8A is on! 24th - 26th July. Agreed schedule with Mrs CET today. Perfect time to fill the gap between PBP qualification and PBP. If others are interested maybe can sort out some logistics..
What are you planning for overnight stops?
Not sure yet. When I set the route up, as a figure of 8 I assumed an overnight stop at the crossover in Llanidloes. However, unless you are Swiss Hat then whichever half of the eight you start with will take close to 24 hours so isn't an overnight stop. Although I'm still tempted to drive to a lay-by near Llanidloes as I could stretch out in my old Volvo and get a couple of hours kip.
So my next thought was to take a train to somewhere en route (such as Caersws, which I used as my start/finish for the 4C last year), with a lunchtime start, then ride through the first night, and have pre booked accommodation for the second night (there is a Premier Inn in Aberdare).
The third option I've considered is to start early in the morning in Knighton, take a bivvy bag and find a quiet place just of the road when I get too tired to focus on the road, and then use Aberdare as the second overnight stop.
What I've done on the 400s is to look at the distance of each leg and amount of climbing on each leg which gives me a rough idea of how long I will take. Generally I'm best if I spend midnight to 4am asleep or not moving. So I was going to spend a bit more time on the above three strategies to see if they make sense.