BB200 - Spectators Corner

[Zoglug]

Well done everyone, fantastic effort all round it sounds like!

[Ben98]

That's a hell of a long way

[Blackhound]

Well done to all who finished. Sitting here I am not minded to enter next year - I would still be out there!

I was also following the WEMBO 24 hour race at Fort Bill and those racers were similarly broken looking at my Twitter feed. Forgetting the differences in terrain I would say the Fort Bill race would be harder for me to finish. When you are feeling low it is easy to pack at the end of a lap. With BB you do have to keep going somewhat more. Or find tarmac for a long ride back. One loop being 'easier' for me.

[Charliecres]

Thanks Stu and Dee. That was moderately hard but the veggie fry-up made it worthwhile.

[Rich&ShonaKP]

Thanks again Stu and Dee for an ace event and massive helpings of mushrooms at the end. An 'interesting' course just so glad we didn't bring the Tandoom. Apologies to anyone I may have woken up by my cursing loudly at Rich, the sheep that ran into me or just anything that annoyed me, I may have suffered a sense of humour failure in the early hours.

Also if anyone wants to ride it again I think my phone may be somewhere in the bog fest between Barmouth and Trawsfynedd or maybe in those bloody ferns near Rhobell Fawr.

So would it be an easier route the other way round....

[Dave Barter]

So would it be an easier route the other way round....

We all agreed that Stu would work this out after riding the "double" in December

[ir_bandito]

Holy cow.
I got home this morning at 10am. Finished at 8:45 to be welcomed by a fantastic bowl of prroidge and massive bacon bap. Thanks, well needed.
Sooo much harder than I thought it would be, on account of being massivly tired before even starting, and those bloody bog-trots and hike a bikes thoroughly wearing me down mentally.

Tiredness nearly killed me as I fell asleep on the bike on the descent to Penmachno. Twice. Too cold and foggy to sleep in the village, so I bivied at the top of the next climb. The toastie warm sleeping bag was my downfall as I slept until well after dawn - I heard a few of you going past

So tired when I finsihed yesterday that I spent the night at Braich Goc in COrris, rather than risk the drive home to Northumberland, hence getting home this morning.

Would I do it again?
No.
I'm quite happy for a bit of a bog-trot and a hike-a-bike section, but there's got to be a decent trail on the other side to make it worthwhile, and I don't recall any of the slogs having that. And too much road! A4212 on a sunny sunday morning was not much fun at all with tired legs.

But, the ride to Barmouth was heavenly (even with unexpected Dyfi-Enduro-esque trail mincers slowing the descents down). Thanks for Stu, that nearly makes up for it....

[Ben98]

So would it be an easier route the other way round....

We all agreed that Stu would work this out after riding the "double" in December

On his shopper

[ir_bandito]

Oh, my one real route question:

Here: http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=284517 ... &A=Y&Z=120
Why not go down the nice smooth swoopy trail to Craignant, rather than slogging on along variable sheep track and tussocks? And what was the recommended way out at the bottom? I eventually hoyed the bike over the barbed wired, and climbed over the gate into the fallen trees.

[mountainbaker]

I think a lot of people did ride down to Craignant, there were tons of tyre tracks going down there. I went across the 'sheep track' it was crap, followed by a barbed wire fence because the trees were blocking the gate.

[Wotsits]

That was tough, the last time i felt that bad at 1am i'd done a 4 day bender in Ibiza

[mountainbaker]

That was tough, the last time i felt that bad at 1am i'd done a 4 day bender in Ibiza

Yeah, but at least you were having fun in Ibiza

[ir_bandito]

I think a lot of people did ride down to Craignant

Isn't there something about shortcuts = dnf?

[Dave Barter]

I think a lot of people did ride down to Craignant, there were tons of tyre tracks going down there. I went across the 'sheep track' it was crap, followed by a barbed wire fence because the trees were blocking the gate.

I got completely confused at the farm and found myself in a load of paddocks then shat myself that a bull might be in with me. The gate added further to the frustration and I ripped my shorts climbing over the fence. This was the last point at which I was capable of using the camera. Video to follow shortly.

[Wotsits]

Yeah, but at least you were having fun in Ibiza

The Ibiza memories are a bit hazey to say the least, but those bog yomps are seared into my memory for good!

[slowupslowdown-under]

Trying to recall the name of the chap who was taking pics of the view over Barmouth before we all descended for fish and chips?

Would love to get a copy of one or two of them as I cant recall such an amazing view in my life

[MidgeMagnet]

Would love to get a copy of one or two of them as I cant recall such an amazing view in my life

I've been checking instagram every now and again for #bb200 pics and this one came up:
http://instagram.com/p/uFb-50LqM6/

Was expecting one or two from Composite but guess you were too busy riding (or hike a biking if the above accounts are anything to go by).

Well done all.

