I don't think there was anything wrong with the geography of the route. Although stage 2, at 362 km, might have seemed a bit too far for some riders, many riders arrived back at Askrigg between 10:00 pm & 01:00 am. If the event runs again, I'd likely shorten stage 2 and make up the distance on stage 4.
Andy Corless
For what it's worth, my opinion is that day 2 was a long day for sure. But not excessive, despite some tricky weather conditions.
Clearly the day started very hard, the section to Stanhope in particular is savage. Once at Lockerbie, it was a reasonably easy run back towards base along good faster roads.
What appears to have done for some, and was certainly a lower point for me was the controlling options at Kielder, and to a lesser extent Lockerbie (bad choice of chip shop for me). Maybe I should have read up a little more on options, but the shop was an interesting place and the lack of shelter made it not the best control at the time. It sounds like the pub and the forestry visitors centres were both options. I think I could have done with a sit down at that point, and certainly some hot food/drink!
Part of the appeal of the control location was that it is the most remote village in the world or something. I was surprised to not see a blind boy playing a banjo to be honest.
I am not sure what the answer is, as clearly, a village hall control would require more people and money. But certainly, I would investigate alternative options more closely if I were riding again. I probably should have stopped at the cafe at Newcastleton in hindsight, though whatever was eaten there, may have reappeared on that climb into the wind!
None of it is intended as criticism as given better weather, it probably would not have been such an issue, but in poor weather, it was just at the point where the thought of going further away from base might become unpalatable.
I actually really liked the pacing of the ride. The shorter day 1 (particularly with that tailwind!) meant you kept your powder reasonably dry for a tough day 2 and then a reasonably short (but very difficult) day 3 before a short victory lap on day 4.