Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Audax => Topic started by: Hot Flatus on 02 April, 2008, 05:30:38 pm
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Have just entered this 400k event on 31 may. For anyone interested I have found an inn to stay at in Shrewsbury (about 4 miles from start) for £25
Details here (http://www.laterooms.com/en/p1301/pv1875413/hotel-reservations/121446_lion-and-pheasant-hotel-shrewsbury.aspx)
Would be good to meet up on the friday for a curry and beer with a few acf'rs :thumbsup:
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Might well be the same inn I stayed in the night before last year's Irish Mail. Pub next door - very handy.
They didn't comment on me wheeling my bike into the room.
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Yep; Prawn Dhansak please and six pints of Cobra :P
just don't follow me on Saturday...
I'll probably stay in the hall Friday as I'm already faced with a £42 train fare; might as well bring my new Snugpak micro sleeping bag if it's arrived by then :-\
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No Blah, that was one of the Travelodges. And the reason they didn't comment on your bike was because you had it hidden under your jacket.
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You are my memory, and I claim my £5.
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Definite curry meeting friday night, anyone else care to join us?
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We're in with Tandem. Will be travelling from Bangor, so not sure about staying over the night before. How much was your Inn M Pumpé?
AC
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Other things on that weekend. Shame, as it sounds like an excellent event.
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We're in with Tandem. Will be travelling from Bangor, so not sure about staying over the night before. How much was you Inn M Pumpé?
AC
If you click the link it should give you prices, set it for 30th may. £25 per person
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I am looking forward to this one. Rather pedantically, it allows me to link the North of Wales into my "Frere Yacker National Mesh of Audax Rides Wot I've Done". More speculatively, I suspect the route will be stunning as it obeys my "If it goes into Wales then it will be an above average ride" rule of thumb. I mean, how bad can a ride be that goes through the Snowdonia national park?
PS: I believe the organiser has arranged access to the hall the night before the event. I'll be sleeping there if this remains the case.
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Care to join Martin and I for a curry on the friday?
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Suspect I won't get there until after 11pm, so probably not.
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We're in with Tandem. Will be travelling from Bangor, so not sure about staying over the night before. How much was you Inn M Pumpé?
AC
If you click the link it should give you prices, set it for 30th may. £25 per person
Thanks, room booked.
AC
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I am looking forward to this one. Rather pedantically, it allows me to link the North of Wales into my "Frere Yacker National Mesh of Audax Rides Wot I've Done". More speculatively, I suspect the route will be stunning as it obeys my "If it goes into Wales then it will be an above average ride" rule of thumb. I mean, how bad can a ride be that goes through the Snowdonia national park?
The best bit IMO is between Llanuwchllyn and the Trawsffynydd road, new to me last year. 7 or 8 arrows (all up), several gates to open and close, and a perfect surface. And this year, I'm assured, there'll be views.
Anglesey was a bit of a let down in comparison with Snowdonia - bleak and blustery, and without the waterfalls. Perhaps it'll be different this year.
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You can count me in, but will be driving to the start early on Saturday morning which is only about 30 miles for me.
I do prefer the early starts, especially as I would hope to be finished not to long after midnight, so no need to miss out on a night's sleep.
Will be recce-ing part of the route next week from Llanfyllin to Coed-y-brenin to Trawsfynydd.
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You can count me in, but will be driving to the start early on Saturday morning which is only about 30 miles for me.
I do prefer the early starts, especially as I would hope to be finished not to long after midnight, so no need to miss out on a night's sleep.
Will be recce-ing part of the route next week from Llanfyllin to Coed-y-brenin to Trawsfynydd.
When Jethro? John Hamilton and I are DIYing the Mail on the 4th/5th - are we likely to see you en route?
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sleeping in the hall allowed according to the route sheet;
ACCOMMODATION – Basic accommodation is available in the Village Hall on the Friday night (bring your own sleeping bag and camping mat) or you can camp in the field next to the hall
best train fare from London still stubbornly £42
sorry but I don't have a good reputation for getting much sleep in Travelodges the night before a big ride.
This ride was going to be my double SR of 2007 but I (in hindsight wisely) decided to put it off for a year so the memory of the BCM would have subsided a bit. On paper it looks prettier.
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I'm doing this, and I'm staying in a B&B about a mile from the start in Withington.
I may come out for curry, but knowing me I'll be fast asleep by 10. zzz
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Bump; for anyone not entirely sure about the BCM; you get all the best bits and a lot more (and almost the same number of AAAs) on this ride.
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A steady trickle of entries coming in so far. I'll be checking the route this weekend so route sheets will be sent out early next week.
The best bit IMO is between Llanuwchllyn and the Trawsffynydd road, new to me last year. 7 or 8 arrows (all up), several gates to open and close, and a perfect surface. And this year, I'm assured, there'll be views.
Anglesey was a bit of a let down in comparison with Snowdonia - bleak and blustery, and without the waterfalls. Perhaps it'll be different this year.
