Thank you Dee.

Well done Ian, great performance.

I was saying to Susan, who has very limited mountain biking experience, that if the course was in reverse and Carnau done in daylight it would be a lot easier for me to go sub 24. I don't fancy crossing it at night.

We had a good ride round. Day 1 I was much the same pace as last year despite being less fit though I carried less kit. Susan's lights failed just before the hostel where we stopped the night. We decided to start a little later having a long stop overnight so that we had light at the start. I was a bit slower on second day, legs were tired.

A successful ride for me. Went out to go sub-24 and succeeded at 22.25hrs, with more than a little suffering during the last 50 miles.

My usual riding partner Chris n was on a 2day strategy so the plan was ride together until the devils staircase then I'd push on through the night. Chris' head wasn't in it though, and I left him stopping for a picnic about 20 miles in.

The ipod helped me on a lone run round claerwen and I dropped into the pub at Ponti-thingy for a coke just after 5pm. 3 others (Paul and Mark on singlespeeds looking cold, and Keith on a dropbarred Salsa) joined me for the climb from Strata Florida.

Back on my own by "Wales' wettest bridleway" I was caught by Rob Dean and, dreadful luck for him spent the rest of the ride together.

We saw the singlespeeders again when we stopped for a cuppa at the YH about 9pm, cruised the road miles over the Staircase then set out across Carnau just before midnight.

Rob chose to stick around whilst I had a hike-a-bike low patch and reckoned we travelled 1 mile between 12.30am and 1.30am. His previous knowledge from the EWE meant we found our way down without too much mental anguish, but I have little interest in ever taking a bike over there again.

We discussed how we would reclaim some time on the road sections, but it was so cold and we were both battling tiredness that we trundled along just trying keep our heads in it. Bivvying 15 miles before the finish was discussed. Slight inclines were walked up to get some feeling back into frozen toes. At 5.30am Rob's garmin told us it was -3°C.

In the end we pushed on with some minor water-immersion and temperature related mechanicals. The final river crossing just before the road to the finish brought out a few choice words, but at 8.25am we finally coasted into the finish. It took me 10 minutes next to the fire to stop shivering enough not to spill my cup of tea over my hand!

So that was that. Black badge achieved. I'll not bother saying never again; I know how the memory of the horrors fade and these things get under your skin. Maybe next year...

Big congrats to Ian and = kudos too all who finished.

Then, a question to all the sub-24 superhumans ; Going up the boulderslide after the hostel and over the bog on Carnau do you guys stick your bikes over your shoulders and run up/over them or just flap your wings? (joking aside, I'd be really interested to know how you tackle that stuff.)

Thanks to Dee and Stu for the food and the event.

That must rank as the hardest ride I have ever done. My legs are strange things - they get to a state of tiredness (knackeredness/numbness) then it doesn't matter what my head says, they just stay at one pace.

211km and 5400m of climbing is quite tough, especially when big chunks are through bogs and damp bridleways, and in sub zero temperatures and at night. So finishing at all is a great achievement. My Strava log says there were 10 cat 4 climbs and 2 or 3 cat 3 climbs (not sure what this really means, but I think it means "you're stupid").

Highlights: the descent from Roman Camp to Craig Goch reservoir (when I found it), the track from Claerwen to the road (it's remoteness is brilliant), finding a tap on the side of a house that meant I didn't have to drink soily (soiled?) water any more, finding the Youth Hostel as it got dark and filling up water bottles with more clean water, the descent to Soar Mynydd in the dark, the lovely lovely flattish road section from the Devils Staircase, then the road stretch back to Pennant.

Lowpoints: the slog across the tops by Roman camp, the slog across the Carnau, trying desperately to cling to Ian B's tyretracks (that's all anyone saw of him!), cold feet (strangely washing them in the river crossings seemed to make them less painful (more numb?)), the climb to Gro Hill, and then losing the path by the river crossing off Gro Hill.

In hindsight I travelled too light - I had the minimum gear and no more, and should have taken a sleep mat and small stove or some more clothing to help if I got stuck out. Waterproof boots and warmer gloves would be on the list as well.

And a black badge (16:42 total time, 15:42 riding time) - just a shame not many people know what it takes to earn any colour badge from this event!

Top event, just looking forward to the 002BB (is that 2km?) next year. :?

Roy,
the boulderside by the youth hostel is a big ring climb isn't it? At least that's the gear my bike was in whilst I was pushing it. The rest of it is just keeping going - don't stop for more than 30 seconds unless you have only 1 gear, then it would appear that stopping doesn't happen at all!

Cheers slarge, so that' s the boulder climb sorted for next year - I'll fit a big ring (actually I won't because we'll be coming down it! ). That just leaves the boggy bits & the not stopping to sort...

