Welsh Ride Thing 2012

[griffdowg]

Norwegians saying it'll be wet but mild, Metcheck saying dry but cold... Choices! :?

Cant get metcheck to work but norg/bbc/met office all say around 9c at night.

looks like the weather front is moving in on Sat night :( booo. Might have to take the laser competition!

G

[drain]

Best pack for cold and wet then.
Bloody weather

Oh so true...

[Chew]

Stu - What time are you planning to open the field on Saturday morning?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Stu - What time are you planning to open the field on Saturday morning?

I should be knocking about from pretty early on but if I'm not about just let yourself in ... if there's any sheep about try not to let them out

[Dan_K]

So the forecast looks like rain then. I'm thinking about dumping the bivvying idea and just taking my backpacking tent. It's an extra kg but I figure i'll be far happier over the weekend. Anyone else thinking the same?

[pedalhead]

Yup, I think I'll be taking this...



instead of this (MLD Soul bivy)...



The MLD bivy is also waterproof but not quite such a nice place to be as the Gogo. The heavy rain currently forecast also suggests I'll need the extra space under cover to stash my bags overnight.

Still, the forecast could yet change. I wouldn't trust it completely until Friday.

[Ian]

I'm sticking with my tarp regardless. Not used it in the wet, so will be interesting to see how well it does. Think it'll be OK though as it has adequate cover for me and my kit.


Zpacks Hexamid by ianbarrington, on Flickr

[pedalhead]

Oh yes I should add that I don't really "do" tarps...otherwise I would consider the MLD + tarp. Ian on the other hand is rather an expert at pitching tarps

[chris n]

I'm sticking with tarp + bivvy bag too. Good enough in light winds and rain (as we found out on last year's WRT) and although it's no lightweight setup it's still only about 1kg along with pole, pegs, bivvy bag and lines. I was practicing pitching it on a dead flat, calm campsite in the Lakes last week, so it'll be a doddle in the pissing rain, in the dark, in a gale. 8-)

[didnothingfatal]

Where are you getting wet weather forecasts from?

[chris n]

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ ... ather.html
http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/W ... /long.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2644166

xcweather says it'll be mostly dry though: http://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/llanbrynmair

[restlessshawn]

Poncho tarp and bivi bag here, only tent I have is a 2 person mountain equipment dragonfly so way too big.

My Mrs will be camping at the campsite in our bus so maybe I should get her to meet me at each overnight intsead

[Nick]

I keep swinging between the tarp and bivvy bag to the Laser Comp 1, seeing as the Laser Comp only weighs about 200g more than the tarp/bivvy bag combination I suspect I'll go with the tent.

Any sign of midges? Not been bad for the last couple of years, but I did get eaten alive one evening near devils bridge in June a couple of years ago (the buggers were biting my eye lids).

[Bearbonesnorm]

Any sign of midges?

Aye they've arrived ... not in droves yet but enough to make their presence felt first thing in the morning and after 7.00 at night

[didnothingfatal]

It's hardly a wet weather forecast, by Welsh standards, bug bivy and tarp I'm thinking, and camping under the Twing on Friday night.

[Taylor]

What time is kick off?

Is it 2pm?

[Dan_K]

What time is kick off?

Is it 2pm?

As a WRT virgin, I assume that there will be some form of dancing girl ceremony to signify the off.

[Bearbonesnorm]

What time is kick off?

Read your bloody email!

Here's a little break down for the hard of thinking

Turn up sometime on Sat morning, let's say between 9.00 and 12.00. Park up and go to the tipi, sign on and collect your T shirt.

Flatfishy will be conducting the WRT 'weigh in'. If you'd like to see just how much your bike / kit weighs then pop over to his magic gazebo AFTER you've signed on and with ALL your stuff, rucksacks, bum bags, etc. At the same venue or nearby, Chew will be fleecing people for a quid. In return he'll give you a ticket which has a weight on. If your ticket matches either the weight of the lightest or heaviest bike you win a prize ... SO BRING A POUND COIN please

Fanny around, talk to people and worry about ... your stuff, the weather, your food, the weather, your bike and the weather ... until

Sometime around 12.30 outside the tipi, a bloke who may or maynot be wearing a hat in the shape of a bear will start to draw the raffle (for all those who bought tickets). Once that's over with Flatfishy will announce the results from the 'weigh in' and asign prizes to the unlucky/lucky winners.

Last but certainly not least, Nick (or Kenny) from AlpKit will announce who has the best crayoning / cutting out skills and award that person their very own custom frame bag! It may be fun to watch this lucky individual desperately try to strip and re-pack their entire bike in the 10 minutes left before the 'off'.

If anyone's still awake by this point, the bloke in the bear hat may possibly mumble a few words that you won't be able to hear (or if you can hear them you certainly won't understand them) and that'll be it ... off you go

[griffdowg]

what's the crack with the raffle tickets? do you collect these when you sign on?

G

[Bearbonesnorm]

what's the crack with the raffle tickets? do you collect these when you sign on?

Nope ... all the tickets have been lovingly printed out and are now living in an 8L drybag from where they'll be drawn.

[Chew]

Just a quick word of warning for anyone coming from the north, who hasn't been to Stu's before.

Newtown is a bit of a traffic bottleneck, and can take some time to get through, especially on a Saturday afternoon, when bank holiday traffic is in full swing. Try and avoid it if you can.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Wise words from Chew ... if anyone's wondering how best to bypass Newtown here you go. The route below should knock about half an hour off as you'll bypass Welshpool and Newtown

Just south of Oswestry at Llynclys turn right onto A495 signed Machynlleth. Approx 2 miles take left turn signed Machynlleth, pass through Llansantffraid yn Mechian and Meifod. Approx 2 miles out of Meifod you'll cross a narrow bridge with traffic lights on, just after the bridge take B4389 on left signed Llanfair Caereinion. Arrive at T junction turn right onto A458. Approx 1 mile into Llanfair Caereinion turn left over a bridge signed New Mills (B4389). If you pass a petrol station on right on A458 you've missed the left turning. Continue through village and take left signed New Mills / Cefn Coch, go over some speed bumps and take the road on right signed Cefn Coch / Carno. Stay on this road until you reach Carno, turn right at T junction onto A470 signed Llanbrynmair and you're back on track having missed out the potential busy bits.

[didnothingfatal]

Got to love a weather forecast that the man from the been described as 'wet and cold'

[Taylor]

http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/W ... /long.html

Might not even get out of bed on Sunday

[Ian]

You big pussy - its not that bad. I'd been looking at the Brecon forecast. Much worse down here