Gritfest 2021 anyone?

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Verena
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Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

Hi, I had a place on the gritfest 2020, which is now transferred to the 2021 event https://gritfest.co.uk/

But I've just signed up to do taunus bikepacking again, which is the same week/end, so would anyone like my place on the gritfest? First come first served....

What an exciting way the end the year, actually entering events again... I'll have my work cut out trying to finish the Taunus bikepacking course and travel back in time to head to Tenby for the Long Course Weekend which I also entered a few months ago (full swim, full bike, half run - doubting my ability to run a marathon, and saved me about £100...). It's the way it goes with different events opening windows and dates being announced different times of the year, does anyone else find that?
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JohnClimber
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by JohnClimber »

Verena wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 11:51 am Hi, I had a place on the gritfest 2020, which is now transferred to the 2021 event https://gritfest.co.uk/

But I've just signed up to do taunus bikepacking again, which is the same week/end, so would anyone like my place on the gritfest? First come first served....
ENTRY FEE
Standard Entry - £110*
* - plus booking fee

Jesus, that's one hell of a price to ride bikes over a weekend :shock:
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Verena
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

JohnClimber wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:21 pm
Verena wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 11:51 am Hi, I had a place on the gritfest 2020, which is now transferred to the 2021 event https://gritfest.co.uk/

But I've just signed up to do taunus bikepacking again, which is the same week/end, so would anyone like my place on the gritfest? First come first served....
ENTRY FEE
Standard Entry - £110*
* - plus booking fee

Jesus, that's one hell of a price to ride bikes over a weekend :shock:
What, really?!?! Can't believe I would have paid that at the time, it was a long long time ago... I'll check back through my emails. Will also need to check the Ts and C's for transfers, but will up for some haggling or just any offers....or even give something to charity... Are you interested then John?
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Verena
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

Ok, I paid £94, includes camping for two nights.

Any offers and it's yours, entries are free to transfer, and I've spent/lost the money anyway...
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JohnClimber
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by JohnClimber »

Verena wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 11:09 pm Are you interested then John?
No sorry that's not my bag,
I was just wondering how much post Covid events were going for. (not that it will be gone by the summer)
But I guess with 2 nights of camping it isn't that bad.
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Piemonster
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Piemonster »

JohnClimber wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:21 pm
Verena wrote: Sat Dec 26, 2020 11:51 am Hi, I had a place on the gritfest 2020, which is now transferred to the 2021 event https://gritfest.co.uk/

But I've just signed up to do taunus bikepacking again, which is the same week/end, so would anyone like my place on the gritfest? First come first served....
ENTRY FEE
Standard Entry - £110*
* - plus booking fee

Jesus, that's one hell of a price to ride bikes over a weekend :shock:
Nah, not even registering as loose change that.

https://www.leblanq.com/

TL:DR entry is £2045 for a 2 day event
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Bearbonesnorm
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

Nah, not even registering as loose change that.

https://www.leblanq.com/

TL:DR entry is £2045 for a 2 day event
That is so far removed from my world, it's actually funny :grin:
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sean_iow
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by sean_iow »

Bearbonesnorm wrote: Fri Jan 01, 2021 11:37 am
Nah, not even registering as loose change that.

https://www.leblanq.com/

TL:DR entry is £2045 for a 2 day event
That is so far removed from my world, it's actually funny :grin:
To be fair you do get dinner thrown in plus the chance to ride with my mate Russ*

*I rode with him last weekend and his wife met us with some sandwiches and it didn't cost me a penny :grin:
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Verena
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

It would be an interesting conversation in its own right wouldn't it - why enter/ take part in events at all?

Looking back for this one and asking myself that question, I had just done the Real Ale Wobble in Llanwrtyd for the first time, mate of mine does it every year and recommended it. It was great fun and I discovered there, much to my delight, that there IS gravel in mid Wales :lol: (evidence if ever it is needed that you don't see things unless and until you start looking for them... :oops: ). Another mate of mine, in Germany, said "there's got to be some events there if it's that good", which made me google a bit and I found this one.

Reasons for entering? I thought that, even though I really like riding alone, it might be nice to meet some likeminded people over a weekend in Mid Wales and ride some bikes :lol: :lol:

It certainly wasn't for the competitive side of things...
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sean_iow
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by sean_iow »

With 3 nights camping and feed stations Gritfrest is good value. I can't imagine the organisers are getting rich with those entry fees.
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Verena
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

sean_iow wrote: Fri Jan 01, 2021 11:50 am With 3 nights camping and feed stations Gritfrest is good value. I can't imagine the organisers are getting rich with those entry fees.
You interested?
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sean_iow
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by sean_iow »

Afraid not, but someone will be I'm sure, have you tried advertising it elsewhere? We might not be the target audience.
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boxelder
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by boxelder »

Jesus, that's one hell of a price to ride bikes over a weekend :shock:
Some people like to spend money on gear and others on being able to turn up, with minimal prep, and have a blast with other folks for a weekend. £100 is at the lower end of costs for an event with medics, timing, camping and catering etc.
@verena - try the Gravelleurs FB group.
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by boxelder »