Roy

As slarge says, just keep pushing the bike.

My low patch on Carnau was mostly due to having to repeatedly lift the bike as well as push, which, with my puny upper body strength, finally cracked me. Once we were pedalling again I was fine. :)

By the finish I was wondering whether I could bicycle up some kind of strapping round my stem and seat post to carry the bike like a backpack.

royAB wrote:sub-24 superhumans

As someone whose riding is usually firmly in the normal-human category, this phrase will keep me smiling all afternoon. Thank you. :)

OK, yup.. the pushing bit I've definitely mastered. The not stopping. No. On a slightly different note, the 'last' 25K from Rhayader that I didn't do - how does that compare with the preceding 165K - looking at it on Google Earth in the cold light of morning it seems to be 'easier' (more track 'fewer' climbs) or would that be a gross underestimation?

... oh, & the boggy bits. I'm wondering about snowshoes.

(FWIW - I've just weighed my still-saturated Shimano M81's - 760gm apiece. So taking into account that I've poured out the water that was in there most of the way round, that's lifting nearly a kilo every time you pedal/step. Something the lightweight engineering gurus could put some thought into methinks)

OK folks, while I can still remember all the gory details, here's my account of the weekend. Apologies in advance for the wordy nature of it. You might want to go and make a cuppa first

Minimum Kit

PHD Minim Ultra sleeping bag, Ruta Locura Wasatch Bivvy, Exposure Diablo, iPhone

Supplementary Kit (in addition to normal riding clothes)

Waterproof jacket, Glacier gloves, Fleece beanie, Lightweight merino l/s top, Loo roll

Worn

2XU leggings, dhb waterproof shorts, windstopper gillet, compression base-layer, X-bionic arm warmers, cycle top, full finger gloves, Shimano winter boots.

Food

100g peanuts, 100g jelly babies, 100g dark chocolate, 5 electrolyte tabs (inc 1 caffeinated one), 6 Torq gels, 2 Torq bars, 3 9-bars, 4 Eccles cakes, 8 Welsh cakes. 1250g, 4000 kcal.
I returned with 2 electrolyte tabs, 2 Torq gels (found in the bottom of the frame bag – I’d have eaten these if I’d remembered they were there), 2 Torq bars (couldn’t face them), 2 9-bars (couldn’t face these either), 2 eccles cakes (or these), 4 Welsh cakes (and these). More on this later.

Other Kit

Tools/ spares, 1 spare tube, 1 CO2 cannister, pump, small first aid kit, GPS, Spot tracker.

The Ride

I felt considerably more nervous at the start this year than last. Riding under 24 hours wasn’t the issue per se, but I’d set myself the ambitious target of 15 hours to complete the route. This was calculated simply on the basis that my riding time last year was about 15 hours, and I was hoping that I was fitter, stronger, had lighter kit and planned to stop a lot less often.

The opening section of the course contains some of the hardest riding, and I needed to pace myself well on this section to avoid paying the penalties later on. The first few kilometres weren’t without incident though when my Diablo light, supposedly safe in my back pocket, bounced out. Fortunately, I heard it land nipped back to retrieve it and instead clipped it in its proper place on my helmet. Less than 2km after that, my SPOT decided to eject itself from its little case on my saddle back and I had to go back up the trail to fetch it. In haste, I shoved it into my back pocket but facing in rather than out so it failed to transmit until I got to my first water stop and sorted it out properly. The first quarter of the course, which is somewhere along the road from Cwmystwyth to the right turn off over the Roman Camp, went without further incident. Minor navigation issues from last year were corrected this year, and I found myself up by about 45 minutes after the first quarter and 3.5 hours of riding (<2 mins rest time).

The next leg was over Roman Camp, down through the dams and back over Claerwen to Pontrhydfendigaid. The ride over the top to the dams was straight forward enough, though wetter than two weeks previously. At the toilets I filled one of my bottles up and sorted out my SPOT. I’d managed to eat a fair bit while riding along Cwmystwyth road, so was able to get going quickly. Heading out along Claerwen, there was a bit of a head wind but thankfully no rain, though the cooling air was very evident. This second section took me 2.5 hours, which was about 30 mins quicker than last year (5 mins resting time).

The descent into Pont left me feeling rather cold, and so I rode straight through the village to get onto the Twyi Forest road climb. At this point I wasn’t feeling particularly great. Maybe I’d gone a bit too hard, or not really drunk enough, or both. At Strata Florida I paused to grab some food, but found a distinct lack of appetite for anything resembling an energy/cereal bar. Salt & pepper cashew nuts appeared to be the only thing I could face, which I followed with some jelly babies and dark chocolate. I drank 500ml of fluid too to lighten the load for the climb.