The best bit of this ride is Vyrnwy to Llanberis as John S says, which is the bit with most of the climbing and all the AAA. Anglesey needs decent weather to be appreciated which we certainly didn't get last year. The earlier start time this year should allow the faster riders to enjoy Snowdonia in daylight a second time on the return leg.
Floor space in the hall or camping outside the hall available. Or a choice of two Travelodge's in Shrewsbury.
Village hall control at Glyndyfrdwy at 340k for basic sleep arrangements. And a 14.3kph lower speed limit giving an extra 1h 45mins to enjoy it. Go on, you know you want to.
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I've ordered a replacement "Moon Bag" from ebay to replace the one that's festering in Loudeac as I'll need it in Sweden next year; might take a foam mat with me too if it's hard floors only at Glyndyfrydwy.
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Entered. Train booked.
Martin: I have the bag from The Dean. Should I bring it?
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If I did this too I could perhaps aim for an SR? ;D
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Entered. Train booked.
Martin: I have the bag from The Dean. Should I bring it?
Yes please :thumbsup:
If I did this too I could perhaps aim for an SR? ;D
Go for it it should be a lot easier than the BCM (return leg anyway)
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If I did this too I could perhaps aim for an SR? ;D
I'm doing it. Have a look at my link earlier in the thread for a cheap room in shrewsbury. Would be good to have you around :thumbsup:
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I've just reminded myself of the route (an outline is on the AUK website and the route sheet can be downloaded from there as well, complete with description of what to expect on each stage). It's going to be a corker.
This ride will be the icing on the cake for what is shaping up to be a month of exceptional riding with a distinctively Welsh bias.
Officially excited.
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you're not alone
400; 180; 600; 300; 400
SA - Fred Whitton - Bryan Chapman - Grand Tour De Stour + DIY 100km - Irish Mail.
An epic month. :)
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That's some schedule - the Fred Whitton will take something out of you.
My own is:
Brevet Cymru perm 400
Bryan Chapman 600
El Supremo 600
Irish Mail 400
Try picking a favourite out of that lot, because I can't. Hooray for May
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400; 180; 600; 300; 400
An epic month. :)
And SR in a month with an extra hilly "populaire" to boot!
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I've just reminded myself of the route (an outline is on the AUK website and the route sheet can be downloaded from there as well, complete with description of what to expect on each stage). It's going to be a corker.
I've entered this into Bikely - not checked but I think it is right. Clicky (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/128857)
And looking at the profile, the last 80K is all downhill so it should be as easy as a 300 :)
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I've just reminded myself of the route (an outline is on the AUK website and the route sheet can be downloaded from there as well, complete with description of what to expect on each stage). It's going to be a corker.
I've entered this into Bikely - not checked but I think it is right. Clicky (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/128857)
And looking at the profile, the last 80K is all downhill so it should be as easy as a 300 :)
Spot on. Not quite all downhill at the end but certainly the last significant climb is the one out of Betws y Coed. The hard bit is between Vyrnwy and Llanberis which is similar in nature to the middle 100k of The Elenith. The climbs on the way back are of the long and well graded sort (maximum gradient anywhere on the A5 is 1:20 as it was built for coach & horses).
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Pocket (ish) sleeping bag arrived today; I may not make it to the official Z stop.
Which did you get?
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Pocket (ish) sleeping bag arrived today; I may not make it to the official Z stop.
Which did you get?
this one; not quite the 17 x17 cm they claim (without sever strap tightening) but very light
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SNUGPAK-TRAVELPAK-XTREME-LIGHTWEIGHT-SLEEPING-BAG-BLUE_W0QQitemZ300221836012QQihZ020QQcategoryZ36116QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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17cm x 17cm x what though?
17cm x 17cm x 5cm would be fantastic.
17cm x 17cm x 200cm would be silly.
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Having observed bag advertising, I've come to the conclusion that they are implicitly cylindrical; hence specifying length+diameter is siffucient.
But it's still annoying.
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it's 17 x17 x whatever I can squash it down to before the straps bust (in practice about 25)
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OK, I'm going to put an entry in for this one.
Only thing is - how to get to the start? It's 2 hours 20 drive according to AA routefinder so that would be lieaving home around 2 am. It's shown as 194 km, so with one suitable control that's 200 km to the start, so the sensible thing to do would be ride to the start Friday night, have a kip, do the ride, sleeping at Glyndyfrdwy (345km), and a leisurely ride back. Last control shuts at 10 am, so should be home early Sunday evening, well within the time limit for a DIY 800.
Does this sound like a good plan or have I finally lost it?
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Does this sound like a good plan or have I finally lost it?
only you can answer that question; doubling an AAA 400 is not something I would ever consider; but neither is riding more than 600k in the UK.
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Having test ridden the route last Sunday the final version of the route sheet is now on the AUK website and will be in the post in the morning. As a result of the route check I've made a couple of amendments to the route to 1) avoid a couple of miles of the A470 and 2) miss out Beddgelert in favour of a lovely lane up Blaen Nanmor with a cracking view of Snowdon from the top before descending to Llyn Gwynant. The start time has also moved back 30mins to 6am.
