@ianfitz - I meant relatively speaking for anyone

Rubber tyres of an ikon or Crossmark variety are also good

Ian wrote:@ianfitz - I meant relatively speaking for anyone

Rubber tyres of an ikon or Crossmark variety are also good

I know Ian, just being a bit cheeky... :)

I have some rubber crossmarks so will use them.

I always like to find small things like tyre choice to occupy the 'worrying sector' of my brain. Saves me from worrying about the big things!

Will try to get over for a recce of some if it. What sections are tricky and most worth a look at before the day?

The loop from Rhayader is good, out via Carnau and back in along Claerwen, finishing by going up through the dams across the Roman Camp and back down the mountain road.

Also is the general consensus to ride with bivvy kit but plan on minimal breaks or do folk plan a strategic rest somewhere? Or is this (more likely!) a personal choice?

I think it depends what you're hoping to do. If you can manage 10km/h then you should be able to complete it in (roughly) 20 hours, so if you're after 'black' that leaves 4 hours for stops/faffing ... doesn't that sound easy?

If blue matches your eyes then an average speed of 7.5km/h will see you home within the 28h cut off.

If finishing is your aim then any speed will do the job

It should be possible to cross Carnau in daylight this year which should help navigation and any temptation (which is quite sensible) to pitch up and wait for sunrise before crossing.

What I will say is, the BB 200 is meant to be a time trial, ie you're meant to give it your best shot. Last year a few folk seemed to mistake the BB 200 for the WRT ... remember, Death or Glory :D

My prep...just get out and ride/bivy as much as you can and enjoy it!! This is my first time i can ride this event due to work so looking forward to it, however i have ridden it in two stages over two different times and it wasnt easy going ( well the first time i had a bloody heavy trailer behind me and it rained solid for two days )

s8tannorm wrote:

remember, Death or Glory :D

Think that pretty much answers my questions!

Thanks folks, I will now go ride some more! :D

Drew

My prep for a black badge ride last year:

2 weeks before: 110 km bridleway blast round Salisbury plain (event organised by SpamBiking) to make sure my bike didn't fall apart.
1 week before: a 100 mile road sportive round the New Forest.

Both were ridden at fast-as-possible pace to see whether I 'blew up'.

Then I started the ride itself with the minimum amount of sleep kit as prescribed by Stu (just a sleeping bag and bivi bag), so that stopping would be just as unpleasant as pushing on. :) Certainly, both options seemed pretty unpleasant on Carnau at 1am

So as Stu says, pick your badge and plan your ride accordingly.

After missing WRT and El & Back I'm determined to enter and complete at least one bivi event

Hopefully I'll be back riding in a week or two and it'll give me something to focus on and dare I say train for.

Stu, just out of interest what are the slowest times that people return the next day? I just want to make sure I've not bitten of more than I can chew.

Chew.

Stu, just out of interest what are the slowest times that people return the next day? I just want to make sure I've not bitten of more than I can chew.

I think just after 10.00pm Sunday night is the latest, so that's 36 hours to cover 200km or 5.5km/h or 3.6mph ... so it should actually be possible to walk it non stop in a similar time

A certain level of stubbornness will go along way and maybe just as important as fitness.

How difficult is the navigation? Including the night nav bit...

i.e. could you pretty much follow a GPS device (say Edge 500 size, breadcrumb trail) (obviously backup paper map would also be taken). Especially if you don't know the area

(I might be seriously considering this, despite having done less riding than last year where I only just managed to do Kielder 100 in perfect weather conditions during the daytime on a carbon whippet bike with no luggage, I reckon it might just be possible if I get my arse in gear )

My first bb200. Was planning to go last year but my daughter was born the weekend before.

I'm very excited and a bit nervous.

Although I have done a few rides in this part of wales. Mostly in horrendous weather.

Really hoping for good weather for bb200, if it is good i am hoping to break 24 hours. If it's not I'm not even going to attempt it, will just bail into a suitable bothy and get some kip in the dry.

