WRT Lonely Hearts Club 2016

[Chew]

Welcome to this years WRT Lonely Hearts Club. It’s like blind dating, but for tramps.

Friends bailed on you?
Scared of the dark?
Like sleeping with strange men in the woods?

This is probably the place for you.


WRT Lite
Post up and we’ll try and pair you up with some other Lonely person


WRT Full Fat
Same again, post up and we’ll sort something out

If you’re really desperate, you can tag along with me.
Expect a route around the 150k mark with ~3,500m of climbing, ice cream on the beach, Deathmarch and some swearing.

[MarkW]

I'm in. See you again this year. Got a better understanding of sleeping bag ratings now though and won't be packing a bag designed for the tropics.

[Zippy]

If I don't make a route in time, you might find me annoying you Chew

[RIP]

Thanks Chew, for your public-spiritedness!

Am interested, as have no friends at all other than my trusty Orange P7. Luckily I can swear on demand, but unfortunately not in Welsh - maybe that can be rectified on this trip. In the best dating traditions, here's me: Aged 57 but a mental age of about 8; no dress sense at all; once bikepack circumnavigated Iceland after a long boat trip but can now only just about make it up Mam Tor and down again before I need a few beers. Wife says "mountain biking is silly", and who am I to argue eh?

Would you have one LH group or several? Would like to reach all the coordinates but can see myself conking out somewhere. I'd like to travel fairly light (well we all would obviously ;-)) so would prefer to have food shopping options late afternoon... a large branch of Waitrose would be perfect....

What's the "etiquette" of this thread? Noticed elsewhere that obviously best not to publicise the coordinates. I've just plotted them on 1:25000 maps and an old AA map which amazingly has all of the coordinates on one A4 page - I think I might navigate using just that one page! Oh, apart from the one way over towards Siberia near the Berwyns. Unless I've misread it, it's quite an outlier (evil Stu?!) that would be quite a lot of "road" work to/from. How do we discuss route options without mentioning the route?

To compound my misery I've got a day either side: arriving on train Caersws or Mach at Fri lunchtime and departing either at Tues lunchtime, so 2 extra bivi nights for me.

Sorry for all the questions....

"Reg" (oh alright, Chris)

[Artie Fufkin]

Should be tagging along too.
Oh, Mark will be good to see you again!
I'd leave the hammock at home this year, fella!!!
See you all then.

[MarkW]

Haha. Yes. I think I'll be leaving a lot of stuff behind this year. Which LHC member were you last year Artie? The other guy bivvying in the delapidated cow shed I presume. Though I have to say that hammock was damn comfortable the year before when I rode solo

[Artie Fufkin]

I was that man in the lowly cattle shed!!!
Hope we can find some better accommodation this time round.
Take it easy man, and see you soon!

[Chew]

Hi Reg,

The idea of this is to meet up with fellow minded people for the weekend.

I'll be planning my own route that a number few people can tag along with. Otherwise we can pair people up with similar outlooks.

I'll be planning on riding:
~50k on the Sat
~70k on the Sun
~30k on the Mon
My route will pick up the majority of the GR's. The pace will be constant, but social and i'd want to be covering a steady 10 km/h.

Not fully worked out a route yet, but it'll probably be around 1/3 on road and will more than likely involve some pushing.

[scott of the woods]

I was that man in the lowly cattle shed!!!
Hope we can find some better accommodation this time round.
Take it easy man, and see you soon!

Ha ha! I was then man outside the shed in the mini green teepee! I have done zero riding this last year due to life commitments so will probably be riding on my own this year :(

[Artie Fufkin]

Don't ride on your own! That's what the LHC is there for. I'm doing the WHW the week before so I don't reckon I'm gonna be too spritely.
See you then.

[scott of the woods]

Don't ride on your own! That's what the LHC is there for. I'm doing the WHW the week before so I don't reckon I'm gonna be too spritely.
See you then.

Thanks but I was slow last year so I don't think I'll be any better this year. I would like to ride in the group again but don't want to hold anyone up, it was a great bunch to ride with, and had a great time.I will be slimming my pack weight down,To counteract my increase in body weight!!

[MarkW]

Hey Scott. I remember you. You had the banshee 200. If you're as fit as last year I don't think there will be a problem. We made it round didn't we?

