• BB200 route.

Posted: **Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:12 am**

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Tue Oct 19, 2021 8:03 am
Stu said there was no HAB
No, I said there was 'no HaB if you had the lungs and legs'

Aha... my brain cancelled out that last bit

Posted: **Tue Oct 19, 2021 2:49 pm**

Hi all!
I just wanted to leave my small thank to everyone and, in particular, to that guy I met very briefly around 98K in.
He said something he really made me crack on the thing, while I was in a low.

I’m sure he said his name, but I can remember only he had a jersey with the BB200 logo on it.

Posted: **Tue Oct 19, 2021 4:25 pm**

Themian wrote: ↑Tue Oct 19, 2021 2:49 pm Hi all!
I just wanted to leave my small thank to everyone and, in particular, to that guy I met very briefly around 98K in.
He said something he really made me crack on the thing, while I was in a low.

I’m sure he said his name, but I can remember only he had a jersey with the BB200 logo on it.

You were at the bottom of that steep hill and weren't very happy? That was me (Andy). I hope you had a good ride.

Posted: **Tue Oct 19, 2021 7:38 pm**

In Reverse wrote: ↑Tue Oct 19, 2021 4:25 pm
Themian wrote: ↑Tue Oct 19, 2021 2:49 pm Hi all!
I just wanted to leave my small thank to everyone and, in particular, to that guy I met very briefly around 98K in.
He said something he really made me crack on the thing, while I was in a low.

I’m sure he said his name, but I can remember only he had a jersey with the BB200 logo on it.
You were at the bottom of that steep hill and weren't very happy? That was me (Andy). I hope you had a good ride.

Yep! That was me.
When you asked me if I was having fun, I remembered I actually was!
I was just in a mood with myself because I ended up being dehydrated

I had a pint of coke after that and got my blu badge!

Posted: **Tue Oct 19, 2021 7:46 pm**

Andy's pretty easy to spot as he's usually riding the opposite way

Posted: **Tue Oct 19, 2021 9:09 pm**

Themian wrote: ↑Tue Oct 19, 2021 7:38 pm got my blu badge!

Superb mate. Well done.

Not easy on your bike!

Posted: **Tue Oct 19, 2021 9:32 pm**

Sometimes it's worth having a word with yourself at those moments. If I'm not flat out racing I'll often back off the pace at those points to get my head back in the game.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:05 pm**

Sounds like everyone (who's posted on here) had a great ride.

Could do with some stats from Stu and Dee:
no of starters and finishers and the numbers of each badge.

I got back at 10ish on Saturday morning and the car park was mostly empty.....

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:20 pm**

Anyone take a pic of the sign off sheet? It's the one thing I feel like I missed by not doing it with everyone else.

(I guess don't post here due to spoilers? But feel free to message me if you have it.)

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:26 pm**

when did you do it then Rich? I saw that you were elsewhere this weekend

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:43 pm**

slarge wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:26 pm when did you do it then Rich? I saw that you were elsewhere this weekend

9th to 10th. I had to be in London for work (and fun!) this last weekend.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:57 pm**

BTW did anyone stay at or visit the LBM Wynnstay Arms before/after? I'm highly tempted for the Winter Event after reading the appalling reviews, it looks ideal

.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Rest ... les.html

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:11 pm**

Could do with some stats from Stu and Dee:
no of starters and finishers and the numbers of each badge.

Surprising amount of withdrawals just prior to the weekend but this is how the cookie crumbled.

Orange 1
Green 12
Blue 5
Black 27
DNF 6
DNS 11

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:16 pm**

RIP wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:57 pm BTW did anyone stay at or visit the LBM Wynnstay Arms before/after? I'm highly tempted for the Winter Event after reading the appalling reviews, it looks ideal .

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Rest ... les.html

We had dinner and a few pints there, and had a great time. The lady landlord was very quirky in a good way. 3 folk stayed their, for a tenner a night! They survived the night too!

Apparently she has sold the pub and it will be under new management soon, prob for the best as it needs some general investment.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:24 pm**

Cheers Alex, I suspected as much! If the Normals hate it we're bound to like it. A tenner! That's half the amount we desperately forked over to kip on a bar floor the other week. Shame about new management then.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:41 pm**

RIP wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:57 pm BTW did anyone stay at or visit the LBM Wynnstay Arms before/after? I'm highly tempted for the Winter Event after reading the appalling reviews, it looks ideal .

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Rest ... les.html

If you can handle a room that has seen better days, might have a bit of dust on things, be faded and crumbling around the corners, but is warm, dry and has a clean bed, then it's totally adequate. I've been mulling asking Stu if there's any spare places for the November running, if there was, and I decided to have another go, I'd definitely stay there again. I wrote some words on Sunday, that I was saving until after The Second Running...