This plan is all dependent on if I get to do any training.

evilgoat wrote:My first bb200. Was planning to go last year but my daughter was born the weekend before.

This all seems strangely familiar.

I was planning (and entered) on doing it last year too but a back injury kept me out.

This year (I've entered again) I'll be repeating your performance of last year as our 2nd little 'un is due on that weekend.

It just didn't click that the dates were the same until I mentioned me going back to the UK for the BB200 and received a 'as you f**king serious' look from the Mrs before she calmly explained that under no circumstances would I be leaving her alone for those dates.

So, scuppered again!

Next year???

I'm doomed with all the BB events I tell thee, 2 years ago before the first BB200 I bust my knee so helped out Stu and Dee which was ace at BBHQ. Then every subsequent year I have been unable to attend due to other things family hols etc I will be back one day

Does anyone know the total ascent for the route?

Does anyone know the total ascent for the route?

I recall Ian worked it out to something approaching, rather a lot 5000m springs to mind but I could be talking rubbish.

Cheers Mr S. I stuck it into memory map and it came out at a lot more than that. But I was a bit sloppy with my lines so it over counts by a fair bit.

Bizarrely 5000m doesn't sound so bad!!

Dammit. I was hoping that I'd just generally feign non-interest in this but there's something nagging away at me, especially so when I see that this is the last time on that route. I'm rather put-off by the notion that folk are getting involved in "training plans" too

Sorry to repeat myself, but

Zippy wrote:How difficult is the navigation? Including the night nav bit...

If you had a sat nav and didn't know the area, would it be easy to follow? Outside riding, this is the other thing to worry about :? I managed to almost get lost following the WHW...but I was kinda relying on the signs most of the way

-------------------------------------------

ScotRoutes wrote:Dammit. I was hoping that I'd just generally feign non-interest in this but there's something nagging away at me, especially so when I see that this is the last time on that route.

That's exactly what I was thinking too

If you had a sat nav and didn't know the area, would it be easy to follow? Outside riding, this is the other thing to worry about

If you're using a gps then you should be fine. There are a few vague bits but they're only really an issue if you find yourself there in the dark ... something that'll be much easier to avoid this year.

I think it's far to say that there's possibly only 3 people I can think of with enough 'local knowledge' to allow them to know the entire route, so pretty much everyone riding is in the same boat. The navigation is part of the challange so I suppose those skills could be added to a training programme

s8tannorm wrote:I think it's far to say that there's possibly only 3 people I can think of with enough 'local knowledge' to allow them to know the entire route

You, me and ...?

Kevin

s8tannorm wrote:

Does anyone know the total ascent for the route?

I recall Ian worked it out to something approaching, rather a lot 5000m springs to mind but I could be talking rubbish.

Strava tends to under record things by about 10%, so 5000m is a good estimate.
http://app.strava.com/activities/24986795

s8tannorm wrote:

If you had a sat nav and didn't know the area, would it be easy to follow? Outside riding, this is the other thing to worry about

FWIW The 1st time I tried it with 'well marked up 50K maps' (the sort of think I'd happily use to get from A to B off road in most places and with nav/mapreading skills usually regarded as 'good') I got lost in fog at Strata Florida and ended up in a Tregaron pub some hours later . Failed.

The second attempt I came armed with 'turn by turn' marked up 25K map AND route plotted onto an Etrex. Never once looked at the maps, just GPS, and was spot on the route the whole way. (Didn't finish that one either ... but not because of nav failure)

My take out? If you don't know the area, and want to be in with a good chance of a finish (or a fast time), take a GPS with the route. The BB is a TT after all and navigating in unfamiliar terrain takes precious time even without hills & fog..

Thankyou Roy, that was very helpful.

I agree with needing a GPS for TT routes, map reading can add lots of time and in our hills it's all too easy to inadvertantly take a wrong track be it a farmers quad track or a sheep track especially if it's foggy or dark.