Only thing is - how to get to the start? It's 2 hours 20 drive according to AA routefinder so that would be lieaving home around 2 am. It's shown as 194 km, so with one suitable control that's 200 km to the start, so the sensible thing to do would be ride to the start Friday night, have a kip, do the ride, sleeping at Glyndyfrdwy (345km), and a leisurely ride back. Last control shuts at 10 am, so should be home early Sunday evening, well within the time limit for a DIY 800.
Does this sound like a good plan or have I finally lost it?
Sounds like a reasonable plan. I managed 4 1/2 hours sleep on my way round.
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OK, I'm going to put an entry in for this one.
Only thing is - how to get to the start? It's 2 hours 20 drive according to AA routefinder so that would be lieaving home around 2 am. It's shown as 194 km, so with one suitable control that's 200 km to the start, so the sensible thing to do would be ride to the start Friday night, have a kip, do the ride, sleeping at Glyndyfrdwy (345km), and a leisurely ride back. Last control shuts at 10 am, so should be home early Sunday evening, well within the time limit for a DIY 800.
Does this sound like a good plan or have I finally lost it?
Being 200km from the start, I urge you to try this and let us know! ;)
1 thing you might consider - work out a 100km first leg for the return. If you just enter for a 700, you'll get the same min speed as on the 800. You then have 100km in which to sleep/take it easy/have punctures/whatever without DNFing.
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Sadly i will not be making this now due to a knee injury that has been giving me problems for a couple of months :(
I am going back to the docs next week to hopefully get referred to someone who knows a little bit about knees.
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in the absence of MP the beer/ curry is shelved; I will be in the hall the night before if there's a pub nearby and anyone's there before last orders. Probably driving as the new (ish) trains don't take bikes yet as the luggage vans aren't finished.
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in the absence of MP the beer/ curry is shelved; I will be in the hall the night before if there's a pub nearby and anyone's there before last orders. Probably driving as the new (ish) trains don't take bikes yet as the luggage vans aren't finished.
Corbett Arms about 100yds away in the village. Good food. Can't vouch for the beer.
I sampled one of the new Wrexham & Shropshire trains last week. Speaking to the conductor whilst the luggage vans aren't finished yet they're quite happy to take bikes on board. Best bet is at the end most coach vestibules or there's a decent amount of space by the buffet. The vans are expected early July.
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Thanks; but I suspect such helpfulness will not filter through to the Jobsworths at Marylebone ticket barrier on a Friday afternoon so don't want to risk it.
another n Kg of Co2 goes skywards from the Zoommobile :-\
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Finally got around to sending off my entry to this one today which will be my longest ride so far.
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I'm avoiding looking at the forecast until I leave on Friday. It'll change so much that it is pointless worrying over.
Now I've just got to decide whether to spend the night in the Travelodge with my wife and kids, getting up early and disturbing them then having a five mile ride to the start, or get them to drop me off at the start with a small tent that they can collect at a more civilised time on Saturday.
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I've got a spare camp bed if you want to use the hall Friday night
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Thanks; we have plenty of camping gear, I'm just not sure that trying to sleep in a hall with dozens of others (and presumably some people arriving during the night) will be the best way to be rested before the ride. That's why I was considering a tent outside.
But maybe I should just bring an airbed and crash in the hall - at least that way I won't oversleep!
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the Beeb says sunny and 17oC on Saturday 8)
Deniece is coming too; hope she gets further than last time...
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Good luck and hope it's a good one!
Sorry not to be there too.
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I probably won't be there either as I've been feeling a bit tired this week and probably need a rest. :'(
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That's a shame. Weather forecast for SHrewsbury is 20C, sunny with a light north westerly.
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It's looking unlikely that I'll be there. I've picked up a bug; suspect due to doing to much riding in recent weeks. Gutted, as I've been looking forward to the Irish Mail all year.
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Uh oh. Everyone seems to be dropping like flies at the moment. Andy thinks he's got something so I'm not sure if he is going to ride either. Not sure what I should do really. I haven't ridden more than 30 miles solo for about 8 months.
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Just packed the sleeping bag in the SQR and attached it to the bike; no room for bonk rations on the A5 now...
Out of interest how does the arrowy bit after Lake Bala compare to the Bedd- Pen y Pass road? (the only experience I have of hills in the area)
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Uh oh. Everyone seems to be dropping like flies at the moment. Andy thinks he's got something so I'm not sure if he is going to ride either. Not sure what I should do really. I haven't ridden more than 30 miles solo for about 8 months.
I've always found it much harder going from solo to tandem than the other way round. So as long as you can remember to brake and steer I wouldn't worry. And at least you wouldn't be far away from home if you DNF.
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Out of interest how does the arrowy bit after Lake Bala compare to the Bedd- Pen y Pass road? (the only experience I have of hills in the area)
Much harder. Beddgelert to Pen y Pass is a nice well graded climb on a smooth main road which only climbs 350m. Vyrnwy - Bala - Trawsfynydd takes you over lumpy little mountain roads to two 500m+ summits on a succession of 1:6 climbs. I reckon this leg and the following one to Llanberis is about the same as the middle 100k of The Elenith by comparison.
