Oh heck!
I’ve been plotting a route for WRT. Leaving out a couple of checkpoints (the one in the middle of nowhere and the one on the island), my route comes to 126 miles. That’s over 40 miles a day. I can manage that. Where it all falls down, is the total ascent at 21,000ft. Ooh-err missus that’s going to slow me down a bit. My plan therefore, is to see how far I get on the first day and maybe recalculate.

I see that some of the checkpoints are common to both WRT and WRTlite. I’m wondering if they are in both because they are especially interesting, thus worth making an effort to visit. To put it another way, are there any that I shouldn’t miss? Or perhaps I should just do the WRT lite but over two nights.

Which-ever way it pans out, I’m really looking forward to it.
Lu

Don't stress, you don't have to go to any check points at all, there are no rules, no winners, no losers, it's just a bike ride over 3 days and 2 nights.

Good to hear you're looking forward to it.

Theres some great riding out there, so wherever you go you'll still have a good weekend out.

None of the GR's are interesting in themselves (and theres nothing there), they are just a bit of inspiration to ride in a particular area.

I'd say if you havnt ridden in the area before, i'd plan a route thats about 150k in total over the weekend (probably a 50/70/30 split). You'll probably find you'll cover 10k/h so that gives you 15 hours of riding which is plenty. Also you'll tend to find rides in Wales will climb ~ 25 meters/km, so 150k should equate to 3750m. If you're moving over that ratio thats a lot.

I'd have a look at possibly removing a couple of GR's to bring the mileage down slightly and look at the amount of climbing you have. Its the climbing that gets you (moreso loaded).

Chew wrote:I'd have a look at possibly removing a couple of GR's to bring the mileage down slightly and look at the amount of climbing you have. Its the climbing that gets you (moreso loaded).

Thanks for the quick replies and re-assurances and yup, it's back to Memory Map and where's the path for me.

Lu

JohnClimber wrote:Don't stress, you don't have to go to any check points at all, there are no rules, no winners, no losers, it's just a bike ride over 3 days and 2 nights.

This

Also worth noting several bivi spots and pubs down in case you have to adopt. The year I took part, we shortened our route on day one, slept in a beer garden (not planned) and made up day two on day two. Plot all the points on the map and go with the flow, no need to follow your GPS path

I wouldn't worry, I haven't even looked up the grid references yet.

Think I might just roughly aim for one and mill around for three days.

I'm with Dan ^ . May get a chance to look....

Although I won't be riding, I too have a bit of a WRT dilemma ... bear suit or no bear suit?

I'm actually extremely nervous too... Signed up without thinking too deeply about it, as the deadline got close, thinking I could probably convince one of my more foolish mates to come with me, and then failed spectacularly. So I'm now looking at a pile of grid refs and a distinct lack of plan... Glad to hear that it's not just me bricking it, though!

s8tannorm wrote:Although I won't be riding, I too have a bit of a WRT dilemma ... bear suit or no bear suit?

As long as its not the snorkel and rubber ring......

s8tannorm wrote:Although I won't be riding, I too have a bit of a WRT dilemma ... bear suit or no bear suit?

I'll be in the cairngorm so will 'miss' this.

For the good of all I'll vote for the bear suit (so long as that is the correct spelling!!) as it will provide a decent level of coverage.

How many have entered this year?
Is there a rider list?

I vote bear suit.

I haven't had a chance to experience any kind of emotion yet apart from maybe last minute panic...

I've actually got off my ass and planned a route.

Learned from my mistakes and have limited miles to 25,45,&25 approx with dinner, breakfast and lunch options. Bothy and proper campsite options if I need too should the weather be bad.

Going for maximum enjoyment rather than hardship!

+1 on a bear suit (not a bare suit!). A blindfolded bear doing a tarp challenge would be classic :)

Greetz

S.

Wasn't it Stu's birthday recently? I hope it hasn't given him other suit ideas...

gentjim wrote:I'm actually extremely nervous too... Signed up without thinking too deeply about it, as the deadline got close, thinking I could probably convince one of my more foolish mates to come with me, and then failed spectacularly. So I'm now looking at a pile of grid refs and a distinct lack of plan... Glad to hear that it's not just me bricking it, though!

It will be fun I'm sure!

Btw http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... f=7&t=5048 the Lonely Hearts may be helpful?

Im looking forward to this but like others am a tad nervous due to a lack of fitness and a lack of offroad riding time. I am however looking forward to exploring. Planning to ride solo due to my lack of fitness as it allows me to stop when and where I want without frustrating people.

Only got round to looking at the grid ref's last night so am in the process of pulling together a 100km ride (30/50/20 split) which should keep something in the tank for getting back to Caersws train station on the Monday. Im hoping to avoid the most technical of trails as it will be my first proper outing on my rigid inbred.

The next conundrum boils down to which bag to take! The Spirit SL or the Rab topbag!

For those that are worrying about route planning. I went last year with a couple of OS maps, the grid references and a general direction (clockwise) in mind. I didn't specifically plan the route and I enjoyed (most of) it. It's more of an adventure than following a garmin.

Also plans can change according to how speedily you have travelled, or the weather/conditions. You might get round 90% of the GRs or 50%. It doesn't matter, so long as you have fun riding and bivvying.

I've imported BB200 '13 gpx file on top of grid refs and it is covering most of the points, or passing them very close. Then couple of hours adjusting to those points and route is ready.

Thanks for all the replies and advice chaps.

So I've realised that a clean sweep is out of the question. This makes life a lot simpler for planning a route. Or not. I think maybe I'll try to link the nearby bothies and add any checkpoints that are within reach. That way I might bump into a few other masochists on the way. A quick look gives me a ride of 100 miles or so, but with 17,000 feet of ascents which might be too much. I'll see how I get on after the first day.

My route has a fair bit of forestry tracks. Firstly because I can cover more ground that way, secondly because I'm not sure if the bridle paths that I'm seeing on Where's the Path will actually be there on the ground.

Anyway, whatever, it'll be OK. Even if it rains it'll still be an adventure and we'll laugh about it in years to come. To quote Woody Allen, "Comedy is Tragedy plus Time".

How money riders have signed up?
#JustWondering

How money riders have signed up?

Think it's around 160 John.