Hi, i have signed up to WRT this year, and was looking at riding 3 solid(ish) days of remote wilderness, some single track, forest trails etc, and as little road / gravel road as possible. Obviously with the odd pub thrown in....

I have plotted all this years points into a map, and am not really finding my self very inspired by the route that would naturally form around the points. Thats largely due to my lack of knowledge in this area as i am only familier with the peaks. I really dont want to spend 3 days peddling round wide open forest fire roads or even worse end up plotting a route on roads.

Like many here (i expect) i dont really get an opportunity to bag a weekend away from family and kids so wanted a real killer loop to tackle in the 3 days. Does anyone have any idea, not really fussed if it takes in any points from this years GPS coords, preference is on a really good fully off road route.

If anyone has any fantastic routes from years gone by which they would recommend i would be eternally grateful for some inspiration!

Thanks

Alex

There's some good riding to be had amongst this years GR, although perhaps not completely obvious. It's virtually impossible to piece together a long route in mid-Wales and not make use of the lanes ... most of which are lovely and very, very quiet.

In years gone by, people who've tried to make their route as 'off-road' as possible have regretted it deeply. The lanes and easy going bits are your friend, they'll provide some relief from the other bits. Day 2 of John's LHC route is a very good example of mixing things up and using what's available to your advantage. The WRT is about much more than simply riding.

If you'd really like a full-on off road adventure ... I'll happily knock you something up but I won't be held responsible.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:10 pm If you'd really like a full-on off road adventure ... I'll happily knock you something up but I won't be held responsible.

that sounds dangerous

Listen to the advice above, seriously!

On my first WRT I went as off road as I could, I walked quite a bit of it and there were some horrific bits of hike a bike. I went off road whenever possible. I also cramped up within a few hours of the first day! Got to the top having walked through a bog to find some folks has gently spun up the road...! I would advocate using the roads too

They're very quiet and lovely. All other trips to mid Wales have involved a healthy dose of unclassified road

Agree with Ben , there's definitely some parts where after you've ,walked ,marched and carried your bike you'll be glad of a bit of tarmac or gravel road

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:10 pm There's some good riding to be had amongst this years GR, although perhaps not completely obvious. It's virtually impossible to piece together a long route in mid-Wales and not make use of the lanes ... most of which are lovely and very, very quiet.

If you'd really like a full-on off road adventure ... I'll happily knock you something up but I won't be held responsible.

I would be pretty keen to see what you could come up with if the offer stands? Im not totally adverse to a road so long as it takes you to the top of a nice descent. I think my main issue is that like you say, its not that obvious. If someone wanted some good trails in the peaks, i could easily point some out, but here i am a fish out of water! A very excited fish out of water i may add!

In reality, I think what you've described doesn't really exist outside of a trail centre. I'm born and bred in the Peak and while there are some decent bits of track, there's very little in the way of singletrack with most stuff consisting of BW / doubletrack, if you want to undertake a 'journey' rather than simply riding round in ever decreasing circles, then minor roads and gravel will always form a fair chunk within the UK.

A good number of this years GR pinpoint very enjoyable riding ... maybe they're almost too obvious?

Anyway, I'll knock you something up and send it across - what kind of distance are you comfortable with?

I take your point, and i definatley dont want to be wandering round trail centers.....Maybe 200-300km depending on the terrain.

I was just looking at the 2018 BB300 route - that looks interesting.....

Alexinthepeaks wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:51 pm I was just looking at the 2018 BB300 route - that looks interesting.....

Stu, send him the 2014 BB200 route. Call it the lane and forestry track appreciation route?

The WRT is more of a chilled experience than trying to beast yourself Last year my wife and I did just under 200km - there was some road, quite a bit of track and only a very little singletrack.

You don't have to visit all the GRs, they are simply a guidance, an inspiration to get you to work out a route around Mid-Wales hopefully taking you to some interesting places. Not every bridleway is rideable, some are ROWs in name only and you'll be pushing/carrying your bike on the flat or even downhill

As a comparison, I did last year's BB200 (not the 300!) in 21hrs20 with a moving time of 19hrs10 and that was hard work. Again there was very little singletrack.

Dyffers wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 4:23 pm

Alexinthepeaks wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:51 pm I was just looking at the 2018 BB300 route - that looks interesting.....

Stu, send him the 2014 BB200 route. Call it the lane and forestry track appreciation route?

Im intrigued! What happened in the 2014 route! Other than the hills! - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29666103

The unrelenting hills are just par for the course in mid-Wales, there's very little flat ground. 2014 probably didn't have any more climbing than an average year, just that the terrain was a little bit more Welsh than usual

The 2015 and 2016 BB200 routes kind of head in the same direction as some of this years GR. Either would make a nice ride over a long weekend.

Alexinthepeaks wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 4:33 pm

Dyffers wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 4:23 pm

Alexinthepeaks wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:51 pm I was just looking at the 2018 BB300 route - that looks interesting.....

Stu, send him the 2014 BB200 route. Call it the lane and forestry track appreciation route?

Im intrigued! What happened in the 2014 route! Other than the hills! - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29666103

Here's a couple of threads from the time: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4445 (note the picture in the first post!) and viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4477

Oh yes, we had a special badge that year too ....

As has been said above, you don't have to do all the grid refs, this year the LHC is aiming for 12, but will most probably end up hitting 9 of them
That's 9 more than I've ridden in my last 3 WRT's

I think we managed one GR with last year's WRT LHC. Oh, and saw one across the hill. Tried some of them there GR things on the Winter Event and it wasn't particularly my finest hour so have given them up as not fitting my level of incompetence!

John, any chance of emailing me your GPX and Sat night spot please? I'm all over the place at the moment because I won't parachute into the area until very late Sat night. Steve'll probably knock his route up on Saturday morning . In the spirit of already making a complete shambles of my weekend one of my options is just saying sod it and heading to the seaside for a paddle instead ( Weigh Out in Barmouth anyone? ). I know Stu will tell me off though. Will probably make a decision on the train on the way there .

If you got off the train in Newtown Reg, you've missed the worst of the miles - quick spin upt' cut and you'd probably be in front

Alexinthepeaks wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:00 pm

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:10 pm There's some good riding to be had amongst this years GR, although perhaps not completely obvious. It's virtually impossible to piece together a long route in mid-Wales and not make use of the lanes ... most of which are lovely and very, very quiet.

If you'd really like a full-on off road adventure ... I'll happily knock you something up but I won't be held responsible.

I would be pretty keen to see what you could come up with if the offer stands? Im not totally adverse to a road so long as it takes you to the top of a nice descent. I think my main issue is that like you say, its not that obvious. If someone wanted some good trails in the peaks, i could easily point some out, but here i am a fish out of water! A very excited fish out of water i may add!

I will take this offer please Alex (of knocking up a good day in the peaks) thanks

'get off at Newtown' - Ohhhh I knew that would happen - I'm wavering all over the place now! The irony of being in front after all would be amusing. This chronic indecision is actually painfully pleasurable in a wierd sort of way. A bit like... no we won't go there.

For my first ever WRT I did the LHC
Last year I did a beast of a route by joining together various BB200 rides
This year I’ve realised that (to me) the entire point of WRT is a kind of bearbones social; I can do nutter events on my own.

Thanks all - think ill hook up with the LHC 125 route, sounds fun :)