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The only bits of The Elenith I found really hard were the Devil's Stair, the one just after and Ysbytw Ystwyth; and they are all more then 1/6 from memory.
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The Pen-y-Pass road was easier than the bits that went before it IMO.
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Looks that way from the profile I got when plotting out the route on the GPS.
I am definitely not starting after spending a lot of time last night on the loo.
I am almost 4kg lighter right now than the day after the BCM.
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The Pen-y-Pass road was easier than the bits that went before it IMO.
It was easier than most of the BCM that went before it too. I'm going to take it nice and easy to Coed y Brenin; but psychologically it looks like the Menai Bridge is where you've broken the back of the ride.
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I wouldn't know I didn't get that far in 2007 !!! I lost my jersey in Coed-y-Brenin visitor centre.
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I'll be there - hope I'm not the only one!
I won't be riding to the start, tho' - I've a fair bit of sleep debt this week, also if I take a whole w/e now I probably won't get another one for a long time...
Jasmine - the forecast looks near perfect for a ride in Wales, should be the easiest ride of the year!
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... but psychologically it looks like the Menai Bridge is where you've broken the back of the ride.
Pen y Pass seemed to be the deciding point last year. Everyone who made it past Llanberis finished.
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another milestone where I've not been for over 10 years is Llyn Ogwen on the A5 by Tryfan; can I expect to get there before dark?
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another milestone where I've not been for over 10 years is Llyn Ogwen on the A5 by Tryfan; can I expect to get there before dark?
Should be reasonable. I made it almost to Bangor before dark when I checked the route and I didn't start until 7am and was somewhat slower through the controls than I would be normally.
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Uh oh. Everyone seems to be dropping like flies at the moment. Andy thinks he's got something so I'm not sure if he is going to ride either. Not sure what I should do really. I haven't ridden more than 30 miles solo for about 8 months.
The hot and cold flushes of my nasty little bug seem to have passed now, but still feeling a tad weak. Will head for Shrewsbury and see how I feel in the morrow...
AC
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Just leaving now; see anyone who's still left on the start list in the morning; Yellow Ribble with an SQR
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Really looking forward to this one tomorrow, even if it is the longest ride I will have done for many, many years.
Just a little apprehensive of the amount of climbing involved, but will take it very steady from Vyrnwy to Llanberis and hopefully shouldnt be too bad after there.
Weather looks good as well which will be a nice welcome change.
RR should follow on Monday.
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Weather looks good as well which will be a nice welcome change.
Shame we won't have the magnificent waterfalls which were a feature of last year's ride.
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Weather looks good as well which will be a nice welcome change.
Shame we won't have the magnificent waterfalls which were a feature of last year's ride.
They will be far from dry. There were heavy thunder showers in this part of the world last night, so it should still be trickling out of the hills tomorrow.
AC
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It was the washes across the roads and rivers on the descents that was the problem last year.
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Well, we went, despite my having been ill immediately before, we rode the route as far as Llanfair PG and at 180km we bailed. It was a hot and beautiful day out there, and we had both really enjoyed the fast run from Shrewsbury to Vyrynwy. The climb over Bwlch y Groes was steep in places, but we made steady time out to Llanuwchllyn and on up the 2nd of the big ascents towards Trawsfynydd via the road of a thousand gates (I think there were 5 actually).
We arrived at Coed-y-Brenin in a reasonable time and after a bite to eat were soon heading North past King Arthur's Castle (or the power station to you English tourists...). A slightly different route down the valley to Maentwrog and we were soon on the valley floor taking the turning for Rhyd and what turned out to be a significant climb that kept on going up. We plodded on and eventually found ourselves at the foot of the Pen-y-Pass climb familiar to us from the BCM two weeks earlier, but resplendent in rather more sunshine than when we were last acquainted with it. We had a few niggling problems here. Our map trap is a big mofo and kept getting in the way of Jasmine's legs preventing us from standing and honking. We had both mis-managed our water and failed to fill at Coed-y-Brenin so were pretty dehydrated by the top. We plodded on up the climb, managing to resist the roadside ice cream van and eventually took the left turn to take us to the summit. The low point here was struggling to overtake a red sock who appeared to be hiking at around our speed up the main road. We eventually passed him though and crested the pass to our mutual relief.
We descended with a little more care than on our last visit (we lost the back end for a couple of seconds on the BCM) and somewhat slowed by a strong headwind eventually made it to Pete's Eats in Llanberis for a little food and much liquid.
The road from Llanberis to Bangor ought to be down hill, but as we well know it isn't. We pressed on though and eventually got to Y Felinheli and the one final climb before crossing the Menai. In Llanfair PG, we took a comfort stop and took stock. I had a really bad knee and was generally aching a lot more than I ought to be after only riding 180km, I think this is largely a function of my riding so soon after being unwell and my own stupid thought. Application of deep heat gel did nothing to ease the discomfort, but I was prepared to press on a little further at least to get Jasmine to her solo bike on the other side of the island and to allow her to carry on. Jasmine appeared to have a mild case of heatstroke, was exhausted and had a number of other aches and pains. I also think that Jasmine had had a hard time trying to make up for my weakness relative to usual form.
