Author Topic: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018  (Read 5580 times)

αdαmsκι

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Having got unfinished business with The Irish Mail (I ditched ChrisN in Bangor & got the train back to Shrewbury :-[) and needing to get some climbing in my legs in preparation for the Alpi4000 I've now entered the Irish Mail 400 from Upton Magna. It's being organised by John Hamilton et al. so expect fantastic TLC at the manned controls, and some hills. In fact 5¼ AAA points worth of hills.

The route is here: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19576367 and details of the ride are here: http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/18-50/y


John's also offering the Snowdon & Lakes 300 the same day, which looks similar but without going across Anglesey http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/18-425/
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

https://tyredandhungry.wordpress.com/

whosatthewheel

I'm in for the 300... I made a few tweaks to the route to divert onto the Llangollen canal towpath and the Pontsycyllite aqueduct. Revised route available as GPX file if anyone wants it

U.N.Dulates

  • aka John Hamilton
And unfortunately now full up. Demand has been somewhat higher than I expected and way more than any of the original editions of the event. Couple of places left on the 300 but that's all folks.

All the significant climbing is in the 100k from Llanfyllin to Llanberis. Most people get to Pete's Eats later than they expect but all the hard work is done by that point. The A5 return leg in particular is a good fast run and the climbs are all well graded.

Route has already been ridden by ourselves last weekend. There's a new cafe for the control in trawsfynydd now so less on the A470 as you miss out Coed y Brenin. Holyhead control is new as well, now at the new truckstop on the edge of town. Good hot food, and a bar for your isotonic recovery drink :) Bangor Services is currently a building site so the next control is at Menai Bridge instead. It's a long overnight leg but the 24hr garage at Betws is there if needed. Danial Webb will be feeding you all at Llangollen and there will be airbeds etc if you need to get your head down before the final early morning run back through Shropshire for a full English at the finish.

whosatthewheel

And unfortunately now full up. Demand has been somewhat higher than I expected and way more than any of the original editions of the event. Couple of places left on the 300 but that's all folks.

All the significant climbing is in the 100k from Llanfyllin to Llanberis. Most people get to Pete's Eats later than they expect but all the hard work is done by that point. The A5 return leg in particular is a good fast run and the climbs are all well graded.

Route has already been ridden by ourselves last weekend. There's a new cafe for the control in trawsfynydd now so less on the A470 as you miss out Coed y Brenin. Holyhead control is new as well, now at the new truckstop on the edge of town. Good hot food, and a bar for your isotonic recovery drink :) Bangor Services is currently a building site so the next control is at Menai Bridge instead. It's a long overnight leg but the 24hr garage at Betws is there if needed. Danial Webb will be feeding you all at Llangollen and there will be airbeds etc if you need to get your head down before the final early morning run back through Shropshire for a full English at the finish.

Thanks John, Is Llangollen a manned control also for the 300?

Can't wait.  I rode the Snowdon and Coasts 400 in 2010. Cant remember the route but I do remember a fast run to Vrnwy then a hilly bit to Llanberis.

Do I need to reserve camping space?

αdαmsκι

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Phew. It sounds like I was one of the last entries on the 400.
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

https://tyredandhungry.wordpress.com/

Wycombewheeler

  • PBP-2019 LEL-2022
I'm on the 300, coz 400s are horrible. Can't wait.

Eddington  127miles, 170km

Lee Killestein

Phew. It sounds like I was one of the last entries on the 400.

Phew, I think I was probably ‘the’ last entry for the Irish Mail!  8)

GrahamG

  • Babies bugger bicycling
I'm in on this one, hoping the weather is a little kinder than the elenith,
Brummie in exile (may it forever be so)

U.N.Dulates

  • aka John Hamilton
Do I need to reserve camping space?

No, we've got loads of room. I'll get the revised route sheets uploaded and all the info sent out to entrants over the next few days.

Thanks John, Is Llangollen a manned control also for the 300?
Yes. 300 is the same as the 400 minus the Anglesey loop. Same route and controls out to Llanberis. To avoid some of the traffic on the return there's an alternative exit from Bangor on the Lon Las Ogwen cycle trail. There's an additional control to break the Llanberis - Llangollen section into more even chunks - this is a free choice anywhere between Capel Curig and Betws y Coed. Recommendations are Cafe Siabod in Capel, or the Spar (with an excellent bakery) in Betws if you don't want a sit down feed (still stuffed from Pete's Eats in Llanberis). Llangollen will be open from 6pm so unless you're right on the minimum time limit there'll be food available there. Hot grub at the finish, and if you're staying over on Saturday night I'm sure we can manage a breakfast on Sunday morning along with the Irish Mail finishers.

I'm in on this one, hoping the weather is a little kinder than the elenith,
So am I, don't fancy another round of pushing folk out of the camping field. Although the previous incarnation of this ride didn't have the best fortune with the weather - 2007 wet, 2008 hot, 2009 good all round, 2011 windy (& wet). And after all this good weather recently we must be due some proper Welsh weather. Some threads from the past..