[MarkW]

It will also be good to see aome new faces (reg). Look forward to meeting you

[RIP]

Thanks guys, will be great to meet you too. Bit busy over next couple of days but am trying to work out the mileage (or k-age if you're younger than me ) to take in all points. I've got as far as Trawsfynydd about half way round and am up to 100 miles already so I must be doing summat wrong. Trying not to give coordinates away but I looked at Start > > Ceinws > Pennal > Aberdyfi > Llanegryn > Dolgellau (get some supplies) > Brithdir (kip round there somewhere) > Ganllwyd > hills > Bontddu > Talybont > road to Harlech (supplies/lunch) > Llandecwyn > hills > Trawsfynydd > CoedyBrenin > road over to LLanuwchllyn > Vyrnwy > Mawddwy > Finish. Much prefer the western area so a copout would be CYB back through Dolgellau, Corris, etc on third day. Fascinated to see your routes guys if they take everything in!

[RIP]

An off-the-wall option is train from Talybont to Llandecwyn to cut out all that road. Well, I believe the "rules" are that anything goes so long as it's "open to every rider" . Someone delete my previous post pls if sticking routes up is frowned on, ta, although gawd knows how Chew tells us his if he can't - smoke signals from Halifax?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Chris, in truth the LHC is run more akin to a dictatorship than a cooperative Chew devises a route based on local knowledge / experience / wild guesses and anyone who would like to join in, is free to do so. That's often people who prefer company but have none, those who aren't the best navigators or CBA to draw up a route and anyone scared of the man eating Werebears that still prowl some of the more remote parts of Wales after dark.

I believe this pic of Chew was taken last year as the LHC entered Llanidloes in search of the Spar.

[Taylor]

It's always been a dictatorship when I've run LHC before.

[benp1]

The beauty of that is when your when hike-a-biking, bogtrotting, squelching or slogging you've got someone to actually blame!

[adjustablewench]

Wow Chew your beard has grown!

[ericrobo]

This part of Wales is all a bit new for me...
Did a bit round Builth Wells/Rhayader/Claerwen/Doethie Valley a few years back

Just spent a fruitless hour trying to devise a good route visiting SOME of these grid refs..

The key should be good riding, given that there is definitely a masochistic streak in wanting tussocks, mud, more tussocks, and more mud, and of course truly poor show weather... maybe a bit late for snow now, tho I could be wrong..

But what's to stop the competitive grid ref baggers taking as much road as possible ?

Doesn't that defeat the objective of the exercise ?

And just which of the small red dashes (I'm on OS 1:50k) can we ride on ? None ?

Alright then, what about the BLACK dashes ?
(three cheers for Scotland)

Am I right in assuming that all the points are in Open Access areas except SN 816*** and SH 789***... ? Which means we could in theory go anywhere ?.. (except on small red dashes..)

Spent ages trying to work out a way from Machynlleth to Aberdovey using a track/trail/byway/bikeway..(new term)/bridleway but failed miserably...

Any contributions/advice greatly appreciated otherwise it's another for the LHC

[ericrobo]

Computer says :
"and of course truly poor show weather..."

Computer knows best...

Alright what I meant was truly excremental weather...

[Bearbonesnorm]

But what's to stop the competitive grid ref baggers taking as much road as possible ?

Doesn't that defeat the objective of the exercise ?

Really, riding your bike and enjoying yourself is the object, so if someone enjoys the road and wants to visit all GR ... why not?

Spent ages trying to work out a way from Machynlleth to Aberdovey using a track/trail/byway/bikeway..(new term)/bridleway but failed miserably...

You should see a forest just north of Mach'. You could use the tracks within to get you to Pennal. 1 or 2km on the road will then open up a few good off road options to Aberdovey.

My general advice is, don't try and avoid tarmac at all costs, as doing so will ultimately result in a poor, unenjoyable route. Use it where it makes sense to - there are some lovely quiet lanes that are a pleasure to cycle on.

[Richard G]

I covered a reasonable amount on road last year and to be honest, the scenery on those bits was some of the most memorable from the trip.

[scott of the woods]

Hey Scott. I remember you. You had the banshee 200. If you're as fit as last year I don't think there will be a problem. We made it round didn't we?

Not me Mark I had the hex peak, it's easier to distinguish by what bike we were riding, I had a 15 year old full suss spesh, what was your ride?

[RIP]

Thanks for the etiquette points chaps. I need to step back and await Chew's unfolding plans!