Ultimately, we decided to bail. It's only a bike ride, we weren't enjoying it anymore and we didn't want to do any lasting damage to our respective bodies. We crawled back to Bangor, go hold of some carrier bags from Morrisons and decoupled the tandem before heading back to Shrewsbury via train (despite Jasmine living on Angelsey, we still had to retrieve the car). Fully sectionned, we managed to fit the various bits of tandem into the trains luggage rack, which was just as well as the bike racks were all full. We made it to Shrewsbury in the daylight, opted for a taxi out to Upton Magna as we'd both stiffened up and after a brief chat to John H and partner were soon on our way home.
Hope some of the others have slightly better stories to tell. This was a well-planned, well-organised ride, and I hope to have another go some time.
AC
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Bad luck Andy/Jasmine - when I saw you crossing the Menai Bridge towards me I thought you were making good time, I didn't twig you'd left Llanberis not much before us.
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Yes, if we were that fast, we'd have covered the 100 km to Holyhead and back in about 45 minutes. I knew how bad we were when we climbed the small hill into Bangor from the bridge. We went up that hill at about half the speed I would normally go up it, even slower than when I was recovering from a knee injury earlier in the year.
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This was a well-planned, well-organised ride, and I hope to have another go some time.
It's on my list for 2009 - see you there ;)
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It's a shame really. The thought that crossed my mind in Llanberis was that we should try to finish so I could say we'd done it and never ride the road from Lake Vyrynwy to Coed y Brenin again. Oh yes, and the road to Rhyd. Now we have to do it again next year.
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This was a well-planned, well-organised ride, and I hope to have another go some time.
It's on my list for 2009 - see you there ;)
Quite likely, although I can't say for sure that it will be on a tandem at this stage! ;D
AC
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An excellent ride; due to the kind weather possibly my most enjoyable UK ride since last year; very tough but rewarding; full RR to follow in Arrivee; Thanks John and your willing helpers :thumbsup:
in the meantime some photos;
the start
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0066.jpg?t=1212349887)
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0067.jpg?t=1212349926)
Lake Vyrynmy control
Matt H and Spohn Jooner
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0069.jpg?t=1212349970)
Deniece
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0071.jpg)
the cafe; Stephen Poulton in blue
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0072.jpg)
The climb out of Lake Vrynmy; curtains for one rider due to rear mech getting sucked into the wheel;
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0073.jpg)
John and Matt on the way up to Bwlch y Groes
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0074.jpg)
the photo does not do it justice; it's gobsmacking in real life.
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0076.jpg?t=1212352399)
from which Deniece Descends Delicately
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0077.jpg?t=1212351902)
you wouldn't want to do this section at night...
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0080.jpg)
The Rinogs?
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0081.jpg)
on the way back out of Coed-Y-Brenin
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0082.jpg)
The pleasant relief of Anglesey
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0084-1.jpg)
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0086.jpg)
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wonderful photos Martin :thumbsup:
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Seconded. Very jealous!
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Excellent pictures, it was pissing down last year, the descents in the Bwylch area were well dodgy.
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I looked at this ride in the calendar last year and thought it sounded fantastic, especially as I used to live in Bangor 20 years ago. However, as I'd only done a couple of 200s I thought it was probably a bad idea and did Round the West Riding instead.
So, this year I had to enter.
Lying in my tent at 11pm I heard the church clock strike 11. "Hope that's not going to continue all night", I thought. Looking on the bright side, hearing the chimes every hour meant I knew I'd not overslept...
I rode with John Spooner all day (and night) and others at various times. The climb up to Lake Vyrynwy was OK, but riding along the lake with Martin and Deneice was fantastic. The weather was perfect, we were in the shade and the lake was picture postcard beautiful. The day was warming up, so the climb over the gated mountain road became a chore. I'm no mountain goat, and I don't handle heat well. As the grades headed to 20% (according to my GPS), and the front wheel was lifting, I admitted defeat and walked some of the steepest bits (ever conscious of a lot of hilly stuff ahead and not wanting to trash my legs). I do bicycle rides, not unicycle rides :-)
The day was heating up more, and I spent a lot of time being concerned about having enough water; I drink copiously normally, and on both this stage and the one into Llanberis I was carefully rationing myself and still arrived at the controls with only half a mouthful left.
The climb up to Llanberis hurt, because I was overheating. Turning off Nant Gwynant onto Pen y pass I stopped in the shade of a tree, feeling quite faint I needed a short break to cool down, then it was actually a relief to have a headwind for the final climb; I was strong enough to push into it, and it was keeping me cool.
Pete's Eats was also an institution when I lived in Bangor 20 years ago; it's great to still have pints of coffee and good food. We met up with Andy and Jasmine there, though they left before us.
