This Is Not A Tour - new Audax events in memory of Mike Hall

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Well, that was a cracking day out, and much of it down to a great route, with very well chosen gravel segments and great re-fuelling options - big thanks to Mark and all of his team. Also met loads of nice people along the way, all of whom where clearly better prepared than me in my minimalist, ride-or-die configuration!

Despite having over-dressed for the beautiful warm weather we ended up enjoying, I was having a good ride, and the new wheels from JRA where rolling well on 30mm G-Ones. Over-indulged in the fabulous veggie cafe by the lunch control, which had my stomach rumbling, but still had a hot-dog and chips (vinegar really does help with cramps!) later in the fabulous open-all-hours corner shop!

At 300km I was comfortably inside 24hr pace for the 400, when I switched on my Exposure Diablo, and...nothing! I was hoping the checkpoint a few minutes away in Newtown would be manned by someone with the foresight to have a spare light, but obviously that tenuous plan didn't work. With no bivi and only a tiny Petzl emergency tent torch, I wasn't going to attempt riding almost blind on the rougher, steeper back roads to Knighton, but managed to pootle back to the finish on the main road, exploiting the light from a 300 rider.

Covered in midge bites and a raw ass (would never have survived 600km), but very happy to have covered 360 fine km, and looking forward to the next one.

[jameso]

Thanks Jack, I think :) certainly a fair and accurate portrayal of how I felt there..

[JustinF]

Brutal and savage!
Scratched after Elan and rode 30k back to the start, knew I didn't have another 200k in me.
Wow that lake gravel section though, want to do that again!

Nice to meet chris n and littlegirlbunny at the control, although I didn't know who you were at the time (chris this might be where you knew my name from, not just 'posting random sub standard on facebook' as I suggested )

midges though, didn't realise the welsh ones were as bad, itching like buggery atm...

[j.c.gillies]

Thanks to everyone that came to Wales this weekend to rides bikes in hard terrain to remember Mike. The grimace on some faces and all the socialising after would have made him smile, as it did us. And to those that didn't make it, you missed a great weekend. Next time maybe?
Ps. There will be less flat A roads, more gravel and an extra hill or three on the 600 next time :)

[Blackhound]

I only did the 110km ride on the Saturday and I found that was tough. Liam managed something like 29h15m for the 600 and Matt Page was about 13h on the 300. I know I could not have achieved usual audax pace ~15kph on any of the longer routes.

As I suspected I got a lot of personal PB's on Strava. Usually riding a loaded bike with 2.1" tyres I rode with just day ride stuff and 35mm tyres and altgough faster it did not feel any easier.

Good to see a few familiar faces.

[Blackhound]

Correction on above post, Matt was around 11 hours as he was back about 7pm

[burty]

fantastic event , great to ride with like minded people , and what cracking weather ,
hopefully it will be repeated next year

[slarge]

Dyffers, Lake Vrwyny was the flat bit. Was hard work actually!!

Craig, if you had waited a few minutes I wasn't far behind you. As it was my rear light died in the lanes after Kington, and the lad just in front of me had his front light die with 10 miles to go so we ended up riding in together.

Missed out on a KoM around Claerwen by 2 seconds, and chuffed to get my first >50mph descent on the A470 down to Dinas Mawddy (overtaking a car on the way down as well for added kicks!)

It really was an epic route, would make a fantastic 2 day bivvy ride, or a single big day out. Many thanks to all the organisers and helpers who put it together and made it work.

Good to see Burty, ZDB, and a couple of other BB jerseys.

[j.c.gillies]

I've put a new page on the website that pulls together stories, photos and videos from the weekend. If you know of any non Facebook or forum thread stories then let me know.

http://tinat.cymru/stories/

[Lump]

And to those that didn't make it, you missed a great weekend. Next time maybe?
Ps. There will be less flat A roads, more gravel and an extra hill or three on the 600 next time :)

TINT was the one event i was most looking forward to this year. I have a lot of other events, but this one meant something.

I was involved in a bad cycling RTA and as a result could make it. So please, put me out of my misery and say it will be on again

[Wilkyboy]

My ride went pretty okay — of course, Wales being Wales meant I was on a happy-streak, as I'm always happy to be back The climbs were sublimely uncomfortable for this Flatlander, but I rode up every single one, except The Bwlch — I got over halfway, but didn't have the legs to turn 34/28 any further than that. I rode a steel road bike with a standard compact, as that's what I had, and it was brilliant until the climbs were so steep I couldn't get over the gear, and then it was a grind to the top, but very satisfying, nonetheless.

I absolutely loved the route — many new bits mixed in with many bits I know from Bryan Chapman Memorial (600km audax), Yr Elenydd (300km audax), WRT and BB200 last year. I pushed myself well beyond anything I normally do up all the hills — max HR got up to 191 for the first time in a couple of decades! My legs felt shredded after each one, but I pieced myself back together and carried on and the numbers suggest I still had plenty left towards the end, useful to know.

