BB200 2023

[Richard G]

OK, this might not be ideal...

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/wa ... 2023-10-12

[Boab]

Grahame Madge, a Met Office spokesperson, said: “On Wednesday night there may potentially be some frosts and much colder than average conditions, which might be a shock for northern parts of Britain because we’ve had this relatively warm air across most of the UK.

“There will be an increasing tendency towards cooler conditions, however in the southern parts of England and Wales we’ve got the prospect of heavy rain coming in. We’re saying there is a significant rain warning from 9pm on Thursday through to midnight on Friday, and we can expect 20 to 30mm in some places in a couple of hours. Even up to 50, 60 or possibly up to 70mm across the high ground of Wales.”

The rain will be followed by “much cooler conditions, six degrees below average”, Madge said. “Given the fact a few days ago we were talking about conditions six or so degrees above average, [this] will feel like a marked contrast.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... rm-october

[macinblack]

When I got back to the school, Rich G was there, so it was nice to have a conversation with someone about the event rather than just buggering off home, it meant I could mentally draw a line under not finishing.

It also goes without saying that it's always great to have those chats on the way round with so many different people from different walks of life. It's good to share a few FFS's with another human being.

Sorry I wasn't more talkative, was feeling pretty rough at the time.

As for chatting with others going around, after the first couple of hours I really only said a handful of words to FatBikePhil in the tussocky nightmare, and a few sentences to a rider whose name I didn't get outside the supermarket in *** redacted ***. Was an oddly lonely experience.

No worries Rich - I didn't need many words, just enough to avoid the strange feeling of leaving such an event without any contact with anyone else involved in it.

[Leerowe76]

Hi peeps, after entering the previous 4 BB200 events (2x shoulder injuries, 1x covid & 1x head not in the game) this was the first one I've actually made to the start line (so 1st one in 5 attempts ) so that in itself was a win in my book.
I packed reasonably light with just bivvy bag, sleeping bag, down jacket, leggings and thick socks for emergency sleep should it not go to plan, as I wanted to test myself and try for a Sub24 time and the black badge. The rest of what I packed was just food/snack's for the first leg which was to get me to Rhayader 140k in for resupply before 10pm through some testing stuff on the bike and foot first climb out of Rhayader after a 1/2lb Cheese burger and chips didn't sit right, I felt rough and ended up grabbing 35 mins sleep on a grass verge at the top with stomach ache when I think Andrei rode past me who was in the kebab shop when I left. The sleep worked a treat and seem to rejuvenate me to get cracking again, I made it back in just under 22hrs and as Stuart had ran out of black badges he asked if I could write my address on an envelope a few times as my brain had not engaged properly
Met some nice folk on route not all of their names I can remember but Kenny who I rode with for a while on a SS I forget the guys name on the who was with us from Kendal on the drop bar (sorry) and the two guys who found me riding round in someone's back yard and driveway yes I have forgotten your names too (sorry again) from Sheffield I think but thanks you kept me going Rich G knows what I'm like for not remembering names I do it all the time although I remembered his this year

And a big thanks Stu & Dee for putting it all together, bacon sarnie and brews were very welcome

[Bearbonesnorm]

I packed reasonably light with just bivvy bag, down jacket, leggings and thick socks for emergency sleep

You seem to have missed sleeping bag off that list Lee.

[whitestone]

I’ve been thinking about what was the worst part about last weekend.

It wasn’t the big march from E-W, it wasn’t the river masquerading as a bike route, it wasn’t the second big/tussockfest. It wasn’t even the incessant cramps for 90km.

No, was truly, truly awful was having Take That’s latest single as an earworm I’ve gone through all the things I might have done wrong in recent weeks and can find nothing that deserves that.

[Hyppy]

… I forget the guys name on the who was with us from Kendal …

'twas me, Lee! Nice to meet you en route, and thanks for the 'time and distance remaining until chips' updates while we sprinted into Rhayader.

The following morning at the finish, the guy we ate with (sorry didn't catch his name) said that he'd seen you taking a nap by the side of the track so I'm glad that did the trick in sorting you out and you made it round ok.

[Leerowe76]

I packed reasonably light with just bivvy bag, down jacket, leggings and thick socks for emergency sleep

You seem to have missed sleeping bag off that list Lee.

With it being as warm as it was what I'd taken would of done the trick, thankfully it kept me pedalling. Great to meet and ride with you Hyppy

[Bearbonesnorm]

With it being as warm as it was what I'd taken would of done the trick,

No, I think you've definitely missed it off Lee.

[redefined_cycles]

I packed reasonably light with just bivvy bag, down jacket, leggings and thick socks for emergency sleep

You seem to have missed sleeping bag off that list Lee.

With it being as warm as it was what I'd taken would of done the trick, thankfully it kept me pedalling. Great to meet and ride with you Hyppy

I think what Stu is saying that it was part of the minimal compulsory kit list. Which means you definitely had it in your kit but must've forgotten it was there

[Leerowe76]

I packed reasonably light with just bivvy bag, down jacket, leggings and thick socks for emergency sleep

You seem to have missed sleeping bag off that list Lee.

With it being as warm as it was what I'd taken would of done the trick, thankfully it kept me pedalling. Great to meet and ride with you Hyppy

I think what Stu is saying that it was part of the minimal compulsory kit list. Which means you definitely had it in your kit but must've forgotten it was there

Yeah meant sleeping bag *edited*

[PaulE]

Possibly a stupid question, but would a bothy bag/storm shelter be considered ok instead of a bivi? Just trying to decide which to bring, and don't want to fall foul of the rules!

