BB200

[fatbikephil]

Well done folks looking forward to more of the Novembers gangs tales.
Boab, that was me that lead you down that single track - sorry
There was a fair bit of road riding to be sure although I don't know the percentage. An awful lot of it was up some pretty bloody steep climbs, more was on a 'road' that was three quarters of the way to becoming a byway, and some were both steep and knackered......
Expanded and waffley version of my above post:- https://philsbikepacking.blogspot.com/2 ... s-200.html

[RIP]

'Goat - "not good enough". You're jokin' pal. Good enough for what? Good enough for 99.999% of the rest of the population....

[Richard G]

Great pics in here. I have absolutely zero recollection of any sort of golf club / shooting range though.

Maybe I did that bit at night though. Glad to see other people pushing up that slick rocky bit, was getting really pissed off trying to get my tyres to grip there.

[redefined_cycles]

Great pics in here. I have absolutely zero recollection of any sort of golf club / shooting range though.

Maybe I did that bit at night though. Glad to see other people pushing up that slick rocky bit, was getting really pissed off trying to get my tyres to grip there.

Funny how the mind fills in the gaps with dryg smugglers rings and posh golf courses with shooting ranges

Looks like it was just a nature reserve/viewpoint and the expensive cars parked up might have just been old bangers afterall... Or maybe just innocent expensive car drivers that my mind decided to make a story of Ashamedly, my bad

[whitestone]

When ambition outbids ability

Rather than start a new thread it looks like this is the one for trail tails...

Having missed the cut for the first running of the BB2/300, I was in the middle of a field at the time, I jumped at the chance when Stu offered the second running. Once entry was confirmed I emailed Stu with "Please put me down for the 300". In hindsight I could have left off the last three words.

I left it a bit late but booked a room at the Wynnstay in Llanbrynmair, much closer to the start than somewhere like the Travelodge in Oswestry that I've used before. "Bearbones?" she enquired when I made the booking, I suppose having a full house in November isn't normal for Mid-Wales.

I got there about 8pm and most of the lounge bar was occupied by BBers. Then I find out that I've been double booked, "You can have the room that I'm decorating. Sorry for that." Still, the first beer was on the house. After (quite) a bit of chat folk headed off and I prepared for the decorator's room. It turned out someone hadn't turned up so I got a room anyway.

Self made breakfast of couscous (it's quick) and a drive of, oh, 200m gets me to the community centre. Lots of people there and getting ready to go. Best make most use of daylight so I'm ready for the off by 0710. It's quite warm but pretty windy so I start with a windshirt on. At the top of the first steep climb rain is coming in so I put my waterproof on the top of that. In the event I didn't take these off for the entire ride. Ian B catches me then there's a pleasant surprise - the boggy track leading down to the road is no more, the farmer has filled it in with stone so it's a fast blast.

Into Hafren and there's some new sections to me including all the singletrack. Take it easy, don't want to rip a tyre on the bedrock. Then it's a blast down into Llanidloes. A curious bit of BW follows then across the main road and on towards Bwlch y Sarnau. Ian had mentioned a steep push around here - he wasn't kidding! It was about this time that I got a curious blood sugar drop, no idea why as I'd been eating and drinking regularly. Things had picked up by the time I reached the next farm and I cracked on to ByS. Five hours to here.

Just a short stop then back into the wind for one of those silly loops that leave the road, do 5km of up and down to end 1km from where you started. The climb up through Abbey woods was another push then the cramps started. I couldn't believe it, so early in the ride. Then again I think I've only done one ride of 100km since the BB200 last year. I push on then there's a ridiculously steep and soft descent out of the woods.