2011 https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=47360
2009 https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=17459

Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #10 on: 22 May, 2018, 08:13:50 pm »
I recall no washing opportunities in Upton Magna. Is this still the case?

whosatthewheel

Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #11 on: 22 May, 2018, 08:16:45 pm »
Sounds amazing, can't wait!

U.N.Dulates

  • aka John Hamilton
Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #12 on: 22 May, 2018, 08:50:19 pm »
I recall no washing opportunities in Upton Magna. Is this still the case?
There's no showers certainly. Just washbasins in the toilets. You can get a shower at the Shrewsbury Sports Village

Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #13 on: 22 May, 2018, 09:01:57 pm »
Thanks John. A basin wash will do it. I'll just have to try and get back before it gets busy.

Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #14 on: 28 May, 2018, 09:57:39 pm »
Looking forward to the Irish Mail especially as I didn't get my finger out and enter Mille Cymru !

Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #15 on: 31 May, 2018, 12:26:47 pm »
Just looking at food options for Friday night
 The local pub is fine dining rather than carbo loading
http://www.thehaughmond.co.uk/menus 

αdαmsκι

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Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #16 on: 31 May, 2018, 05:58:10 pm »
I see the ride is now easier as it's just 5 AAA rather then 5¼ AAA  ;)
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

https://tyredandhungry.wordpress.com/

andyp

  • Andrew Preston
Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #17 on: 05 June, 2018, 10:31:33 pm »
Really looking forward to this – the last edition was my very first 400km, and it was unforgettable – still by far the most powerful wind and rain I've ever ridden in: it was a torrential storm that blew for more than 12 hours. Above the sea wall at Holyhead there was a ceiling of horizontal water: it was incredible.

I remember before the start John Hamilton was looking at his laptop weather forecast, in all innocence (having avoided weather forecasts all week) I asked 'what's it going to be like?' "er, a bit damp in the afternoon" he said. I took him at his word not realising that it was my first experience of Audax understatement ...imagine my surprise  :facepalm: I remember feeling my eyeballs dent as the rain hit them descending into Llanberis, and the night A5 section: ferries cancelled, no cars, just torrents of water and our little group of 3 hanging onto our bikes with all we had to keep them from getting blown off the road. At the end while I was texting home I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. It was only then I realised how deep I'd had to dig to get to the finish. Epic.

Anyway, really happy John is running it again, and very much looking forward to revisiting it in more benign conditions!

U.N.Dulates

  • aka John Hamilton
Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #18 on: 06 June, 2018, 08:51:29 am »
The forecast for the weekend is certainly looking rather better than it was in 2011 (and this year's Elenydd so will be a bit drier underfoot for the campers).

αdαmsκι

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Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #19 on: 06 June, 2018, 08:57:58 pm »
Weather Bagel prediction for the Irish Mail at 24 km/hr:  http://www.weatherbagel.com/f/3c53adc8-206f-410f-bba1-3d951a86a3f7
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

https://tyredandhungry.wordpress.com/

StephenR

  • Boooom Blast & Ruin
Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #20 on: 06 June, 2018, 10:20:20 pm »
and our little group of 3 hanging onto our bikes with all we had to keep them from getting blown off the road.

I remember it well Andy, see you at the start on Saturday.
The land at the end of our toes it goes on and on and on and on

Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #21 on: 07 June, 2018, 06:04:09 pm »
Forecast is improving in line with my theory that longer term weather predictions usually arrive earlier.


andyp

  • Andrew Preston
Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #22 on: 08 June, 2018, 12:37:20 pm »
...see you at the start on Saturday.

well this is embarrassing, as soon as I saw this in the calendar I thought, I'm doing that, but when I checked the start time on the auk site this morning there was no 'you have entered this event' at the top, and it seems I totally neglected to tell John that was my intention / enter  :facepalm:

So it's a porkers for me this weekend! I *have* entered the MC1K, so will be in Upton Magna once this year, and not twice as expected. Sorry! have a great ride everyone.
Andrew.

αdαmsκι

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Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #23 on: 08 June, 2018, 12:53:47 pm »
Been there done that for running events.

In my Google calendar I now add question marks to events I'm thinking about entering. Once I've entered the question mark changes to a tick.

Enjoy Porkers
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

https://tyredandhungry.wordpress.com/

andyp

  • Andrew Preston
Re: Irish Mail 400 / Snowdon & Lakes 300 from Upton Magna on 9 June 2018
« Reply #24 on: 08 June, 2018, 01:23:12 pm »
In my Google calendar I now add question marks to events I'm thinking about entering. Once I've entered the question mark changes to a tick.
That is a REALLY good idea. Thank you.
Diary entry for 18/7/19 now reads ?PBP  :thumbsup: