Pengwern Pedal - 2017

[Lee Killestein]

Weather looks about as good as you could hope for at this time of year. It'll be nice to visit the cafe at Lake Vyrnwy for the fifth time this year! Who else is in? 

[whosatthewheel]

I'm in for the 200 Beyond Shropshire, so hopefully they'll have bacon left by the time I get there. 

It's going to be a corker... no doubt!

[Lee Killestein]

I'll try not to eat it all, 6am start though, so no guarantees! 

[U.N.Dulates]

Thread from last year to whet your appetite https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=98775.msg2067398#msg2067398 This year's route is a bit easier to account for being a month later in the year with correspondingly less daylight, but it's still spectacular.

Forecast is looking better than last Saturday for the route check. We managed to escape with only a couple of drenchings though. There is a lot of water around out in Wales at the moment. I'm biased but the middle bit of this route is just awesome (and very tough on a tandem).

[αdαmsκι]

I'm in for the 200 Beyond Shropshire

Me too. I'm getting the direct train from Euston to Shrewsbury after work on Friday, camping at HQ both nights and I'll be helping Mr Dulates on Saturday night after I've finished the 200. Should be a good final ride of the season.

[whosatthewheel]

I'm in for the 200 Beyond Shropshire

Me too. I'm getting the direct train from Euston to Shrewsbury after work on Friday, camping at HQ both nights and I'll be helping Mr Dulates on Saturday night after I've finished the 200. Should be a good final ride of the season.

Fixed? 

[αdαmsκι]

Fixed?

Yeah, why not?

[JohnL]

I'll be there for the Pengwern Pedal.  I am slightly terrified, I think this will be the steepest Audax I've done to date (climbing/ distance, previous steepest was the BCM).

Still, I've decided 2018 will be the year of the hill, so may as well finish this season in the way I intend to carry on!

I'll be camping both nights. Anyone going to the pub for pre ride carb loading?

John

[whosatthewheel]

I'll be there for the Pengwern Pedal.  I am slightly terrified, I think this will be the steepest Audax I've done to date (climbing/ distance, previous steepest was the BCM).

Still, I've decided 2018 will be the year of the hill, so may as well finish this season in the way I intend to carry on!

I'll be camping both nights. Anyone going to the pub for pre ride carb loading?

John

Is there a pub in Upton Magna?

[whosatthewheel]

Fixed?

Yeah, why not?

You'll probably be OK... we go up Long Mynd and Bwlch-Y-Groes via the shallow sides

[U.N.Dulates]

I'll be there for the Pengwern Pedal.  I am slightly terrified, I think this will be the steepest Audax I've done to date (climbing/ distance, previous steepest was the BCM).

Still, I've decided 2018 will be the year of the hill, so may as well finish this season in the way I intend to carry on!

I'll be camping both nights. Anyone going to the pub for pre ride carb loading?

John

Is there a pub in Upton Magna?

Yes, the Haughton. Is popular on a Friday night so recommend reserving a table if you want to eat. Google Haughmond Upton Magna for the website.

[αdαmsκι]

Weather Bagel predicts rain for the 200 (and therefore I'd assume for the 300 as well): http://www.weatherbagel.com/f/2871bff5-c718-40ee-aa5e-0cf9a709cb1d

I'll have to have my beer on the train because I won't be getting into Shrewsbury until just before 9pm.

[whosatthewheel]

Weather Bagel predicts rain for the 200 (and therefore I'd assume for the 300 as well): http://www.weatherbagel.com/f/2871bff5-c718-40ee-aa5e-0cf9a709cb1d

I'll have to have my beer on the train because I won't be getting into Shrewsbury until just before 9pm.

As you enter the National Park it starts to rain, it's a must... doesn't look like much to worry about

[JohnL]

It's Wales. Rain is a given.

John

[U.N.Dulates]

There's a reason that big reservoir is there...

If it's anything like last Saturday then the showers were very localised and down to luck whether you got one or not. Climbing up the Eunant from Vyrnwy we got rain, and clearly had just missed some very heavy rain as there was a lot of water running down the road. Turning right at the T by the cross the road was bone dry, no rain at all.

[whosatthewheel]

Thanks to John and Lynda for another awesome and challenging course... and great home made soup at the end.

Happy enough to be the first 200 finisher with Adamski 

[αdαmsκι]

Grr, I had two foot faults 

https://www.relive.cc/view/g14287577750

[Lee Killestein]

Hearty thanks to John and team for another beauty of a route and excellent food and drink at the start and finish. Overall I'd say we were lucky with the weather. The breathtaking scenery of North Wales helped to distract my mind from the punishing climbs. What a ride!

Thanks also to adamski who rode the 200 and then turned helper. Still laughing at my "what's in the crumble?" and your reply "does it matter!!!"

[whosatthewheel]

Grr, I had two foot faults 

https://www.relive.cc/view/g14287577750

What time did the couple on a tandem finish?

[αdαmsκι]

The tandem we saw finished at about 1:45am (I'd gone to bed by this point). The other tandem (321up) finished at around 11pm.

[whosatthewheel]

The tandem we saw finished at about 1:45am (I'd gone to bed by this point). The other tandem (321up) finished at around 11pm.

Definitively full value riders, finishing with 15 minutes in their hands... 

Chapeau though, must be a hard route for a tandem!

[beeblemaster]

Thanks to John and team.  Thoroughly enjoyed the 160...

Part of me wishes I'd gone for the 200 for more of the good stuff.... but then I really wanted to ride Beware of the Plague today and I'd be in no fit state to do so if I had. 

[Alismed]

Peaches and apples, Lee K - hope it was good!

[Lee Killestein]

Peaches and apples, Lee K - hope it was good!

Very nice it was too! 

[whosatthewheel]

Thanks to John and team.  Thoroughly enjoyed the 160...

Part of me wishes I'd gone for the 200 for more of the good stuff.... but then I really wanted to ride Beware of the Plague today and I'd be in no fit state to do so if I had. 

The stretch between lake Vyrnwy, Bwlch-Y-Groes and the Bwlch-Y-Safn pass was probably the most scenic, so yes... you should have done the 200