On the next bit of road I'm having to get off and walk to avoid cramping. It continues like this past the diversion and up onto the route of the Trans Cambrian Way. I've done this bit in reverse so had a good idea of what it's like. With the wind on my back I made as good a time as I could but I'd only five minutes or so of pedalling before I'd have to get off, vigorously thump the cramping area, walk a bit and ride again. I dropped off the TCW just as it was going dark. The next section to Bucknell was more of the same, ride a bit, thump legs, walk a bit. The problem was this was on the flat! Two lights appear from behind, slowly catching me up. One Pole and one English. I figured on getting a meal at the pub in Bucknell. First though there was a brilliant little descent down a curious gully through the woods, felt too narrow for an old cart track but whatever, a blast.

The pub in Bucknell looked far too posh to go in caked in sheep and cow poo. Apparently the other pub was about a mile down the road. I considered my options: I wasn't going to make the Spar in Clun for 8pm (it was now 6:45). I'd do the 200 instead. So I loaded up the route and pushed up the next hill. At the top of this I got a low battery warning from my GPS, no problem, load the spares and carry on. Except...

The unit wouldn't start. Big problem. As I was pondering what to do, two riders crossed the track about 100m ahead. I chased after them, it was the two lads from before Bucknell, they'd used a tap outside a house to fill their water bottles. My only plan now was to ride with them so I didn't get lost. My hope was that they weren't riding too fast for my cramp ridden legs, but there was no way I could let the elastic snap.

I'm behind the Polish lad when I look up and his lights have disappeared! I'm at a T-junction and I've no idea if he's gone left or right. I try right but the road drops quickly so I don't want to lose too much height. Crap! Then the English lad appears, so all is well again. There's then a long, long push up a muddy, rocky, rutted track that seems to take ages. Down the other side and now I lose both their lights. I make a complete guess and head down a lane and find them again. The rain has stopped now and the stars are out. The wind is still strong there.

Then the Polish lad, actually I should call him Piotr since that's his name, gets a puncture. Unfortunately he's lost his pump so I lend him mine but he can't inflate the tube. Turns out the valve has broken. I've a spare tube and offer it but he's on 26" wheels and I've a 29er tube. We're by a barn so he decides to stop there hoping someone will pass with a tube.

We, Alex and I carry on, twisting in and out of lanes. The turnip field was a quagmire - they are stubble turnips for fattening lambs and the field was occupied - the bikes were completely caked in mud. More downs and ups (we have an unwritten agreement that we'll get off and walk when the going gets too steep - happens a lot) and eventually we pull up onto the Kerry Ridgeway but don't realise it. I don't even realise it when I see a sign for "Coed Ceri" and voice "kerry". We are now riding into the wind and it's hard going.

Alex is struggling with food, or lack of it. He's a dehydrated meal but there's no way to get a stove up and running out here. As we dropped off the ridgeway I see a barn to the side of the track, it's a covered sheep handling facility so we get inside out of the wind and get our stoves going. More couscous for me but I'm halfway through it when I feel very ill and have to step outside to throw up. Not sure what time it was, maybe 2am, but I don't eat from here to the finish.

I'm now on more familiar territory but don't realise it until a long road descent between Pentre and Mochdre. Then it's over another big hill to drop down to Llandinam. We use a water hose outside an engineering workshop to fill up. We've one big hill, but lots of small ones left. Then Alex's GPS freezes, fortunately he manages to reboot it. Once at Trefeglwys we are nearly home, just a (big) hill in the way.

I'd resigned myself to finishing in over 24hrs. "How long have we got left?" I ask Alex, "Two hours ten" he replies. Phew, except he started twenty minutes after me. I go into head down TT mode to get some distance done before we will be forced to walk the climb out of Llawr y Glyn. Alex keeps falling behind, he's struggling to stay awake. We plod up the steep bit and only get on the bikes once we feel we can ride continuously. Alex is ahead and misses the turn into Esgair woods, he's actually ridden straight into the roadside bank having fallen asleep!

We've now 1hr40 to get back (1hr20 for me). We get to Pennant and I've forty minutes to do 5km so it's head down and twenty minutes later we roll into the centre just as Dee and Stu are opening up. Final time of 23:40 for me and 23:20 for Alex.

"Black badge for you" says Stu. "Ah" I explain what's happened. "Not a problem, you've ridden the course".