I found Anglesey to be a bit of a slog; for some reason I've never really liked cycling on the island. It's not difficult riding, just not satisfying somehow, so Tesco was welcome. It does seem like a lot of effort to spend a day on the bike riding through mountains to buy a bit of fruit and a drink at Tesco. I could nip down the road and do that :-)
Back across the island and through Bangor teaming up with Jethro and A Random One. The climb from the bridge was nothing like as bad as I remember. I was still very apprehensive about the ride beyond Bangor services; I'd never gone that way on a bike, and driving along the A5 it seems to be big, endless climbs.
I was very pleasantly surprised - it really was very easy. You know that you are going uphill, but we were riding as a two abreast pack of four chatting very easily. Past the lake as the light was failing, then the long, lovely descent into Betwys-y-Coed. There was a bit of a disappointment there as the 24 hour garage wasn't serving coffee, so we made do with some caffeinated canned drinks.
Another fairly easy long climb up out of Betwys-y-Coad, then the rolling road to Glyndyfrdwy. This seemed to go on a bit, but we were travelling at a good pace and arrived there by 2am. John and myself decided to grab a couple of hours kip, the others continued. 4am came very quickly (I suspected the controller had adjusted my watch and was having a joke when he tapped me on the shoulder). A rather nice gammon and pineapple roll sat a little queasily in my stomach as we got onto the road, but soon settled down as we rolled uneventfully back to Upton Magna (even if John did accuse me of appraising bus shelters as sleeping accomodation).
Some more food, a couple of hours sleep in the tent until my family came to pick me up, and home past the huge queues on the M54 for the air show.
It was a great ride, many thanks to John Hamilton and his team for organising and supporting us.. The only downside was struggling in the heat until evening came. Back home now I'm stiffening up a bit, but happy with how things went on my first 400.
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This has got to rank as one of the best routes ever - but also the hardest I've done. It's so varied you have to be careful with pacing: the first stage out to Lake Vyrnwy is fast, more than half of the field must have got to the control before the official opening. Not me though, I missed a turn and ended up doing a load of extra climbing before realising ::-)
The next two sections are the best: the mountain roads including Bwlch y Groes (Factor 10 on the wow scale) followed by an interesting route bypassing Beddgellert (once again, I went off-route and thinking I could cut back on rather than retrace added more climbing). These sections take time but there's plenty of opportunity to make up a time buffer later if you don't kill your legs on these sections.
The conditions were near perfect: it's the first time I've ever been in Wales and not had some rain at least, the wind was very light most of the time and the night was warm. You don't often get to see the top of Snowdon for more than a few seconds at a time.
The only problem was the heat: copious sweating left my skin sore in many places and I'd stupidly forgotten to pack cream: this ride doesn't pass any "civilisation" until Llanberis. This came back to bite me later: Anglesey was a pleasant ride in a totally different landscape, but the night section which should have given opportunity to recover for the last leg left me descending gingerly on the brakes the whole time and losing the group.
When I first looked at the route sheet I thought the village hall control was too near the end at about 350km, but it works really well. Welcoming helpers, huge choice of food and even airbeds available, sets you up well for the rolling last section. There was quite a gathering of yacfers here: Jethro was straight back on the road after a cuppa, John S and MattH provided background snoring ;) and while I had 40 winks at the table, Martin arrived (Deneice reportedly having had a mechanical). After a quick kip, I limped back the arrivee cursing every pothole, having the strength in my legs but skin too sore to make the most of it. You live and learn. :-\
All in all, this ride is highly recommended, well organised and a varied route that works really well.
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while I had 40 winks at the table, Martin arrived (Deneice reportedly having had a mechanical).
Deniece did indeed have a mechaical; about half way back from Holyhead to Menai her front gear cable broke at the shifter end (Crapagnolo for you; never known one go like than on a Shimano, couldn't work out where it went in anyway even if we had a spare) I managed to improvise a middle gear by clamping the cable in the wheel skewer and tying the rest out of harm's way and she finished with just using the compact chainset. At Bangor she suggested I go ahead to get maximum sleep as I had to drive back straight after the end and she carried on with Dave.
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Some more photos:
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im01.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im02.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im03.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im04.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im05.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im06.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im07.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im08.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im09.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im10.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im11.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im12.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im13.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im14.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im15.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im16.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im17.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im18.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im19.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im20.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im21.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im22.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im23.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im24.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im25.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im26.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im27.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im28.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im29.jpg)
(http://www.andsl.org/im/im30.jpg)
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Seconded. Very jealous!
Thirded. Bonny all the way up to 11.
The pictures give an impression of the route - looking forward to the ride reports (whenever and wherever they appear) to give a sense of the experience.
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I
was conned have ridden that road from Vyrnwy to the top of Bwych Y Groes & the down into Bala and survived.
Is there anything on this route that is steeper?If not I may consider this ride do-able next year.
are you listening you Welsh refugees?you know who you are ;)
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It may just be me, but I found the gated climb from Llanuwchllyn across to the A470 the more difficult of the two.
AC
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Martin & Andy - what fantastic pics. You really struck lucky with the weather.
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I was more apprehensive of the amount of climbing (5365m) than the distance when I entered for this one, but with good weather forecast, I was quite looking forward to it in the end and just had to make sure that I took it steady on the climbs between Vyrnwy and Llanberis.