[Bearbonesnorm]

would a bothy bag/storm shelter be considered ok instead of a bivi?

Yep, I'd take that as 'shelter'.

[PaulE]

Splendid - don't think I'll be bringing it, but just checking in case of a last minute change of heart

[Southbysouthwest]

Just wanted to say thanks to those people who were picking up after me last weekend so that my driving licence and bank card weren’t swallowed up by the earth. Especially as I didn’t even realise they were gone until I got back to the hall just before 4am

Whilst I’m here I thought I’d write a quick summary of what I remember from the ride a few days later. I’ve done a few WRTs in various ways but this was my first BB200 and my first time riding non-stop past about 1am so I knew beforehand that I’d be on a learning curve.

In terms of the route I found the log flume section grimly enjoyable, including the challenge of going up the hill that way rather than on the fire road. The tussock section was just grim though, particularly the point when I got myself into a situation where my head started questioning whether I could even move the bike forwards.

A few other things I learnt:
- I need to drink more. Total for the 20.5 hours that I was out was just over 5.5 litres, including a coke from the spar. My body made it clear to me for a couple of days afterwards that that wasn’t enough.
- I should have taken fewer energy bars / more variety of food. I only got through about seven bars and couldn’t face them beyond about the 13 hours mark, so brought home more than half the food I set off with.
- I could have gone lighter with sleep kit. Wanting to be reasonably comfortable if I had to stop meant carrying about 2.5kg on my bars in a bag that didn’t get opened, which was a definite encumbrance of the tougher sections.
- The jury’s out on my ortleib seatpack. I lost count of the number of times I either heard it bouncing down the trail behind me or saw it bounce past me, depending on how fast I was going at the time and how steep the hill was. Might just be because I reused the saddle attachment though so I’m going to give it another chance with a new one of those.
- Breaking down the ride into three distinct parts definitely helped my head deal with it. You can probably guess where the break points were.
- Having some company for the last 20-25km definitely helped too, thanks to Valerio, George and Tom for that.
- It doesn’t take long to start to forget. Having finished thinking adamantly that was going to be my one and only bb200 it took about 48 hours before I was thinking about how I could do it better / faster next time.

And thanks to Stu and Dee of course, for putting it all together and making the atmosphere around the ride what it is.

[fatbikephil]

In terms of the route I found the log flume section grimly enjoyable, including the challenge of going up the hill that way rather than on the fire road.

Ha - great analogy! I wish I'd thought of that as I might of moaned and shouted at it less...

I think the Strata Florida has just been re-named 'The log flume!'

[Valerio]

[...]
A few other things I learnt:
- I could have gone lighter with sleep kit. Wanting to be reasonably comfortable if I had to stop meant carrying about 2.5kg on my bars in a bag that didn’t get opened, which was a definite encumbrance of the tougher sections.
- The jury’s out on my ortleib seatpack. I lost count of the number of times I either heard it bouncing down the trail behind me or saw it bounce past me, depending on how fast I was going at the time and how steep the hill was. Might just be because I reused the saddle attachment though so I’m going to give it another chance with a new one of those.
[...]
- It doesn’t take long to start to forget. Having finished thinking adamantly that was going to be my one and only bb200 it took about 48 hours before I was thinking about how I could do it better / faster next time.

My pleasure Will, who would have thought that we would go from having dinner together in the Star to finishing the ride together - without seeing each other throughout the day! - exactly at 10km/h just like we intended.

I've made the mistake of packing too much before but I think it's a necessary mistake to make when attempting to ride through the night for the first few times like we did. No doubt I'll make that mistake again.

When I saw the Ortlieb bag rolling down the hill I thought we'd never see it again ahaha. It was a funny distraction from the suffering :) (probably less funny for you).

I'm afraid I'm going through the same mental process and I'll have to hang tight to some of the videos I took during the ordeal to persuade me not to make this mistake again. Happy to send them to you if you need some reminders

[redefined_cycles]

I had my back seen to yesterday and I've been thinking about this years BB200 regularly. Don't wanna miss the chance and then it'll be too late. Anyone fancy a 3rd weekend, group start with me

Not sure if Stu might give us a badge if we kept to rules and time limits!! Does anyone know where would be decent to park the car around the route? I'm not convinced that parking it too far from the official start point is a good idea as then that ride up/down to the communtiy centre might feel like even more suffering.

Obviously I'll not park at the comm centre unless told/advised otherwise. Still just a thought but I'm trying to make it gain traction in the old head

[Hyppy]

Does anyone know where would be decent to park the car around the route?

I can't imagine there'd be a problem using the carpark opposite the Wynnstay Arms where a few of us camped up the night before last weekend's event. It's <100 m from the community centre/route start.

[redefined_cycles]

Thanks v much Hyppy. Nust checked Google earth/maps. The car park overlooking that field. Looks perfect.

[whitestone]

Thanks v much Hyppy. I will try and look at/into that. Is it owned by Wynnstay and would it be wise to call/ask em beforehand.

No, it's a public car park.

[Leerowe76]

Good luck to all riding this weekends BB200/300

[Leerowe76]

Just wanted to say thanks to those people who were picking up after me last weekend so that my driving licence and bank card weren’t swallowed up by the earth

I posted a licence off first class on Tuesday I think hope it found its way home to whoever's it was William Leo ??

[Jurassic pusher]

After reading these great posts about this year’s BB200 it makes me want to come out of BB200 “retirement “, next year Mac??

[macinblack]

After reading these great posts about this year’s BB200 it makes me want to come out of BB200 “retirement “, next year Mac??

Got to be done Rob. If you don't climb those hills, they wither and die.
I think we could make up the Home Guard section for next year.