Dam Busters.

[Bearbonesnorm]

The email containing details for Dam Busters is now flying through cyberspace in a christmassy fashion. If yours doesn't turn up ....

1/ Check your spam folder.
2/ Check the spam folder for the email account linked to your paypal account.
3/ Think hard about whether you entered yourself or if someone entered you - they'll have your email.
4/ Still nothing? Email me stuart@bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk

[Gregsie]

Busy putting crosses on maps whilst I've got the house to myself as the family are out shopping.

Looks a good route. Looking forward to it.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Looks a good route. Looking forward to it.

Good but that's nowt to do with me

[Escape Goat]

YAY! I can now say that I'm doing something important instead of talking Christmas faff!

[Borderer]

The Butcher's Apron puts me off....

[JohnClimber]

Got the email. Thanks Stuart.
But jobs to do before I can have a look.
Any points pack raft essential in January?

[RIP]

Probably the school car park after all this rain .

More to the point, if you cop a load of flak en route and have to drop the old kite into the drink you'll be glad of a raft. Some flares would improve your chances too.....

Chocks away!

[mechanicaldope]

Just had the most productive day of the year so far at work plotting the GRs and starting on a route.

I have a bit of an itch i need to scratch though... Each year I plot a few route options, one of which always involves the bridleway up the hill to the west of llanbrynmair to Corun y Ffridd but I have never actually taken it. Can anyone tell me if its actually rideable?

[Bearbonesnorm]

I have a bit of an itch i need to scratch though... Each year I plot a few route options, one of which always involves the bridleway up the hill to the west of llanbrynmair to Corun y Ffridd but I have never actually taken it. Can anyone tell me if its actually rideable?

You'll be pushing much of the first km as it's very steep in places but it is a decent enough track. Once you reach the top, the track becomes vague but there are other tracks - please don't mistake those for the RoW or we'll all have Texas Bob the gun-toting tw@t to contend with. If you plot it on a gps and follow the line no matter how tempting something else on the ground might look, you'll be fine.

[RIP]

Curiously enough "rode" up it on Winter Event last year . Here's a taste below which will either encourage or put you off depending on your type of fun (ah sorry Stu, just crossed with you!) .....



Some very steep bits. Also, make sure you don't drop your light at the bottom of the hill and have to ride ALL the way back down to get it like Someone did (not me, they passed us going down as we were going up)

Looks a cracking set of GRs thank you Stu. Could be quite frisky up there in January. Interestingly one of the GRs isn't at Nant-y-Gro dam (although that would of course either be Cheeky or a hell of a HAB.....)

[mechanicaldope]

Hmm... Looks like pretty standard WE fare then! Guess the question is "is it worth it?". Only one way to find out I suppose...

[middleagedmadness]

Once past that bit it’s a great little track ,by the way reg who’s that handsome looking young fella in that picture

[RIP]

"Only one way to find out I suppose..." - pretty much the BBB motto . Round there, EVERYWHERE is worth it . Having depressed you a bit with the filth, here's just round the corner further on and it's fantastic (but as Stu says don't stray off the track on pain of... well, pain of pain ). That bloke in the pic? "The Human Cowpat" . Right, no more pics, "one way to find out"....

[RIP]

(Just trying to work out what The Butcher's Apron is..... something out of Roger's Profanisaurus? Nickname for that pub in Machynlleth? Ah, just looked it up.... fair enough... but that could be quite a long and interesting discussion for a Winterval's Eve ).

[BigdummySteve]

Not had a chance to look at them yet, only just got in from that London, M25 almost deserted

[jay91]

Just entered them in to the grid reference app.
Looking forward to planning a route out

[Escape Goat]

Texas Bob the gun-toting tw@t to contend with. If you plot it on a gps and follow the line no matter how tempting something else on the ground might look, you'll be fine.

Is this the line to stick to Stu?

Screen Shot 2019-12-26 at 20.50.19 by Escape Goat, on Flickr

[Bearbonesnorm]

Yep stick to the indicated bridleway all the way across.

[RIP]

Can someone do whatever the opposite of a Rain Dance is please? 11 out of 12 of my 2019 BaMs involved a considerable element of, shall we say, moistness. All my gear's gone green. I reckon the meteorological conditions for Busters will set the precedent for my 2020 season. Thanking you in advance.

[RIP]

Sorry, back again. Just idly contemplating the scenario with a brew. I'll have to be careful with phrasing etc to not give any GRs away (Stu, if so, heckle me and I'll take this down), and there's a pre-warning that Regular Viewers Are Advised To Switch Off Now (" , now what's he on about again?").

If you're interested in adding another dimension to the standard Gawp At Nice Scenery And Get Soaked In A Deep Ford operation, some may know that many dams in mid Wales were not originally constructed for drinking water supplies but as a head of water for mining water wheels. I can think of at least 20 old metal mines either directly on a likely route or just off it, many of them with copious fascinating (and amusingly dangerous) remnants to investigate. If you want to know where they are you could do worse than furnish yourself with a copy of the appropriate volume of Metal Mines Of Mid Wales from https://www.moorebooks.co.uk/. I'm not saying which one .

To convey the water from reservoirs to mines, 19th century engineers built leats. The culmination of this incredible feat of surveying/engineering was one leat nineteen miles long, serving 12 mines and up to 50 waterwheels. This leat runs smack through the middle of the main Busters GRs area. I for one will find it fascinating to stand in the total silence (other than bikepackers farts of course) next to Llyn XXX and conjure up the scene of long-past industrial toil around me.

As Messrs Dummy, Madness, Pickers, Sling, Woods et al know to their cost, anyone unfortunate enough to inadvertently find themselves riding with me will probably end up suffering an impromptu Lecture Tour of the Archaeology and Social History Of Welsh Metal Mining

Carry on, as you were

Reg "Dibnah" Perrin

[Blackhound]

Just plotted the points on Memory Map, now to sort a route. I did notice one of them is the 'bonus' control at the first WRT back in 2010(?). I remember on that occasion thinking it would be a nice place to spend the night but it was to early in the day on that occasion. Will look at forecast closer to the day and consider for this time.

[Escape Goat]

bikepackers farts

That's really rather interesting RIP, I always thought it was just aqua potable.

[RIP]

Also potentially/likely en route of course is Mr W's Favourite Place In The Whole Universe, so one could pop in and find out why. Although I'm unsure whether it's an exact spot with a specific orientation or just a "general environs" type of thing . I think it might be my own, now let's see, ummm, third FPITWU .

[Gregsie]

Route calculated so that a pub is within reasonable cycling distance from my proposed bivy spot or is that the other way round !

Breakfast booked at the Star at Dylife. Anyone else kipping in the car park on the Friday night ?

[Escape Goat]

I'll be at the Star on the night. My main problem is matching faces to names on here