Author Topic: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo  (Read 7758 times)

Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« on: 09 April, 2016, 02:29:26 pm »
Anyone doing the double this year ?

If so, anyone planning to ride between the two ... ?


Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #1 on: 11 April, 2016, 12:51:57 pm »
.... anyone .... ?

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #2 on: 11 April, 2016, 12:53:05 pm »
Not this year. I'm saving myself...

LMT

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #3 on: 11 April, 2016, 12:58:56 pm »
Someone is...(not me)

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #4 on: 11 April, 2016, 08:22:06 pm »
Someone is...(not me)

How mysterious ... Well, it's nice to know I won't be the only one whoever it is.

zigzag

  • unfuckwithable
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #5 on: 11 April, 2016, 10:02:56 pm »
only just seen this.

i plan to do both, but yet to organise trains and accommodation (and perhaps a wider range cassette!)

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #6 on: 13 April, 2016, 08:41:26 am »
See you at the start(s) then !

Fingers crossed for the weather - and the state of my legs that weekend.

Can't wait ...

Bianchi Boy

  • Cycling is my doctor
  • Is it possible for a ride to be too long?
    • Reading Cycling Club
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #7 on: 02 May, 2016, 09:33:24 am »
Hi,

I shared a room with Zogzag before the BC and saw him at the end. He was going to ride to Poole for the start of Porkers and I could not put him off by suggesting a train to Dorchester ???

Have not heard how he is going on the Porkers, hope he is well and wonder if he plans to ride home to London after the end of Porkers?

Makes me wish I had ridden home, but on reflection I was knackered at the end of the BC. Think the cold got in my bones.

BB
Set a fire for a man and he will be warm for a day, set a man on fire and he is warm for the rest of his life.

zigzag

  • unfuckwithable
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #8 on: 02 May, 2016, 12:08:20 pm »
an update: a route chepstow-poole that i've downloaded via ridewithgps had an off-road sections through fields, mud and loose gravel, i lost quite a bit of time there, plus there was a stiff southerly headwind and steep hills - all combined meant i was late to the start by half an hour. so my second ever dns. i wouldn't do the train in between as this would somewhat diminish the challenge i set out to do! :thumbsup:
cycled over to southampton airport to catch the last direct train to london with 6min to spare.

Genosse Brymbo

  • Ostalgist
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #9 on: 02 May, 2016, 09:13:55 pm »
zigzag, how many miles did you end up doing with all this riding to Poole then Southampton?  I'm happy if I've enough energy left to mow the lawn the day after BC400.
The present is a foreign country: they do things differently here.

zigzag

  • unfuckwithable
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #10 on: 02 May, 2016, 09:30:06 pm »
zigzag, how many miles did you end up doing with all this riding to Poole then Southampton?  I'm happy if I've enough energy left to mow the lawn the day after BC400.

thank you for the room at tl, much appreciated! brevet cymru was 414k, ride down to poole 146k and poole to southampton 60k, with riding to/from the stations 672k. i do feel tired, which i expect after such distance with lots of climbing.

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #11 on: 02 May, 2016, 09:54:00 pm »
Chapeau for the effort Zigzag!
The two times I did the 'double' was facilitated by transport arranged between Chepstow-Poole by driving. I thin riding it would be indeed an extreme challenge, as the terrain in between in pretty hilly and shortest routes heavily laden with local motor traffic.
Porkers was hard, felt damp, wet and windy at times - and those pitch black lanes!
Maybe a challenge for next year - so much depends on the weather conditions on the day.

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #12 on: 02 May, 2016, 11:31:10 pm »
Great effort Rimas  :thumbsup: but I thought you learned your lesson on the TCR about trusting GPS software to plan your routes!

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #13 on: 03 May, 2016, 08:34:09 am »
Sorry to see you had routing problems zigzag. I don't trust ridewithgps routes enough to ride them without thorough checking now - not after being put onto a muddy bridleway in the rain at 2 a.m. on a ride anyway. I like cyclocross, but not in the middle of a 500 !

I looked out for you on the Porkers to say hello, and then Shawn told me you hadn't started when I reached the Winterbourne control. I think I was the only one who rode both rides this year. Is that right ? Did anyone else do it ?

