I've written up my experience of last weekend, entitled "So near, yet so far"

Enjoy

https://ianbarrington.com/2016/10/25/so ... et-so-far/

I enjoyed reading that ian. I hope you can enjoy it in some way too

Thanks Ian. I've got a lot out of the weekend at numerous levels, and the writing was fun too

I enjoyed reading about your attempt. I found myself impressed not only with your physical and mental effort but with what seemed like a short turn around from the idea to execution. And how close you got to achieving an extremely difficult goal. Inspiring stuff Ian. Good luck for next time

Really enjoyed that. I wouldn't have envied you on Sun morning in Mach' knowing what was coming up - well done

Cracking read Ian. So close! Great effort.

Thanks chaps, glad you enjoyed it

Tough luck there Ian. Maybe the "smoke" in the bothy might have eased the pain later

Not an easy one to get the right conditions and personal fitness and timing. But then the best challenges are those that are only just achievable: too easy and it's not really a challenge; too hard and so few are capable of even attempting them that they wither and become historical oddities.

Great write-up!

I was up at 6AM on the Saturday thinking of your start (not just thinking of your start but riding my bike i'll hastely add!) and then again on Sunday midday when I was supping my coffee at Chester Zoo. Puts the ride, distance and timing into prospective

Just mapped out one around Snowdonia (very quick sketch) and in 125KM, I made a 3000m route (and i know those roads), so safe to say, no for me

Good report - and how dissapointing for you. Bad luck with the bothy, although I wasn't entirely surprised.

Can't think of many parts of the UK where a route with this much climbing would be achievable without repeating the same climbs, certainly not round Somerset!

Thanks again folks :)

Just to be clear, while the bothy was an annoying situation to be in, it was largely my fault I was there in the first place. An extra layer of clothes, or thicker sleeping bag, or more diligent feeding strategy would have prevented the need to change the plan.

Also, I bivvied for 9 hours. I mean, 9 hours. Me!
I have only myself to blame for being short on time.

It's meant to be difficult, that's why it's a challenge.
I'm sure next time you'll be closer.

Having said that it's planted the seed in my head to do a half attempt. 200k, 5000m in 18 hours.

Finding a suitable route is still harder than it sounds, even around here.

It's meant to be difficult, that's why it's a challenge.

Absolutely
I like the fact that completion of the Journey version of the challenge (as opposed to the Limit) is marginal in terms of completion.

Bob nailed it with this comment:

whitestone wrote:the best challenges are those that are only just achievable: too easy and it's not really a challenge; too hard and so few are capable of even attempting them that they wither and become historical oddities.

Good effort even so, well done!
I've been trying to suss out a suitable route local too me (largely as an intellectual excercise rather than with an intention of actually doing it) and its proving nigh on impossible - so far I've got one route taking in pretty much all of Perthshires road climbs which came out at 400k but only with 6000m of climbing and then another route going into Deeside and Angus taking in some of the monsters around there which came out at 700k and still only managed 9000m of climbing.... Looking elsewhere in Scotland there just aren't enough road climbs within a reasonable area to hit the climbing total without going halfway round the country.
Yorkshire Dales should manage it.....

Spatial density, height gain and gradient all have an influence on the viability of the route in my opinion. Devon would be good, too, I think.

How much climbing is there on the North Coast 500? And is that 500 km or 500 miles?

htrider wrote:Good effort even so, well done!
I've been trying to suss out a suitable route local too me (largely as an intellectual excercise rather than with an intention of actually doing it) and its proving nigh on impossible - so far I've got one route taking in pretty much all of Perthshires road climbs which came out at 400k but only with 6000m of climbing and then another route going into Deeside and Angus taking in some of the monsters around there which came out at 700k and still only managed 9000m of climbing.... Looking elsewhere in Scotland there just aren't enough road climbs within a reasonable area to hit the climbing total without going halfway round the country.
Yorkshire Dales should manage it.....

The Etape du Dales https://www.strava.com/routes/2135340 manages 3290m in 175Km. Also a lot of the climbs both on the Etape and elsewhere are rather steep

Ian wrote:Spatial density, height gain and gradient all have an influence on the viability of the route in my opinion. Devon would be good, too, I think.

How much climbing is there on the North Coast 500? And is that 500 km or 500 miles?

It's 500 miles and around 5,000m of ascent.

As I pointed out at the BB200; Scotland might have a few higher mountains but at least we had the sense to go round rather than over them

I think off road is the way to go. Plenty of steeps around. Especially in Wales

ianfitz wrote:I think off road is the way to go. Plenty of steeps around. Especially in Wales

The various factors that would need alignment for this boggle my mind.
Very rideable route, no gates, adequate resupply opportunity, supreme fitness, ability to stay awake for 36 hours, keeping the bike working, dry, not too hot, plenty of light - the list goes on. Not saying it can't be done, but still

2.5 laps of the original Wildcat 100 route would get you there, but if you wanted to not repeat anything, creating a route suddenly gets very tough.

ScotRoutes wrote:

Ian wrote:How much climbing is there on the North Coast 500? And is that 500 km or 500 miles?

It's 500 miles and around 5,000m of ascent

Virtually flat then

Ian wrote:

ianfitz wrote:I think off road is the way to go. Plenty of steeps around. Especially in Wales

The various factors that would need alignment for this boggle my mind.
Very rideable route, no gates, adequate resupply opportunity, supreme fitness, ability to stay awake for 36 hours, keeping the bike working, dry, not too hot, plenty of light - the list goes on. Not saying it can't be done, but still

2.5 laps of the original Wildcat 100 route would get you there, but if you wanted to not repeat anything, creating a route suddenly gets very tough

I've got a couple sketched out. Thought I'd emailed them to you last week? Not easy, of course - far from it, but nothing worth doing ever is.

The gravel 200 plus a loop to the NW based on part of the 2014 BB200 (calm down everyone, not THAT part of it!) and a two loops from BB towers were the two options. But yes, no time for sleep and stopping kept to a minimum.

well done ian i'm sure you will get it spot on next time

Just a thought...but wouldn't it make sense to start at dusk so you get 2 x cool spells to work through and just the one warm period? Make sure your route hits a 24/7 food stop somewhere in the darkness to refuel. Sure it's going to be petrol station food...but it's not like your body is going to let it sit and rot...it'll be straight in and burnt up.

The other reason is in the dark, the hills aren't as big

Greetz

S.

I would only want one cycle of darkness to minimise time in the Circadian Low. More likely to hit wildlife at night as well - I am a magnet for deer, badgers, rabbits...!

25m altitude gain per km is really hard to find; even the Fred Whitton is 'only' about 17m per km, and the Exmoor Beast slightly more at 19.

The Marmot (France) would do it, but one lap was enough for me, never mind 2 and a half.

The first part of this ride looks like it would do: https://www.strava.com/activities/728996856

Good god, people are fucking nuts. lol

Edit - I really don't get how he's going so fast, yet his heart rate is so low on a bunch of the hills. Insanity. Must be a whole different world of fit.