I can't see this happening now. I'm not up to speed with Welsh restrictions, but they do seem about in line with Scotland, but stricter than England. In Scotland, tiered restrictions will come back in (with amendments - which I suspect means more, rather than less strict), at the end of April. If all regions start in tier 3 (the cautious approach), with 3 week gaps between changes, then it will be end of June/start of July before they reach Tier 0. Forestry Scotland guidance says events up to 200 people allowed in tier 0. An event of this size in Scottish forestry is unlikely before the end of July (i.e. end of Scottish schools holiday). Any 'hiccup' in easing would push this back further.
I can't see any events of any size getting the green light before everyone is vaccinated, and there are no new scary variants. I would like to do Gritfest though, so would be up for taking an entry when it can happen, if you are not refunded.
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Verena
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

HI, you're probably right :sad: - will let you know when I hear anything.
boxelder
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by boxelder »

With 3 nights camping and feed stations Gritfest is good value. I can't imagine the organisers are getting rich with those entry fees.
So, the Galloway Raiders gravel race thing has opened for entries - early bird discount is £375, but you need a ride/race partner, so £750 a team. It's organised back Golazo, who do big events - Tour of Cambridgeshire etc. It'll be interesting to see if they can get numbers, at that price, in October in Galloway (sidesteps the mighty midge I guess). Having been involved with events there, the place and people are vaguely exciting, but it's a long way from most places and it is a lot of £'s, considering the price of Gritfest, Grinduro etc. I hope the community benefit from it. Tricky to make it truly international this year.
will let you know when I hear anything.
Not sure about Wales, but no events in English forestry before September. Forestry Scotland are more open to it.
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Verena
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

No longer selling my ticket, have given up on the idea of going to do the Taunus in Germany in four weeks time, lucky really that I have something else that I'm double booked for.
Have had another look at this in a bit more detail, to be fair it should be good fun, and an interesting area to explore on the bike.
It'll feel a bit weird though won't it? Returning to the same place for several nights, with a proper tent and campsite with actual facilities? A route which is signposted and has feed stations? To be fair again, it never claims to be bike packing, so why wouldn't it have such luxuries? There's a bar too, and pizza....
I have considered being Uber cool and riding there on the bike with just my bike packing stuff. But then, as per the other thread, with all that apres bike entertainment, bar, food outlets etc over as much as possibly four nights camping, I'm wondering whether a certain degree of personal hygiene and change of clothing might be expected??
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faustus
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by faustus »

Not my kind of thing per se, but it looks a decent event across nice Cambrian terrain (though lots of fire road / awe$ome grav-grav I guess). I think this is an event run by acycling which is Matt Page from on here, so perhaps you could always ask any questions you have?

Seems like a good chance to ride from Brecon to me, and i'm sure you could bring your gear and leave it set up when you do the day rides? It'll be mostly outside so sod expectations of personal hygiene :lol:
boxelder
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by boxelder »

Did this/is this going ahead?
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Bearbonesnorm
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

I often used to ride to events V. Found it added a little something to proceedings and no doubt accounts for my reputation as a tramp ... or simply scruffy b'stard :wink:
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Verena
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

boxelder wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:55 am Did this/is this going ahead?
Yes it did 🙂. I'll write something about it tomorrow...
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Verena
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Verena »

So, here's my little write up from gritfest last weekend.

Firstly, a big thank you and congratulations @Matt Page, family and friends/ team, for the warm welcome and for putting on such an excellent event - many people commented just how special it felt to be at an actual event again, with people, and lots of them.

I didn't ride over on my bike in the end, combination of the weather forecast for heavy rain all day Sunday (which never happened), and listening to my family's advice "Don't go being a twit now" (quote from "Hot Fuzz").

So car it was, which meant I could take not just a "normal"/bigger tent, some luxuries like a proper pillow, but of course also lots of extra/spare clothing, which for a while was almost a bit stressful as bordering on making choices on "outfits" :roll: :lol: which had me almost wish I was limited to what I could take on the bike :smile:

Just to remind everyone, this was not a bikepacking event, but a race, although obviously as it was gravel based there was a big overlap. I realized that this was a somewhat different crowd than on here when, soon after I had installed myself in the luxury of my tent, arranging and rearraning piles of stuff, bedding, cooking things, food, pairs of shoes etc.,I had a total of three people walking past and commenting "wow, that really is a small tent" (it was nothing special, a Lichfield treklite 200 1/2 person tent) "that is proper hardcore" "that's a really small tent you have there, I like your setup" - maybe they were just trying to be friendly and make conversation...
After a bit of wandering round and checking out the stalls, I had a very comfy nights sleep.