It was tough to ride both and ride between them too. I only got 3 1/2 hours sleep all weekend and my legs feel odd to not be pedalling now. I was dragged round Porkers by andyp & gadget - for which I'm very grateful !

After the mist closed in after the climb out of Longbreedy I started to run out of steam and I was glad to get to Beaminster just to have a good feed. And after that, I was just happy to keep going. Porkers is a tough ride at the best of times, but with the extra miles and iffy weather it was obviously harder work for me this year. It's a great event though - one of my favourite rides.

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #14 on: 03 May, 2016, 08:37:29 am »
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Top stuff!
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

JonB

  • Granny Ring ... Yes Please!
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #15 on: 03 May, 2016, 10:19:33 am »
Wow, really just wow. I was struggling to ride back to Bristol after the Brevet let alone to Dorset to start another ride. Well done GPS and Zigzag (even though you didn't make the Porkers, it was hugely impressive just to get there and back home).

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #16 on: 03 May, 2016, 10:55:52 am »
And, GPS did the whole thing from/to home - the perfect way.


zigzag

  • unfuckwithable
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #17 on: 03 May, 2016, 12:22:36 pm »
well done GPS, i would have liked to ride it and was looking for a way to contact the organiser and ask whether it's ok to start later on my own an collect the card at one of the controls (via another rider). on the other hand i was happy to be done with riding and be able to have a hot long shower and cosy bed that night. thank you for the words of support everyone!

simonp

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #18 on: 03 May, 2016, 12:36:31 pm »
Chapeau indeed.

I too have found myself on a farm track riding a DIY 200k planned via google maps heading down to Dorset.

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #19 on: 03 May, 2016, 01:35:36 pm »
I did the double two years ago. Rode to Chepstow after work, then BC on Saturday. Made my way to Poole and slept in my sleeping bag on the way. Then grovelled around Porkers.
I caught the train home. I would have liked to have slept in Poole after Porkers then ridden home but that would have cost more money than a train home as well as a day off work I coud use for another ride.
Not an easy double!

Bernster

  • ACME (Herts Branch)
Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #20 on: 03 May, 2016, 03:00:11 pm »
Chapeau GPS. When I saw you at Corscombe on the Porkers and you mentioned that you'd been hallucinating, I did wonder why... this explains everything - fantastic effort!  :thumbsup:

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #21 on: 03 May, 2016, 05:08:47 pm »
well done GPS, i would have liked to ride it and was looking for a way to contact the organiser and ask whether it's ok to start later on my own an collect the card at one of the controls (via another rider). on the other hand i was happy to be done with riding and be able to have a hot long shower and cosy bed that night. thank you for the words of support everyone!

My commiserations Zigzag, you looked in a capable shape when you set-off for the start of The Porkers.

Just for information, a rider can start a BRM event up to one hour after the official start time, although I'm not sure if the organiser has to remain at the start during this time. Before the logical arguments start - by implication the organiser would appear to remain at start for that time, but equally they could make cards available at departure by (say) attaching cards to a door at the ride departure.

Fortunately this is seldom an issue for me, as I'm always at the ride departure for at least an hour for my BRM events, either cleaning halls or getting prepared for another supporting event.
where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #22 on: 03 May, 2016, 07:21:22 pm »
Chapeau GPS. When I saw you at Corscombe on the Porkers and you mentioned that you'd been hallucinating, I did wonder why... this explains everything - fantastic effort!  :thumbsup:

Cheers !

To be honest, I can't really remember much of that night - that's probably due to sleep deprivation too. It was an eerie night to be riding around Dorset in the small hours though. Trippy.


Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #23 on: 21 January, 2018, 09:49:37 am »
Anyone up for this in 2018 ?

Re: Brevet Cymru / Porkers combo
« Reply #24 on: 21 January, 2018, 06:32:40 pm »
Eh, tempting, but...
having done it two times (once I thought was 'enough', then a two year hiatus, and the second was 'really enough'!).
It really depends on the weather, and your physical condition.
One both occasions, I had a lift from Chepstow to Poole.
I did intend a third go (I think last year), but the forecast was atrocious for Porkers, and having had a rough (but good) Brevet Cymru, decided to call it a day.