After breakfast (it stayed down) and copious amounts of tea I drove home. I needed a couple of stops to let the cramps ease plus a power nap at the motorway service.

Given how close I was to the 24hr time for the 200 there's no way I'd have been able to do the 300 in the time limit even if my GPS had worked.

Thanks to Dee and Stu for another great(?) event. And thanks to Piotr and Alex for guiding me through the night.

[fatbikephil]

Well done Bob.
Interesting hearing regulars' perspective of the route given my complete lack of knowledge as to what was coming. Looks like I got off lightly!

[whitestone]

I don't think the route itself was too hard, it was more the conditions, even level ground was hard work at times. Most of the difficulties were in the first 120km, after that it was more tiredness that was the problem.

[Escape Goat]

Great pics in here. I have absolutely zero recollection of any sort of golf club / shooting range though.

Maybe I did that bit at night though. Glad to see other people pushing up that slick rocky bit, was getting really pissed off trying to get my tyres to grip there.

Genuinely thought it was only me that was pushing that bit when I did it. I don't doubt that people rode it, but I was looking for footprints to show I wasn't alone on that bit.

[Richard G]

Great pics in here. I have absolutely zero recollection of any sort of golf club / shooting range though.

Maybe I did that bit at night though. Glad to see other people pushing up that slick rocky bit, was getting really pissed off trying to get my tyres to grip there.

Funny how the mind fills in the gaps with dryg smugglers rings and posh golf courses with shooting ranges

Looks like it was just a nature reserve/viewpoint and the expensive cars parked up might have just been old bangers afterall... Or maybe just innocent expensive car drivers that my mind decided to make a story of Ashamedly, my bad

Ahh, now that part I know well. Have ridden past there many times (and it's usually a good place to find others taking a break).

the boggy track leading down to the road is no more, the farmer has filled it in with stone so it's a fast blast

I was pleased to see that replaced, just need someone to tarmac the hill leading up to it now.

[ScotRoutes]

Are relying on someone else navigating and borrowing a pump not disqualification criteria - or is the BB200/300 not as strict as some of the other events?

[Charliecres]

Some waffle from me …

My BB200 started with a nearly seven-hour journey to get to the Star on Friday night, thanks to chaos on the roads.

I think I may be the first person to stay at the Star in its new guise as a B&B (without the breakfast). It seems to have been done up to a high standard and there’s a good communal area that would work well if a crowd of Boners occupied the whole place. But it’s not a pub.

Saturday started with needless drama. I’d been super organised and was packed and ready to get to the start for just after seven. But I then spent 40 minutes searching in rising panic for my car keys. Which were - of course - in my pocket where they should have been.

Anyway, I was finally away just after 8am, with the wind gusting and a steady rain moistening things nicely. I’d only really looked at the route to satisfy myself that the only really helpful resupply was the community cafe. So I was ready for anything and carrying enough food to get me all the way round.

I’d started a minute behind Alan (Escape Goat) and we chatted briefly until the elastic snapped somewhere before Pennant. Nice to meet you, Alan!

I had a few more brief chats in the next few miles and was passed two or three times by a chap with a Tailfin who was going very strongly up the hills till he snapped his mech off just after the monster climb at, I think, Cwm Graig. However, I didn’t ride with anyone for any length of time until after the hallowed cake stop at Bwlch y Sarnau.

There were a few others in the cafe, including Sean IoW, who was looking noticeably clean and fresh. We talked but I failed to introduce myself (d’oh! Hi Sean, I was sat opposite you looking tired).

Soon after the cafe I was caught by a chap in a BB shirt with a beard and we rode together on and off for a few hours. (Nice riding with you, if you’re reading this, and sorry for not introducing myself and getting your name.)

We also yo-yoed with a three-man team who were moving with military order and seemed pretty fit.