Saturday morning and start of the ride/race, and there was a very impressive collection of riders and bikes lining up at the start. I hung back to the very tail end of the start, being very much aware that I was like the farm cob in a stable full of fine thoroughbred racehorses :lol:
I couldn't give you a detailed account of the course, other than that it was perfect weather conditions, and 75km of blissful riding through gorgeous wild countryside on generally long sweeping ups and downs on obviously mostly gravel, with a few short road sections in between - just gorgeous over there
ImageIMG_20210619_173731_670 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
In between the timed stages, there was time for an obligatory log stack shot (trust me, there was no difference between my timed stage and non timed riding speeds :lol: )
ImageIMG_20210619_173731_656 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
One interesting aspect was that there was pretty much no mobile phone coverage both at the event base, and out on the course. Which I thought was really nice at base, as people had to find other things to do than look at their phones, like talk to each other. Out on the course, when passing the three people who had crashed, it was a bit more sobering and food for thought about the consequences of an off with injury in such a remote area...more justification for me to continue at my uber cautious speed on the downhills :lol:

Riding at the back, I met and chatted with a couple a few times. They were on mountain bikes, but said they thought the course was more "bumpy" than they expected, which even I thought was surprising, as everything was pretty much super wide smooth gravel heaven - they also said they were expecting it to be more of a "drink beer the night before, be hungover on the day and ride along bimbling with a headache before hitting the beer again" kind of event, so they weren't going to do day 2 (I told them about the real ale wobble, which might be more their thing)

From a safety point of view it was great, and no criticism of the event at all, but for the second half of the ride I was always conscious of the sweeper following behind me (I have to say, doing his best to be discreet and out of view), which for me was a tiny bit off putting, as it was just different - normally I would have stopped for a bit longer to enjoy the views, take lots of pictures etc. -but then it was a race event after all.

This picture I just really like, stopped there for a few minutes to stretch out my back
ImageIMG_20210619_173731_611 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

On the way back, after the gorgeous last section riding around Llyn Brianne and back on the way to Cilycwm, my late arrival back was masked by about half the field getting waylaid in this pub at Rhandirmwyn Bridge and rolling in late after a pint or two :lol: (took this photo on the Sunday)
ImageIMG_20210620_104614 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent partaking in ample rehydration and eating, ambling about the place and chatting to people - oh, including Alan from twmpa cycles, you know, the wooden ones? - really nice, friendly atmosphere.
Alas, a headache made its presence known by early evening, which would turn into a migraine overnight, and which meant I didn't ride day 2 (didn't want to be even more of a liability!) - not sure why, definitely not dehydration or alcohol, on reflection probably some tight muscles which I probably should have massaged or something... but hey, I am a Woman Of A Certain Age, so my body does odd things whenever it feels like it, just have to accept it and ride it out....

So instead, I just went on my own little bimble up the valley on Sunday morning, very nice. Not planned, but as it happens I turned a corner and found myself on the day 2 route just as several riders hurtled down a hill, so I took the opportunity to take a few snaps, some very smiley riders clearly enjoying themselves.

ImageIMG_20210620_163010_841 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Back to HQ in time for more coffee and to watch the leaders come into the finish. Some incredible riding there. Oh, and I'm still a little bit (ok, quite a bit) star struck that Josh Ibbett was there :o

This post is already way too long, sorry, but finally just my thoughts again on the whole "being last" thing (let's face it I had plenty of time on Saturday to think about this :lol: ). It's the one thing we all secretly dread, isn't it, being last, looking like a fool... I've done it a few times, now, and have learned that 1) nothing bad happens 2)nobody is horrible to you, in fact a lot of people are really supportive about it and respect you for having a go, and 3) this weekend I thought a lot about how those of us who are slow/ last/ not very good at things (whilst still thoroughly enjoying themselves) might just make events a whole lot more inclusive and encourage others to have a go. I know from myself that I wouldn't have done half the things I have done if it hadn't been for watching and reading the results and stories of people who were last, struggled, gave up even. So I'd like to think I did my part for some newbies to the wonderful world of bikes and gravel :cool:

Would I recommend this event? Yes, definitely, either for people who want to have a bit of a blast and some friendly racing in a great part of the world for it; or for people new to off road/ gravel biking, who don't quite know where is a good place to do it; have no or few mates to do it with; and/or who like the relative comfort and safety of an organized event.

Once more, thank you Matt and team, top job :-bd
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Bearbonesnorm
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

RE; last. I recall the first BB300, all those partaking were back, fed and watered except for Kenny. Although rightfully tired and facing a long drive, everyone said they were going to stop and see him in. The clock was very much ticking and 8pm was the 36 hour cut off but at 3 minutes to, a very wide eyed Kenny appeared. All those who'd waited looked happier that Kenny had arrived back than they did when they had. It was quite emotional really.
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Boab
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by Boab »

The Lanterne rouge is quite the sought-after position at races like Le Tour, as the recipient can make quite a lot of dosh in post race activities.
... lanterne rouge has been described as being worn as "a badge of courage" and winning it as "a triumph of sporting endeavour".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanterne_rouge

You could argue it's preferable to being an anonymous mid-pack finisher...
There are theories at the bottom of my jargon.
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benp1
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Re: Gritfest 2021 anyone?

Post by benp1 »

Nice write up, Verena
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