Mille Cymru - Welsh 1000 - 23-26/07/2010

[mattc]

I suspect I may avoid doing many Welsh rides in 2010, to avoid the sense of doing the same roads again.  And again.  For me, it's important to get the right balance between building up to the MC1K and keeping motivated until late summer.

I'm thinking very much the same. But I may well ride the 2010 BC400:

- This year I rode overnight to the start - it will be a lot more fun if I avoid that!
- My 1st impression is that the 1000 criss-crosses the BC400 route, but doesn't repeat much (except towns!). The BC600 seems to duplicate quite a lot (Llanberis pass for one, the bits North and East of Aberystwyth )

So in answer to Shinna the BC600 looks the 'better preparation', in that sense.

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?

Doing two hard rides back-to-back, not much sleep between - sounds perfect prep to me!

[If you search for Chapman Scenic etc you will find a million pages about which variant to go for, just to save everyone a lot of typing!]

[vorsprung]

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.

[Shinna]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. Plenty for me to consider.

Matt H - Please excuse my ignorance of missing your link to the Irish Mail Perm.

Right now I think I'll plan for;

The Elenith and Castleton Classic (300k Saturday and 200k Sunday), as this has an option of downgrading the Sunday as two shorter rides (160k or 100k) also start at the same point that day.

The Bryan Chapman, still to decide which one.

The Snowdon & Coast. This is a 400km ride, but it starts about 60km from my house so I could turn it into a 500k+.

Off out now to get some miles in.

[DanialW]

I was going to do that one year. The Elenith and the Castleton Classic, that is.

I rode The Elenith, got home, showered, ate, went to bed, slept well, got up at 6, and thought "sod it".

Thanks everyone for the great advice. Plenty for me to consider.

Matt H - Please excuse my ignorance of missing your link to the Irish Mail Perm.

Right now I think I'll plan for;

The Elenith and Castleton Classic (300k Saturday and 200k Sunday), as this has an option of downgrading the Sunday as two shorter rides (160k or 100k) also start at the same point that day.

The Bryan Chapman, still to decide which one.

The Snowdon & Coast. This is a 400km ride, but it starts about 60km from my house so I could turn it into a 500k+.

Off out now to get some miles in.

[Euan Uzami]

i've entered the elenith and bcm scenic as training   plus a few other things

I think we're also going to need to be thinking about 'warm down' rides as well. The mille cymru is probably going to be the highlight of the audax year for a lot of people, so would be nice to have something to look forward to after it (personally I'm thinking of elan & ystwyth + tregaron dragon back to back, which i'm keen to do since had to dns last year due to doing the coast to coast).

[Nuncio]

As a result of the panic induced by the recent acceleration shown in this thread and a wife who, frankly, wasn't doing her job properly, I'm now in.

I do think this was far too easy to enter.  Thank goodness for the 14-day cooling-off period.  There is a 14-day cooling off period, isn't there?

We should be more like the French.  The effort required to enter should be more commensurate with the effort required for the event itself.  In this case there should have at least been an entry form, preferably in Welsh.  An AUK Welsh correspondent could then have been appointed. Qualifiers would not necessarily be required, but they could have been replaced by the entrant having to prove close-harmony singing capabilities, and/or an ability to pronounce Ynys Mon railway station names. 

A word to the unwary.  If you go back to page 1 of this thread there is some discussion of the relative hardness of some of the days.  The Snowdon day doesn't warrant a mention.

[Jasmine]

We should be more like the French.  The effort required to enter should be more commensurate with the effort required for the event itself.  In this case there should have at least been an entry form, preferably in Welsh.  An AUK Welsh correspondent could then have been appointed. Qualifiers would not necessarily be required, but they could have been replaced by the entrant having to prove close-harmony singing capabilities, and/or an ability to pronounce Ynys Mon railway station names.  

The Virgin train only stops at Caergybi.  Slightly trickier if you come on the Arriva train though.  Although the railway station at LlanfairPG is pretty much the only place it's written out in full.

[teethgrinder]

As a result of the panic induced by the recent acceleration shown in this thread and a wife who, frankly, wasn't doing her job properly, I'm now in.

I do think this was far too easy to enter.  Thank goodness for the 14-day cooling-off period.  There is a 14-day cooling off period, isn't there?

We should be more like the French.  The effort required to enter should be more commensurate with the effort required for the event itself.  In this case there should have at least been an entry form, preferably in Welsh.  An AUK Welsh correspondent could then have been appointed. Qualifiers would not necessarily be required, but they could have been replaced by the entrant having to prove close-harmony singing capabilities, and/or an ability to pronounce Ynys Mon railway station names. 

A word to the unwary.  If you go back to page 1 of this thread there is some discussion of the relative hardness of some of the days.  The Snowdon day doesn't warrant a mention.

I hope that the judges still have their LEL ear plugs then.