The third section was from Strata Florida over to the MTB centre at the bottom of Carnau, totalling 52 km, and having over 1500m of ascent. Feeling suitably nourished from my nuts, jelly babies and chocolate, I made it up the fireroad climb OK and on to the “splashes”. Again, much more water here than I’d seen previously and I cautiously bypassed the worst looking puddles to preserve dry feet only to find two stream crossings that made getting wet feet compulsory. Having watched rain clouds pass in the distance all day but never arrive overhead, one finally caught me. I stopped for a minute or two thinking it would pass and had another bite to eat. The rain hadn’t past, so I put my waterproof on as it wasn’t far to the top of the forest and I would definitely need it for the long fast descent that would follow. The rain eventually past, clouds cleared, sun shone and the temperature began to fall. I pressed on through Cwm Berwyn plantation and made it over to Ty’n Cornel Hostel just before it got dark. I filled my bottles up, changed my top for the warmer merino one, put my glacier gloves and hat on and was ready for the night. Once over Soar-y-mynydd, the fog came down and I could barely see more than 5 metres in front of me. Evenutally Devil’s Staircase loomed out of the fog and a 10 minute push ensued. Once over the top, the descent into the Irfon Valley was lovely - clear skies and stars in every direction. At this point I was beginning to feel sleepy and kept having to snap back into the riding when I’d switched off mentally. This third section took me 4 hours 20 minutes, only 10 minutes quicker than last year, but with a full 35 minutes of rest time, which included two food stops and some changes to my layers.

Coed Trallwm MTB centre arrived, and with it the final leg of the route. I put my caffeine electrolyte tab in one of my bottles and took two ibuprofen tablets for general aches and pains before setting off up the fireroad. Despite my determination to ride this section, it wasn’t long before I was off and pushing. After a bit of on and off riding to rest weary legs, I arrived at the gate to the Carnau track. Without looking at my GPS I picked up the track straight away and followed it accurately across the top, pushing more than riding on the way up but riding on the flat/ descent until I got to the track where you turn back down into the valley. The going was much slower than last year across this section, owing to the amount of rain recently. The Gro Hill section followed, with a combination of riding the more gentle gradients and pushing the steeper ones. I was pleased to finally find the road again and make some time up on the section up to Llangurig. The caffeine tabs were doing their job, but sleepiness was still getting to me, as was the cold. I was glad of my glacier gloves, which proved effective at keeping my hands warm except on the longer descents where the windchill sometimes left me with cold fingers. The bridleway into Hafren was all rideable – a section I remember I struggled with last year – and the fireroad through Hafren was a good boast mentally even if I did push bits of it. The finishing section of road was hammered as much as my legs would take, before the long chilling descent back to Pennant at 01:18am. The last section was completed just under 5 hours (11 mins resting time), which was about the same time as last year, but the conditions over Carnau were so much slower (1hr 25m this year versus 53 mins last year - despite navigation errors).

I was thoroughly knackered, my legs hurt, as did my knees, shoulders and neck. I grabbed a recovery drink, ate some olives and a bit of chicken, crawled into my sleeping bag and slept.

Lessons & Experiences

I clearly took a risk travelling light. The term "minimum kit" was taken literally as I never intended on stopping. However, it was so cold that I used all my spare layers, and had I needed to stay out, my sleeping bag was a bit too thin for the conditions. A sleeping mat is another obvious omission from the kit list, and I would have had to choose my spot fairly carefully.

I can’t quite believe how little I ate. Lack of appetite was a setback at around the halfway point, which if it wasn’t for the nuts would have left me in trouble. More variety next time I think, and more savory than sweet too. A bit more caffeine would have helped me fight the sleepy feeling towards the end – I nearly feel asleep on the bike a couple of times on the lane up from Rhayader.

The solitude didn’t bother me all that much, though I would look back from time to time to see if I could see anyone, though I’m not sure how I would have been able to respond if I had been caught!

Winter boots and full length leggings were a plus this year, as were the Glacier gloves, buff (worn the whole time around my neck) and fleece hat put on just before dark. The helmet mounted light made navigation easier as I could look around a bit more and check my GPS more easily. Suspension forks helped too. The Claerwen and “Splashes” sections in particular and numerous other bits were just a lot easier on the body.

Whilst the conditions were far from ideal compared to last year, the main gains came from not stopping so much. I was faster riding on the sections that were less affected by water, which accounts for about 40 minutes of gain compared to last. Total stopped time was 56 minutes, where over half came in the third section alone (Strata Florida to Coed Trallwm). So the bottom line is don't stop!