Living near Wolverhampton, it was only a 30-minute drive to the start, so I was quite fresh at the beginning and pleased that I hadnt slept overnight at the start with the church bell ringing every hour.
It was a lovely quick ride across the Shropshire plains for the first 50k to Llanfyllin and then the climbing started with a long gradual climb before a fast descent to the first control at Lake Vyrnwy arriving as the control was just opening even though there were several others well ahead!
It was already getting really warm by now (08.30) so time to change into shorts and S/S top before the climb up the Bwlch-y-Groes which was the second time up it in 3-weeks (4 Rivers 200) but it doesnt get any easier, and at 545m at the summit, a fast descent followed to the shores of Lake Bala. In no time at all, the next climb begins and was relentless with 5 gates to negotiate and was for me the hardest part of the whole course, but the views from the top were stunning and sort of made it all worthwhile.
Coed-Y-Brenin was very busy, so after a short stop to replace lost fluids from all the sweating on the climbs, I continued North on the A.470 to Trawsfynydd before turning left on to quieter roads again through Gellilydan
The road through Rhyd caught me out with another shorter but steeper climb but was nothing compared to the long gradual climb up Nant Gwynant. Seeing an ice-cream van at the side of the road was too much to ignore as I was loosing fluids quicker than I could replace them so it was a nice rest with spectacular views of Snowdon before climbing to the summit of Pen-y-Pass and the long descent to Llanberis and 165k.
The vast majority of the climbing was thankfully now over, but together with the heat, had taken a lot more out of me than I had expected. More fluid were called for here after which I could still feel myself cramping up, then on to Bangor where I took a wrong turn adding a couple of extra miles. The scenery was quite different riding across Anglesey and a lot flatter which helped my body to recover a little from all the climbing.
The Holyhead control was at Tesco's on the edge of the town where I was joined by John Spooner and MattH and then A Random One, and the four of us continued together and into the night just about making it to the Bangor services by dark and 272k completed.
From here it was on to the A5 which was a lot quieter than I had expected and made for a pleasent ride passing Betws-y-Coed and Corwen to the village hall control at Glyndyfrdwy (343k) where sleep was available to those that needed it.
After 30-mins, I was keen to keep going as I was still feeeling good and not too tired by which time John Spooner and MattH were already asleep and A Random One was contemplating some sleep also. It would only be another hour before it began to get light again and I made good time on to the finish arriving at 05.30 and very pleased with myself at completing what is probably the toughest 400 in the calendar and already looking forward to the Cambrian 600 in 4-weeks time to complete my first SR.
Congratulations to eveyone else that finished and to the team of volunteers and the organiser that made this event possible.
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The climb out of Lake Vrynmy; curtains for one rider due to rear mech getting sucked into the wheel;
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0073.jpg)
That was John Perrin, whose derailleur got into an argument with his spokes and lost. After shortening his chain he rode back to Upton Magna.
the photo does not do it justice; it's gobsmacking in real life.
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/zoom070360/IMAG0076.jpg?t=1212352399)
I particularly like that bit. You've climbed up what seems like a significant climb from Vyrnwy and as you near what appears to be the summit the valley just opens up to your left showing the full horror of the Dark Side of the Bwlch and it dawns on you that actually, you've just come up the easy way.
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It does seem like a lot of effort to spend a day on the bike riding through mountains to buy a bit of fruit and a drink at Tesco. I could nip down the road and do that :-)
Nowhere is the phrase 'To travel is better than to arrive' more apt than a journey to Holyhead.
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I was conned have ridden that road from Vyrnwy to the top of Bwych Y Groes & the down into Bala and survived.
Is there anything on this route that is steeper?If not I may consider this ride do-able next year.
are you listening you Welsh refugees?you know who you are ;)
It may just be me, but I found the gated climb from Llanuwchllyn across to the A470 the more difficult of the two.
AC
The climb up the Eunant isn't too bad apart from a couple of steep pitches near the bottom and the final bit up to the summit of the Bwlch - which is about as steep as it gets on the route.
The Llanuwchllyn-Trawsfynydd road is definitely harder, as it's got more ascent in total (you're already a fair way up by the time you get to Vyrnwy) and there are more steep sections which go on for longer.
The trick is not to worry about how long this bit is taking but to get over it at a sensible pace without wrecking yourself. Once you've got to the top of Pen y Pass you've done all the significant climbing bar the two well graded runs on the A5 and you can make up that time on the remaining 250k.
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The Llanuwchllyn-Trawsfynydd road is definitely harder, as it's got more ascent in total (you're already a fair way up by the time you get to Vyrnwy) and there are more steep sections which go on for longer.
The trick is not to worry about how long this bit is taking but to get over it at a sensible pace without wrecking yourself.
I remember last year slipping my chain when engaging my grannie (you know what I mean) before one of the steeper sections. I had been in a group of 6 or 7 and as I sorted it I could see the group slowly being engulfed by the mist and rain as it crawled up the hill. I had to step on it and steam up at about, oh, 3.5 mph to catch up, but when I did, never have I felt so much relief in regaining a group. Nor have I felt so much bike camaraderie, despite the total absence of chat, as we grimly climbed on-and-on, huddled together against the wind and rain. Bet you didn't get that with your sunshine. On the other hand, the views look better.
