching rugby so might find the bridge in Warrington and drive a bit of the route ...... or maybe just head back south on the M6 and not contemplate how far 600km really is... ignorance is bliss.

[Cycling Viking]

Q. Am I the only entrant? Anyone done this before? Any other advice?

[vorsprung]

i have done it before.  The route follows the river Wye and then another river out of Wales.  It crosses the Cheshire plain.  So it is not designed to pack in lots of climbing.  For a mostly Welsh ride it is as near flat as you will get.  Scenery wise the middle bit through Builth Wells etc is loverly, out of Wales isn't so great and the end /start bit through Newport/Cardiff is a bit grim.  Facilities include some really good cafe stops.  Apparently this year there is a proper sleep stop too.  Last year I slept on a garage forecourt for an hour and finished fine.
 
I am doing it this year I hope, still got to book YHA etc

[Dodge]

Nope, you're not the only entrant, my entry is in the post today, and looking forward to this as my first 600Km.

A bit nervous of the step-up from 300Km, but nothing ventured and all that...plus it starts and finishes in my village and organised by my new club, so hey ho, never going to get a better first one than that!

See you on 5th July then

[Cycling Viking]

Nervous too - got a 400 km tomorrow but this 600 seems more daunting - glad to know it is fairly flat! See you all on the 5th! Ride well.

[Ian H]

I'm wondering whether to drag the fixed round it.

[MattH]

OK, I'm committed to this - or at least I've printed the entry, got my weekend pass approved and booked a travelodge for the start.

[vorsprung]

Cardiff YHA have a special on for bookings in July over the next few days

[Maladict]

My entry went in the post today.

[Dodge]

See you there fella!  Hope I have a better time of it than I did on the Dragon Ride, seem to be doing a lot of suffering recently and a lot of it seems to be down to general tiredness.  Felt bad within the first 10 minutes of that ride and never really got going.

Thank heaven I went out for rides yesterday and today and felt pretty good...mind who knows what my body will say to that long in the saddle!

I've got the route sheet now from Dave and the first thing that strikes me is the distance between the controls, much longer, but I guess that is to be expected...

[vorsprung]

... seem to be doing a lot of suffering recently and a lot of it seems to be down to general tiredness...

Make sure you "top up" on sleep.  Get some early nights the week before

[Cycling Viking]

So I wont be alone ! As this is a first 600 to complete a first year SR how different/difficult will it be versus a 400 that I turned into 488km by poor decision making? What's the best approach? Work hard to the sleep option at 370 then cruise home or sleep on the side of the road when you just can't stay awake? On the 400 30 minutes slumped under a lamppost in the middle of nowhere was the best sleep I've ever had. The 50km mistake was made earlier. How does start time impact as 370 from 6am seems like a midnight (ish) arrival?

Any nuggets gratefully read and then possibly ignored in face of fatigue and dreams of cake somewhere in Shropshire.

[Ian H]

So I wont be alone ! As this is a first 600 to complete a first year SR how different/difficult will it be versus a 400 that I turned into 488km by poor decision making? What's the best approach? Work hard to the sleep option at 370 then cruise home or sleep on the side of the road when you just can't stay awake? On the 400 30 minutes slumped under a lamppost in the middle of nowhere was the best sleep I've ever had. The 50km mistake was made earlier. How does start time impact as 370 from 6am seems like a midnight (ish) arrival?

Any nuggets gratefully read and then possibly ignored in face of fatigue and dreams of cake somewhere in Shropshire.

If you've done 488k then 600 is only a little bit more. If you feel you're going well enough to get some sleep, then working hard for the first bit could pay off. But don't exhaust yourself. See how it goes on the day, and say 'hello' to the bloke on the ancient black fixed.

[Ian H]

i have done it before.

The organiser tells me you're doing it again. Perhaps he's encouraging me to offer a lift.



Would you like a lift? There and/or back?

[Jethro]

Im down for this one now having abandoned last weeks Cambrian before I had even started.

Will be travelling down on the Friday and will hopefully find some local B&B near to the start.

[Dodge]

Well I'm starting to get really, really worried about this now!  The "I must be completely barking" feeling is coming in waves now along with the "I'm not doing it", followed closely by the "Don't be such a wimp" feeling!

Argggghhhhhhhhh!

It doesn't help that my last two events (Dragon Ride and Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge) did not go too well, so confidence is pretty low at the moment.

But I will be there...

[Maladict]

Im down for this one now having abandoned last weeks Cambrian before I had even started.

Will be travelling down on the Friday and will hopefully find some local B&B near to the start.

I have a twin (family) room booked fri & sun night (cardiff central travelodge) if that would help - 71 quid for the fri night though.    29 for the sun night.

[mattc]

It doesn't help that my last two events (Dragon Ride and Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge) did not go too well, so confidence is pretty low at the moment.

But I will be there...

You learn a lot more from the rides that go badly.

[Dodge]

It doesn't help that my last two events (Dragon Ride and Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge) did not go too well, so confidence is pretty low at the moment.

But I will be there...

You learn a lot more from the rides that go badly.

You would have thought so wouldn't you Matt...but I have a poor history of not learning

If I did learn I'd probably sell the bike and buy a tennis racket!

[Ian H]

If I did learn I'd probably sell the bike and buy a tennis racket!

Ha! Try doing even 100k on one of those.

[Dodge]

If I did learn I'd probably sell the bike and buy a tennis racket!

Ha! Try doing even 100k on one of those.

It would probably be less painful though! And I could wear a nice knitted cardigan a la Federer...very dapper!

[vorsprung]

i have done it before.

The organiser tells me you're doing it again. Perhaps he's encouraging me to offer a lift.



Would you like a lift? There and/or back?

You have PM