The Irish Mail isn't on next year.
I was looking at the Bryan Chapman. There are two options, does anyone know the reason for this , and which one would be the best to choose, considering that the goal is preperation for Mille Cymru.
The Elenith was a considered option, but the Castleton Classic runs the day after and starts about 5 miles away from my front door. I 'spose I could consider doing both, or is that just plain stupid?
The main difference between the two BCM routes - the 2004 and the Scenic is that the Scenic goes up some back roads and the 2004 tends to stick to the main roads
In the unlikely event of good weather this means that the Scenic is much more pleasant as a ride.
But the Scenic is slower as there is more climbing and the roads are worse
The best bits for the Scenic over the 2004 are the short cut to Abergeveny and the back lane to Builth
The biggest divergence of the two routes is at the Elan Valley. The Scenic cuts across the range of hills around the Elan Valley from near Rhayder to the A44 near AberAberystwth. The route goes up the Elan Valley. The 2004 goes around the edge of this area.
The thing you need to know about the Elan Valley is that it is the water cachement for Birmingham. As such it rarely stops raining there. If the weather is "might rain- might not" which it usually is then it
will rain in the Elan Valley but the other route might just see a little drizzle.
On day two the Scenic goes up some muddy lane instead of sticking to the A road. The scenic joins the A458 briefly at Mallwyd then takes the next right down the muddy lane to pop out on the A470 again. Fortunately there is no control to enforce this because it is a very grotty lane. I would only recommend taking this lane if you need to buy a wood burning stove.
The problem with the Scenic for me is that after midnight I get a bit dozy. That extra hour that the Scenic takes is an extra hour after midnight. I find the return to the YHA for a kip is the worst bit for me as I don't cope well with the period 2am - 4am.
I wouldn't say that either version is better or worse preparation for any subsequent ride. The biggest variable is the weather.