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Full organiser's report...
As I rode round the route 3 weeks ago, in conditions just as hot and with even less wind than last weekend my thoughts were that this was probably going to mean you were going to end up with a repeat of last years conditions. In the event the weather could hardly have been better this year.
Despite the weather in 2007 it looked like the event was a good one, and would be worth putting on again. Ken Knight of the Long Mynd rides foolishly volunteered to man an overnight control and the hall at Glyndyfrdwy was duly hired to break up the 90+k stage on the A5. The only question then was how many would come in post PBP year. In the event I needn't have worried as a steady stream of entries flowed in. The 38 entries was somewhat whittled down by colds, flu and other post-BCM ailments though resulting on only 29 actually turning up.
A good number took advantage of the overnight facilities on Friday night where they could choose from being kept awake by either snoring (inside) or the church clock (outside). My plan for Saturday was to set off as soon as possible after the start with the intention of jumping ahead whilst the riders got their beans on toast fix at the first control so that I could take some photos. A phone call at 06:05 from a late starter kind of threw a spanner in that plan and it was 06:30 before we got away, and with the first leg being so fast we weren't going to make up that time even on the tandem. On the final climb up to the dam at Vyrnwy I could see there were riders still at the cafe though so I managed to get shots of a few of the back markers:
Martin & Deneice
(http://www.cig.canon-europe.com/ph/AIG/3nKjZZz1wqmJmawSCU03ks3kskXL0003kskXLQDL4CL1c.jpg)
Deneice with MattH & John Spooner in background
(http://www.cig.canon-europe.com/ph/AIG/KlLgMaHmKrCq0cac1o03ks3kskXL0003kskXLQDL4CL1c.jpg)
MattH & John Spooner
(http://www.cig.canon-europe.com/ph/AIG/3CwgMaHmKrCq0cac1o03ks3kskXL0003kskXLQDL4CL1c.jpg)
(http://www.cig.canon-europe.com/ph/AIG/K1uDbbdFoJEolgYR7T03ks3kskXL0003kskXLQDL4CL1c.jpg)
Photos duly taken it was time to head back to the cafe for our second breakfast, then a gentle ride home via the Tanat valley for a couple of hours kip and Doctor Who before heading back to the start to prepare for the finish. On the way we debated whether we'd manage a decent finishing record this year. Followed shortly by a spate of calls to my mobile as a total of 6 abandoned.
Last year I had a very long wait until nearly 4am for anyone to turn up. I was expecting better this year - 2am was my estimate. So I wasn't quite expecting it when the first two appeared just before midnight. The majority of times weren't significantly faster though - clearly everyone was being seduced by Ken's hospitality at Glyndyfrdwy. The spread of riders returning through the night meant that it wasn't worth trying to get any sleep myself. Steve and Louise Massey became the first tandem finishers with a very respectable time (Andy & Jasmine the gauntlet has been laid down). Deneice has the honour of being first (and only) solo lady so far. We've now had tandems, trikes and fixed complete the event - it only remains for a recumbent to make it round.
With all 23 finishers safely home it only remained to pack up, get everything in one of the helpers cars and then a very slow ride home, to spend the rest of the day catching up on sleep. A more than average amount of coffee was required at work this morning. Having done both it's definitely harder organising these long rides.
Well done to everyone who rode what is a tough event and thanks for all the positive feedback. Wrekin to Sea next...
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as cycling plays a minor part in these events to me behind filling my face and admiring the view I thought I'd do a bit of research into the Britannia railway bridge which we got a pylon-obstructed view of on the outward leg to Holyhead and has been abortionised since the original spans burned down or rather buckled in the heat in 1971; it seems that having pandered to the petrolheads by building a car deck over the modern railway span they have now dicovered that it is too busy and are thinking of replacing the rest of the original structure with more concrete carbunkle to add an extra two lanes to the A55 :(
Britannia Bridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia_Bridge)
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There are several suggested plans for increasing the capacity of the Britannia Bridge. I think the reasoning to do something is because it is a European trunk road (it goes to Holyhead and therefore Ireland) and is in fact the only stretch of European trunk road in Britain not dual carriageway. What is shocking is that the favoured idea is to create a new box bridge in the SSSI. It does get busy sometimes during peak areas, but the road only goes to Holyhead where they get to sit in a queue to get on the ferry.
Besides, I can't imagine anyone would want to actually go to Holyhead
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There was a call for a rail tunnel to Eire a few years ago as they are now the only country in the EU without a fixed link to the continent since Eurotunnel and the ones across Zeeland and to Sweden; presumably Eire's main sea route to the EU is via Roscoff now?
<Further OT>
There seems to be a lack of joined up thinking with regards travel to Ireland. On a recent visit we heard that thay are scrapping the fast cat service from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire as the advent of cheap flights has effectively put them out of business...
AC