Eventually, after reaching the halfway point, I parted ways with my riding companion. But not before a sandwich break and a time check that seemed to suggest that a 24-hour finish was distinctly unlikely. That was a blow because I’d hoped a black badge (and more importantly an early morning finish) might be on the cards, given reports from October. Oh well.

I continued to yo-yo with the team of three for a few more hours till I lost them just before the blowy, gate-ridden but beautifully star-lit drag along the Kerry ridgeway.

Towards the end of that, I think, I was caught by another couple of riders, one of whom, I later realised, was Bob (Whitestone). We yo-yoed for a bit on the road sections that followed until I was forced to take a 15-minute nap by the side of the road after dozing off while riding and waking up in a hedge.

Staying awake in the small hours is something I really struggle with. I can keep my legs turning but my eyes just won’t stay open.

I was really low on water by this point and starting to feel the effects of dehydration. I had a Water-to-Go filter bottle but had been holding off using it because of the amount of sheep sub standard everywhere. Eventually I gave in, found a tiny steam and drank my fill. Instant relief plus brain freeze!

The water-to- Go system is actually really good - easy to use and the cap on the bottle does a decent job of keeping the nozzle clean, so you can drink with reasonable confidence even when the bottle is caked in crap.

From that point on I saw no one else, just kept plodding on. I was constantly tempted to check the time and remaining distance but I was worried the answer would be demoralising, so fought the impulse.

In my head I was expecting a 10am finish, so imagine my joy when, shortly after the first signs of dawn, I popped out at Pennant to see a sign saying “Llanbrynmair 3”.

I couldn’t help but summon my remaining energy to race the rest of the way back and I was surprised how fresh my legs felt. (Must try harder!) I was back at base at 7.05 - 22 hours and 59 minutes after I set off.

All in all it was a great route with plenty of challenge but nothing truly horrible. The worst bit for me was the frustration of some of the seemingly never-ending slippery Scalextric slot trails, which I found impossible to ride in my tired state.

The best bits were:
* Meeting amazing people and sharing the fun
* The techy descents and especially that swoopy, loamy gulley. There were definitely a few bits on the route I wouldn’t want to walk down carrying a gravel bike!
* Wales - my god it’s beautiful
* The community cafe - I love that place and the volunteers who run it
* Wildlife - including being swooped on by a murmuration of starlings, deer, various birds of prey, rabbits, voles and a hedgehog.
* Dee’s veggie breakfast. Amazing! Thanks Dee

Today, I am destroyed.

Thanks again to Stuart and Dee and everyone else who made this such a great experience.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Are relying on someone else navigating and borrowing a pump not disqualification criteria - or is the BB200/300 not as strict as some of the other events

I'm not really one for broad 'black and white' strokes, so tend to think it depends on the individual circumstances, which does probably mean that the BB200 isn't as strict as some events but I make no apologies for that. In these cases the 'pump' resulted in a DNF (not by my hand) and the 'gps' a finish. Personally, I think both cases were a matter of right place, right time more than they were of 'outside assistance'. The ethos of self-reliance and sufficiency appears to remain largely intact.

[sean_iow]

There were a few others in the cafe, including Sean IoW, who was looking noticeably clean and fresh. We talked but I failed to introduce myself (d’oh! Hi Sean, I was sat opposite you looking tired).

I'm pretty certain I was at home doing DIY, but the BB200/BB300 might have been so traumatic that I've blanked it from my mind?

[whitestone]

Ah, that was you Charlie. You passed us whilst we were in the shed at the end of the Kerry Ridgeway and it was you we were keeping pace with on the climbs.

Colin - I was honest with Stu about what I'd done and why, if he'd said DQ or demoted to Blue or Green I'd have gone with that. Better than me keeping quiet about it then Alex mentioning that I'd tagged along for 80km.

Anyway, just downloaded what I'd done off the Garmin and tried the batteries that didn't work on Saturday night and the unit started up (which it didn't then) but shut down almost immediately. Seems like those batteries are duff.

[Bearbonesnorm]

'm pretty certain I was at home doing DIY, but the BB200/BB300 might have been so traumatic that I've blanked it from my mind?