Obviously the weather helped a lot! I dread to think what it would've been like if we'd had weather like on Thursday and Friday!

Riding over rocky track on 25mm tyres was enlightening and nowhere near as difficult as some had made out, only suffering an early pinch puncture on the flat calm of Cors Caron nature reserve (shoulda checked my pressures before the start) and then a late one in the lanes towards Carno when a road full of rubble from the storms surprised me in the dark, but otherwise no other mechanicals. Constant concentration, careful picking of lines and judicious unweighting of the saddle meant it was all straightforward, although my hands were sore by the Claerwen dam. I could've done with more clearance on the rear mudguard, though.

In the end, tiredness did for me, and I had to stopp to sleep, first 10 minutes in a bus stop in Carno, and then on a church bench for an hour on the descent into Knighton — it was either that or ride into a hedge 400km audaxes are often the hardest distance, because you're never able to build up quite enough time-buffer for a real sleep, and so you have to ride through the night to the finish, and the slow climbing of TINAT 400A just made that worse; 300s can be ridden in a long-day; 600s you can build up plenty of time-in-hand to rest.

By the time I got moving again, feeling much better, I would've had to have turned something like 28kph to get to Kington in time, and 22kph overall to finish, neither of which was going to happen, so I scratched at Knighton. Slept another hour in the Offa's Dyke Centre park on another bench, then made my way back to Llan'dod.

I started the event not knowing whether I could finish, but determined to give it a go in honour of Mike. I gave it a go, exceeded my previous efforts, and learnt a thing or two. That's only the second audax non-finish for me in over five years, but quite unlike any audax I've ever ridden before! I have unfinished business — I'll be back! #bemoremike

... and chuffed to get my first >50mph descent on the A470 down to Dinas Mawddy ...

I got my first [almost] half-ton off Bwlch-Oerddrws too back in 2013 — on a BROMPTON!

Anyway, on this ride, I got blocked by a f*ck!n' Volvo driver nearing the terminal-velocity section, maxxing out at 78.8kph (48.9mph) before touching the brakes, but I defo had more to give  Next time

Question: does sleeping on a church bench on an audax, or in a bus stop, count towards BaM?

[liamg]

I just wanted to say thanks to all involved in the organisation. In addition to the riding, the post-ride food, drinks and general vibe surrounding the event really made it a weekend to remember. The route choices offered something for everyone to get stuck into and challenge themselves - a fitting legacy for Mike, I think.

Already looking forward to next year with some proper hills to finish the 600 with!

[j.c.gillies]

Already looking forward to next year with some proper hills to finish the 600 with!

That's what we are hoping. I've got my eye on a couple.

[Pete-G]

Did the 300 Slow, loved it. Got round in a smidge over 24 hrs. My first 300km event, and judging by the feedback from others about as tough as an audax gets so quite tempted to try more in the future. Obviously helped by amazing weather, but I think I'll be back for the 400 slow next year. Thanks to Mark and every one else who played they're part in organising this weekend.

[j.c.gillies]

Just a note to say that a number of the TINAT audax rides for 2019 are now open for entry. We are still working on the routes with a high off road content.
http://www.tinat.cymru/

[Bearbonesnorm]

James, a few instances of 'Hafron' rather than Hafren on the route descriptions.

[j.c.gillies]

Bugger.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Sorry James, just thought the two different spellings might confuse some folk not familiar with the area.

[j.c.gillies]

OK, I've updated those mistakes and added details for the eight rides that are now open for entries. We have two more off-road focused rides that we are still working on. Nothing silly hard or long, ie the longest route might scrape out 200km. Will post details as soon as we can. http://tinat.cymru

[j.c.gillies]

If anyone is interesting there are now two more TINAT rides available for this year. I would class both as 'rough rides' as they are not full-on 'off-road'. We do still make use of that hard black stuff in places as we are still playing by Audax UK rules and that kind of forces our hand at times. However, the off-road content does increase significantly over any of last years rides. The mix of surfaces does cause some bike selection questions. Would a 650+ gravel bike suffice? Probably, if it has proper tires. Gravel tires will not work in places. Would a cross country 29er mtb work? Most certainly. How about my fixie? Na!!! Not a hope. The route makes use of the Trans-Cambrian route which can be a little demanding in places.

There is a 100 mile (160km) and a 200 miles (320km) option. The 200-mile option has 8000m of ascent. We haven't ridden the whole route in one go yet, but have ridden all the sections at various times it strikes us as being a brute of a ride :) Links are below:

http://tinat.cymru/2019-rides/320a-saturday-rough/

http://tinat.cymru/2019-rides/160km-a-saturday-rough/