[teethgrinder]

I was going to do that one year. The Elenith and the Castleton Classic, that is.

I rode The Elenith, got home, showered, ate, went to bed, slept well, got up at 6, and thought "sod it".

 

It's always hard getting out of the pit.
If you can do that and get yourself on the road early enough to start off very slowly, you soon get back into it and everything falls into place.

[Panoramix]

We should be more like the French.  The effort required to enter should be more commensurate with the effort required for the event itself.  In this case there should have at least been an entry form, preferably in Welsh.  An AUK Welsh correspondent could then have been appointed. Qualifiers would not necessarily be required, but they could have been replaced by the entrant having to prove close-harmony singing capabilities, and/or an ability to pronounce Ynys Mon railway station names. 

I think that you forgot to mention 3 copies of a doctor note, in Welsh. For those unfortunate enough not to have a Welsh speaking doctor, a translated note may be accepted only if done by an approved translator as per an obscure list from the relevant authorities that nobody has bothered to publish!

[JohnHamilton]

As a result of the panic induced by the recent acceleration shown in this thread

As a result of the panic induced by this thread, the event is NOW FULL. I have 62 entries so that's it. If you haven't entered by now you're too late. The website will be updated asap.

Now to get round to organising, as it appears that actually, there are quite a lot of people wanting to ride this...

[postie]

hope i got in

[dasmoth]

Okay, so that's what it's like to feel relieved and disappointed at the same time  .

[GruB]

As a result of the panic induced by the recent acceleration shown in this thread

As a result of the panic induced by this thread, the event is NOW FULL. I have 62 entries so that's it. If you haven't entered by now you're too late. The website will be updated asap.

Now to get round to organising, as it appears that actually, there are quite a lot of people wanting to ride this...

Yippee !!     No backing out now 

[MattH]

As a result of the panic induced by this thread, the event is NOW FULL. I have 62 entries so that's it. If you haven't entered by now you're too late. The website will be updated asap.

Now to get round to organising, as it appears that actually, there are quite a lot of people wanting to ride this...

Is this not the point at which you disappear off for sunny climes, shouting "So long, suckers!" over your shoulder as you go?

[DanialW]

This just goes to show the appetite for epic rides is untapped.

LEL sells out years in advance
Mille Cymru sells out in days

[GrandMaster Flash]

... the event is NOW FULL.

How many entrants are not YACF then?  Could be a bit awkward with the more traditional parts of AUK.  I bet most people haven't even thought about what rides they are doing next year.

[MattH]

It hasn't just been talked about on YACF - the AUK Yahoo group has had it mentioned several times (mainly in relation to PBP pre-qualification rules and completing BRM rides in 2010).

I wonder what percentage of riders of this kind of distance don't take either the yahoo list or YACF? Everyone that I know does (although it could easily be proven to be a logical fallacy to assume that this is the norm).

[mattc]

It's not organised by AUK.

The only issue might be if the online process was advertised before folks had received their Arrivee. Was that the case? Dunno.

Also, it's 9 months away: everyone in AUK has enough time to put on something similar themselves (heck, I'm running my own 400k qualifier so I don't miss out ... )

EDIT: LWAB makes a good point - I'd forgotten about the BRM issue. Oops.

I wonder what percentage of riders of this kind of distance don't take either the yahoo list or YACF? Everyone that I know does (although it could easily be proven to be a logical fallacy to assume that this is the norm).

I think you know the answer to this...

[vistaed]

It's the case with so many cycling events, you need to have access to the internet and get your entry in quick, I'm thinking of the Three Peaks Cyclocross, the HONC and some of the 24hr mtb events. I'm thinking about what to ride next year and realize that I may have to stump up a few hundred pounds before Christmas. Nice timing  

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Also, it's 9 months away: everyone in AUK has enough time to put on something similar themselves (heck, I'm running my own 400k qualifier so I don't miss out ... )

That doesn't apply if you are wanting to run a BRM.  The 2010 BRM calendar has been locked in since October, no additions possible.

[Jethro]

Entry form now despatched to the bin

It now means I am free to ride the Mersey roads 24hr and El Supremo's 1000 perm on another weekend

[Weirdy Biker]

IIRC, there is an ad hoc Scottish 1200 being organised.

Could be a useful way to release pent up energy that can't be poured into the Welsh valleys due to the MC1K filling up.

[Manotea]

Failing that you could do five laps of FY's Redhill-Battle-Rye-Eysnford-Redhill perm which would be about 16500m climbing, a good chunk of which is on single track lanes, and if you ride durng the winter you'll get some Wales stylee weather thrown in for free.

[Weirdy Biker]

 

I'm not going near that one again until the Spring.  Other riders should be able to experience the "joys" of that one in September, as it's been added to the AUK calendar event (19/9 grimping fans).  I've tweaked the route, to include an extra stop for tea.  That this means even more climbing is by the by....