Possible New 200km Perm. 'Montgomery Madness'

[Philip Whiteman]

At the Beacon, we are currently in the early stages of drafting a possible new permanent and would welcome any view from anyone who knows the area, the suggested route and attractiveness, etc.

bikehike.co.uk - Course Creator

Controls:

Bewdley
Bromyard
Ludlow
Knighton
Montgomery
Church Stretton
(Monkhopton info control) or possibly Bridgnorth
Bewdley

All venues have an easy facility to obtain control evidence (ATMS, cafes, etc). Riders can start at any control.

The route takes in a lot of climbing (3340m) and varied countryside. Perhaps the most well known climbs include Stiperstones, Long Mynd and Wenlock Edge.  But there are some other formidable ones too: Stanford Bank, Mortimers Forest, New Invention and White Grit. Certainly the section between Montgomery and Wenlock Edge can only be described as stunning.

This proposal is still very outline.  It has yet to be submitted to AUK for route and AAA verification plus I need to double check the draft route card.   It stands at 207km although Autoroute suggest 201km.  

My slight concerns are over the number of controls but I see very few ways around this when making the route feasible.

[Chris N]

Looks very nice indeed.  I often ride through the area heading to and from mid Wales.  The Ludlow - Knighton - Montgomery - Church Stretton section is properly scenic.

Church Stoke is good alternative to Montgomery for a control, though would be under distance as it stands - the cafe and petrol station at Harry Tuffins - and you might need to put an info at Stiperstones/The Bog to make this work and then head to Much Wenlock instead of Bridgnorth.

You don't actually need the control at Church Stretton either - the shortest route is still over Stiperstones and the Long Mynd.

[Philip Whiteman]

Looks very nice indeed.  I often ride through the area heading to and from mid Wales.  The Ludlow - Knighton - Montgomery - Church Stretton section is properly scenic.

Church Stoke is good alternative to Montgomery for a control, though would be under distance as it stands - the cafe and petrol station at Harry Tuffins - and you might need to put an info at Stiperstones/The Bog to make this work and then head to Much Wenlock instead of Bridgnorth.

You don't actually need the control at Church Stretton either - the shortest route is still over Stiperstones and the Long Mynd.

Hmm, yes I think that you are possibly right.  The Bog also has an excellent tea room in the Visitor Centre and yes it may make a good stop for an info control.  

Tuffins is better for a 24 hour control due to the garage and ATM - as well as the greasy spoon familiar to Kidderminster Killers. But a sadistic side of me says Montgomery in order to route riders via Chirbury and then up the steepest climb of the day - the kilometre long 1:7 from Priests Weston to White Grit

Thanks for the feedback and glad you sound the like of it.  There are surprisingly few perms in this area.

[JohnHamilton]

Looks good. Very Kidderminster Killer'ish.

Shortest route using those controls comes out at 200.4k in AR2004 so fine for distance.

Personally I'd avoid Info Controls on a Perm unless there really is no other alternative. They're a pain to maintain, as I found out this year on my 300. Council had been round putting new signs up which instantly rendered all my questions (and you need 4 for a perm) useless.

To reduce the number of controls I'd suggest:

Remove Monkhopton/Bridgnorth altogether and go straight from Stretton to Bewdley. THis would give a good cross country route over Wenlock Edge at Rushbury (a harder climb than you've got on the main Stretton - Wenlock road) then Ditton Priors, Cleobury Nth & Stottesdon to Kinlet. Drops the distance by 4k.

Welshpool has probably got the best options for controls around Montgomery. Tuffins is good in Churchstoke but nothing there when they're not open. Not a lot in Montgomery. Welshpool is more distance but would also throw in another climb of the Long Mountain on the way.

You'd then be over distance so could remove Ludlow, and instead from Bromyard via Leysters, cross the A49 at Woofferton to Richard's Castle and over The Goggin instead of Mortimer Forest. That all comes out at 209k and just 4 controls.

A good route even with 6 controls. If you want someone to proof test your route card drop me a line. I'll take the GPS round and get you a proper climbing figure.

I should have some more perms of my own round here sorted over the winter as well.

[Philip Whiteman]

Cheers.  The info is extremely helpful.  When you say 200.4km, is that with or without the info control?

Anyway, I have dropped you a PM.

[mikewigley]

I've also got a 300 Perm to Montgomery in mind, but this one from the Stockport area.  There is a cafe at Montgomery run by the wife of an active cyclist and occasional  Audax rider - the Ivy House Cafe - on the corner of Church Bank and B4385.  There's also an open-long-hours Spar shop on Broad Street which gives good receipts