Ian

Ian, Thanks very very much for sharing your set up. I knew I was travelling way too heavy when I still had clothes in my bags at the coldest point I was out!!

Dyffers - why didn't you use the bridge before getting on to final road? We had dry feet. Or were you just 'ard?

Very impressive Ian 8-)

I finished on the Sunday, so happy with that. Hooked up with Mark Evans near to Nant Rhys and his pace allowed me to do the same and my nagivation allowed us not to loose any time getting lost. Kevin and Susan were about 5 mins behind us comming out of the forest and that gap remained until the river crossing past Claerddu, so i knew i was making good time.

We decided to stop at the pub in Ffair Rhos, which looking back was a mistake. Once off the bike my legs seized up, and progress was slow after riding into the night. We pushed on into Cwm Berwyn plantation. We passed some people camped at the picnic area, and we were aiming to get to the YHA to join Kevin, but with the slower pace and dropping temperatures, I made the call to stop in the forest where we found a sheltered spot for the night, not wanting to risk getting to the YHA to find it being closed, and knowing how exposed and cold it would have been. The forest was walm so it was the right decision, after seeing the harsh frost out in the open the next morning. We slept for 4 hours and decided to make an early start with a vauge plan on getting back for 2 on the sunday.

The run down to the Devils staircase was reasonable enough, but in the valley on the otherside the cold was just too much for me. Water bladder frozen, so did the GPS batteries (took me 10 mins to get the spares out of my frame bag, having to turn the whole bike upside down and give it a good shake to release them).

After my 'summer' Wales trip i knew i could do 70-80km a day no problem, so 200km over two days didnt seem that much of a stretch, but i think the effects of not eating/drinking enough on the saturday, the cold and little sleep was taking its toll, so Mark continued at his pace as i slowed, which was the best thing for both of us.

Kevin and Susan followed me over Carnau, and we rode together to the following hill. After that my legs had gone. Every gradient was a push, and it was more a case plodding on, as if i had have stopped, im not sure i could have gotten started again. Bumped into Taylor on the minor road north of Rhayader and heard the tails of Claerduu. Not the easiest place to find if you havent been before. After that i was just a case of soldiering on. My knee was getting painful as was my backside, so riding was painful. A lot of pushing into Hafren, and i had to ride the last 20k stood up, as it was just too painful to sit down.

Definitely alot of type B fun, and the hardest thing i've ever done on a bike.

Many thanks to Stu and Dee for your hospitality

Ian,

Wow - you ate nothing - I couldn't sustain myself for 15 hours watching TV on that many calories!

(then again that could explain my gut and additional chins )

Yeah, definitely not sustainable. However, I did have two bottles of Torq drink on board at the start, and had consumed about 2000 kcal between 6am and the start. I also believe that the electrolyte tabs do help you burn fat during the lower intensity stuff

Just reading these ride reports scares me to death, well done everyone i reckon it'd take me nearly four days to ride that

Blackhound wrote:Dyffers - why didn't you use the bridge before getting on to final road? We had dry feet. Or were you just 'ard?

There was a bridge?! We must've been pretty tired as we both looked and didn't spot it. :?

faddyvictor wrote:Just reading these ride reports scares me to death, well done everyone i reckon it'd take me nearly four days to ride that

That's funny as reading what people did, felt and experienced has made me twice as jealous and twice as determined to make it next year as before!

Don't get me wrong - next year when I stumble in after 30+ hours half-dead and sobbing like a baby I'm sure I'll feel quite differently but for now I am very envious.

Gairy, I only have one thing to say, and that is "bring waterproof boots". Everything else is easy, but cold wet feet makes it much harder !

A day and night of first time experiences all added up to nearly twenty hours of riding that I will never forget. A moment in time from my ride below.

The Carnau
The halo of light now seemed to be dancing on the horizon. It was enchanting and provided an overwhelming feeling of hope. Then the light suddenly flickered and disappeared into the darkness.

By now I had learnt that the tufts of grass poking through the bog offered the best footings and progress but I also learnt you could not rely on them. Squelch. Both feet disappeared but an unexpected moment of vividness arrived instead.

I take a deep breath and stop. I turn slowly taking in every detail of the landscape. A boggy plateau spreads out in all directions; the expanse of land occasionally alters and slopes up towards the night sky. Rocks are just random shadowy shapes set against a disorientating sky. There are stars upon stars and I gaze into the sky with my hands relaxed by my side and feel ready to zoom into the sky.

Then the halo returns. I’m confused. The glow of my gps unit on my handlebars offers an answer. The halo no longer offers hope but drums up the fear of the chase. I too now dance on the horizon to flicker and disappear.