The Wynnstay Arms is decidedly old skool, I was going to say with faded grandeur, but I don’t think it was the kind of place that had any grandeur to start with. It was definitely faded though, and I wasn’t the only one that evening thinking about similarities to Fawlty Towers. The welcome, when Pauline, the landlady I assume, finally appeared behind the bar, was genuine and friendly though.

There were a few other patrons in the lounge bar, a few of whom looked like bikepackers. Another couple turned up shortly after me, and various conversations soon struck up. “Have you done this before?”, cue various stories of wild weather, horrific ground conditions and general all round suffering. Not the kind of stuff you want to be hearing the night before when you’ve spent the last few weeks fretting about that kind of stuff.

The conversations were broken up by intermittent attempts to order food and drink, most of which resulted in answers of “I’m disappearing!”, or “I’ve got someone waiting in the other bar.”, before Pauline disappeared for fifteen minutes. It turns out she was doing everything, all the cooking, bar service, the works; she looked older than my mother-in-law.

Stay while you can though, as Pauline said they’ve sold the pub to “two gentlemen”. We’re assuming that next year, the food and drink will be slightly more expensive, and that it won't cost £10 for a room without breakfast.

P.S. if you order pudding, just make sure you eat the custard, unless you want the Spanish Inquisition...

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:45 pm**

I've been mulling asking Stu if there's any spare places for the November running

Yes, entries are still open Bob but not for too long.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:50 pm**

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:11 pm
Could do with some stats from Stu and Dee:
no of starters and finishers and the numbers of each badge.
Surprising amount of withdrawals just prior to the weekend but this is how the cookie crumbled.

Orange 1
Green 12
Blue 5
Black 27
DNF 6
DNS 11

That does suggest a fast course (and potentially good conditions) similar to the 2016 edition. Cue a deluge a la 2018 edition

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:54 pm**

Boab wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:41 pm a room that has seen better days, might have a bit of dust on things, be faded and crumbling around the corners, but is warm, dry and has a clean bed, then it's totally adequate.

Well that sounds exactly like the nocturnal accommodation at The Perrinery so I'd be well at home

.

Sadly these sorts of places are becoming few and far between these days, which is a further dimming of the light of eccentricity I feel. This time next year it'll be all uplighting, automated checkin, posh toiletries, and to eat you'll be having goujons this and jus that.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:04 pm**

RIP wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:54 pm
Boab wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:41 pm a room that has seen better days, might have a bit of dust on things, be faded and crumbling around the corners, but is warm, dry and has a clean bed, then it's totally adequate.
Well that sounds exactly like the nocturnal accommodation at The Perrinery so I'd be well at home .

Sadly these sorts of places are becoming few and far between these days, which is a further dimming of the light of eccentricity I feel.

I'm not sure what all those TripAdvisor people are expecting for an outlay of £25 per-person. The fact that it cost us all a tenner, as we didn't have breakfast was just bonkers; I paid £20.50 for a room, a jacket potato with cheese and beans, plus two pints of orange and lemonade. Everyone tried to get her to charge the full amount for the rooms, but she wouldn't have it. I wasn't expecting a luxury boutique room in some fancy gastropub, and I wasn't disappointed.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:09 pm**

I stayed in a place in Newtown that was vaguely similar. Booked three nights just in case I had a particularly hard time of it, but ended up coming back on the Sunday.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:47 pm**

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:45 pm
I've been mulling asking Stu if there's any spare places for the November running
Yes, entries are still open Bob but not for too long.

Just checked my calender before booking, glad I did, as I'm off to see Jon Hopkins that Saturday; not sure if I'm glad, or gutted. Guess I'll have to pencil in a solo ride round the route next year at some point, I feel I have unfinished business.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:33 pm**

The Gro guesthouse in Newtown is along these lines, I was in there on Friday night.
At £36 inc breakfast is wasn’t bad, I even had a choice of 3 beds in my sole occupancy family room!
I’d recommend it!

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 10:38 pm**

shutuplegs wrote: ↑Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:33 pm The Gro guesthouse in Newtown is along these lines, I was in there on Friday night.
At £36 inc breakfast is wasn’t bad, I even had a choice of 3 beds in my sole occupancy family room!
I’d recommend it!

Ha, that's where I was. Needs a bit of a clean, but nice enough.

Posted: **Tue Nov 02, 2021 9:28 pm**

Not much November BB200/300 chat then?

Have scrutinised the 300 route carefully. Must be the most English BB route ever?
A few resupply points. Might make Clun before it closes at 8pm. Welshpool will be shut, most likely.
Bit of a sting in the tail above Llandinam, but the route does swing by Caersws shortly after, so a can of coke might help get me over Llawr-y-glyn.
Only other comment is the route looks quite intricate. Plenty of opportunities to go wrong / miss a turn / overshoot, especially in the dark / when tired.

I'll be on the gravel bike for this one. It was that, the singlespeed or the fat bike. Choices choices

Edit: does £5 still get me some grub at Bwlch-y-sarnau?

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