No, it wasn't you but there was a chap from the IoW who must be really fed up by now of everyone calling him Sean over the weekend

[macinblack]

Soon after the cafe I was caught by a chap in a BB shirt with a beard and we rode together on and off for a few hours. (Nice riding with you, if you’re reading this, and sorry for not introducing myself and getting your name.)

As Stu said, as soon as the rider said he was from the Isle of Wight, I said "You must be Sean then?" I think he must have thought I was having a joke because he gave a little nod but in retrospect in wasn't an affirmative one.

I must have ridden with you up to the café then Charlie, it was nice when I asked you the distance and you said 57km, which meant 2 to go to hot tea and cake. Nice meeeting you.

[whitestone]

I've just remembered the worst thing(s) about the ride...

From the café onwards I had Rick Astley's "Never going to give you up" as an earworm

It got worse.

Later on I was plagued with "Stop" by the Spice Girls

[Bearbonesnorm]

It bothers me a bit that you know the words / tune to either of those Bob.

[Richard G]

I'd rather deal with the 2014 route than that.

[whitestone]

TBH, the bloody things were on the radio when I was driving down. I don't know the words (honest guvnor!) but the tune and bits of the chorus had got stuck between the old grey cells.

[macinblack]

There were a few others in the cafe, including Sean IoW, who was looking noticeably clean and fresh. We talked but I failed to introduce myself (d’oh! Hi Sean, I was sat opposite you looking tired)

Too late edit - I highlighted the wrong sentence - Should have been the one above.



As Stu said, as soon as the rider said he was from the Isle of Wight, I said "You must be Sean then?" I think he must have thought I was having a joke because he gave a little nod but in retrospect in wasn't an affirmative one.

I must have ridden with you up to the café then Charlie, it was nice when I asked you the distance and you said 57km, which meant 2 to go to hot tea and cake. Nice meeeting you.

[Charliecres]

Sorry Sean - BB200 confusion!

Good to meet you, macinblack. Hope the rest of the ride went well for you.

[lune ranger]

Are relying on someone else navigating and borrowing a pump not disqualification criteria - or is the BB200/300 not as strict as some of the other events

I'm not really one for broad 'black and white' strokes, so tend to think it depends on the individual circumstances, which does probably mean that the BB200 isn't as strict as some events but I make no apologies for that. In these cases the 'pump' resulted in a DNF (not by my hand) and the 'gps' a finish. Personally, I think both cases were a matter of right place, right time more than they were of 'outside assistance'. The ethos of self-reliance and sufficiency appears to remain largely intact.

It’s your event and your rules so I’m not looking to get CAS involved or be inflammatory but… How is the ethos of self- sufficiency remaining intact if a rider had way to navigate the route and has the absolute need to be led by another rider in order to finish? Take the ‘guide’ rider away and the rider with no nav can’t finish. No?

[Bearbonesnorm]

How is the ethos of self- sufficiency remaining intact if a rider had way to navigate the route and has the absolute need to be led by another rider in order to finish? Take the ‘guide’ rider away and the rider with no nav can’t finish. No?

In this instance I see it as Bob got lucky in that another rider came along when they did and invited him to tag on. I suppose that if we follow everything to the letter, then yes, without the other rider he probably wouldn't have been able to continue. Would it have been better had he followed someone from a discreet distance and said nothing? I recall that Dave gave a fellow rider his spare gps on the TD after they lost theirs - different or the same?

In my mind, it would be a completely different matter if someone set off without a gps but with another rider who they were reliant upon from the moment they set off.

I might be wrong but I'd make the same call again for anyone.

[Ian]

TBH, the bloody things were on the radio when I was driving down. I don't know the words (honest guvnor!) but the tune and bits of the chorus had got stuck between the old grey cells.

This is why I don’t listen to the radio. I had Running Silent Running Deep by Iron Maiden for most of Saturday evening and some of Sunday. Read into that what you will…