[darbeze]

I took a couple of snaps of the Barmouth view... Will post them up this week. Only just got home and am going to sleep for the rest of the week.

I cannot comprehend how it took me over 32 hours and I didn't stop to sleep??

Si

[Zippy]

1.20am text from Wotsit "finished last 10km was hard"

Kudos, that's grit & determination that is. And finishing positions wise, that's a lot of places jumped as any finisher is before a DNF

[larsmars]

I've been checking instagram every now and again for #bb200 pics and this one came up:
http://instagram.com/p/uFb-50LqM6/

You can see a few photos that I shot along the way here. Clicking 'Show Map' and zooming into Wales to see location on the map. Annoyingly, it will ask you to authorise Instagram to view the map. If you can't be arsed, you can just view them on my Instagram here.

This was my first BB200, as well as my first endurance event. What a diabolical introduction! I am absolutely destroyed today!

Some mistakes I made
1. My pace at the start was much too fast. I had an average of 13km/hr by the time I reached Barmouth. This was foolish considering my lack of experience and what lay ahead (ie, horrendous tussock torture fest). My pace slowed to a crawl for the latter 80km and I finished with a time of around 32:30.
2. My nutrition plan was ... oh wait... I didn't have a nutrition plan! I had some flapjacks and peanut butter sandwiches a few of which I ate just before Barmouth. By the time I got to Penmachno, I was so nauseous I couldn't stomach more than a few bites for the rest of the route until a strange bowl of lentil soup in Dinas Mawddwy!
3. Most of my gear was spot on, but the hike-a-bike sections made me wish I'd been more of gram counter. I was carrying a bunch of food that I couldn't palate and not enough warm clothes for the night time.

High points
1. What a friendly group of riders! I really enjoyed chatting with everyone along the way - Karl who I rode with for while up until Barmouth when I punctured and couldn't keep the pace, brothers Adam and Matt during a frigid descent into Penmachno, another chap who I hiked with over the 1am tussock monster before a 4 hour bivi on the other side (after hopping that barbed wire fence), and Adrian who helped pace me towards the end when both my GPS and body had crashed.
2. The weather was (mostly) lovely. I never would have thought to bring suncream to Wales, but I did catch the sun on my face yesterday. I dread to think of the additional misery that we would have incurred in bad weather.
3. The rideable trails and fire roads were ace. I especially enjoyed the riding from the start to Barmouth (I have some GoPro footage I will post soon), the contouring descent after the 'C$$T' hike-a-bike and the penultimate rideable climb between the A494 and A470 (with the BB200 sign post near the bottom).
4. Although slogging through tussock is not my thing, I must admit some of the views were stunning... especially towards the end of one of the later hike-a-bikes (OS map shows two hills named Moel Llyfnant and Craig y Bychau). The Instagram photo with my bike on the ground is towards the end of this section.
5. When I finally rolled back to base, I was greeted with not just any bacon sandwich, but a massive double decker bacon supreme and tea. Thanks Stu, Dee and Chew for the warm reception!

Downsides
1. I think the second half of the route had too much hike-a-bike and far too much road (especially the finger numbing section at 3am around the reservoir after hopping the barbed wire fence). It seemed to alternate between tussock and tarmac for a lot of the second half. I would be interested to know the percentage of hike-a-bike by distance vs riding time by various riders. Not an easy one to data mine, but I am just curious what percentage I spent hiking. It seemed like almost half for me, but perhaps that was my pain doing the thinking!!
2. I don't mind a bit of hike-a-bike if it is followed by some otherwise inaccessible reward (eg, a secret patch of single track descent). However, I don't really see the point of imposing it just for the sake of 'type 7' pain. Perhaps I just need to harden up! It must be personal preference.
3. As someone just the other day suggested might happen, at 3am in the tussock after Penmachno I was definitely hallucinating!

Would I do it again?
I would like to try another event like this having now learned a lesson on nutrition and pace. However, I would prefer a route with more backroads and trails and less tarmac and hike-a-bike.

[Mattie_H]

Hey Lars — it was great to ride with you on that section down to Penmachno. Thanks for the great write-up and the photos: they almost make it look like fun out there!

[gasyz]

Been following this event with interest. I now feel lucky to have missed out on an entry( due to being full)
By the sounds of it I would never have finished anyway.I class myself as fairly fit on a bike but this is another level.Fair play to anyone who started let alone finnished,what an achievement.
Has anyone got a link to a gpx of the full route,would love to see it.

[Karl]

Hi lars,

Its was good riding with you. You were riding really well at the start, I couldn't believe what you were climbing...well impressed!

Karl

[Charliecres]

Hi Lars - I was your bivvy buddy! Great to share some tussock hatred with you through the night. And thanks for your navigation when my eyes could no longer focus on the Garmin.

[Alpinum]

Well done everybody

Looking forward to more pics n' stuff.