Some waffle from me …
My BB200 started with a nearly seven-hour journey to get to the Star on Friday night, thanks to chaos on the roads.
I think I may be the first person to stay at the Star in its new guise as a B&B (without the breakfast). It seems to have been done up to a high standard and there’s a good communal area that would work well if a crowd of Boners occupied the whole place. But it’s not a pub.
Saturday started with needless drama. I’d been super organised and was packed and ready to get to the start for just after seven. But I then spent 40 minutes searching in rising panic for my car keys. Which were - of course - in my pocket where they should have been.
Anyway, I was finally away just after 8am, with the wind gusting and a steady rain moistening things nicely. I’d only really looked at the route to satisfy myself that the only really helpful resupply was the community cafe. So I was ready for anything and carrying enough food to get me all the way round.
I’d started a minute behind Alan (Escape Goat) and we chatted briefly until the elastic snapped somewhere before Pennant. Nice to meet you, Alan!
I had a few more brief chats in the next few miles and was passed two or three times by a chap with a Tailfin who was going very strongly up the hills till he snapped his mech off just after the monster climb at, I think, Cwm Graig. However, I didn’t ride with anyone for any length of time until after the hallowed cake stop at Bwlch y Sarnau.
There were a few others in the cafe, including Sean IoW, who was looking noticeably clean and fresh. We talked but I failed to introduce myself (d’oh! Hi Sean, I was sat opposite you looking tired).
Soon after the cafe I was caught by a chap in a BB shirt with a beard and we rode together on and off for a few hours. (Nice riding with you, if you’re reading this, and sorry for not introducing myself and getting your name.)
We also yo-yoed with a three-man team who were moving with military order and seemed pretty fit.
Eventually, after reaching the halfway point, I parted ways with my riding companion. But not before a sandwich break and a time check that seemed to suggest that a 24-hour finish was distinctly unlikely. That was a blow because I’d hoped a black badge (and more importantly an early morning finish) might be on the cards, given reports from October. Oh well.
I continued to yo-yo with the team of three for a few more hours till I lost them just before the blowy, gate-ridden but beautifully star-lit drag along the Kerry ridgeway.
Towards the end of that, I think, I was caught by another couple of riders, one of whom, I later realised, was Bob (Whitestone). We yo-yoed for a bit on the road sections that followed until I was forced to take a 15-minute nap by the side of the road after dozing off while riding and waking up in a hedge.
Staying awake in the small hours is something I really struggle with. I can keep my legs turning but my eyes just won’t stay open.
I was really low on water by this point and starting to feel the effects of dehydration. I had a Water-to-Go filter bottle but had been holding off using it because of the amount of sheep sub standard everywhere. Eventually I gave in, found a tiny steam and drank my fill. Instant relief plus brain freeze!
The water-to- Go system is actually really good - easy to use and the cap on the bottle does a decent job of keeping the nozzle clean, so you can drink with reasonable confidence even when the bottle is caked in crap.
From that point on I saw no one else, just kept plodding on. I was constantly tempted to check the time and remaining distance but I was worried the answer would be demoralising, so fought the impulse.
In my head I was expecting a 10am finish, so imagine my joy when, shortly after the first signs of dawn, I popped out at Pennant to see a sign saying “Llanbrynmair 3”.
I couldn’t help but summon my remaining energy to race the rest of the way back and I was surprised how fresh my legs felt. (Must try harder!) I was back at base at 7.05 - 22 hours and 59 minutes after I set off.
All in all it was a great route with plenty of challenge but nothing truly horrible. The worst bit for me was the frustration of some of the seemingly never-ending slippery Scalextric slot trails, which I found impossible to ride in my tired state.
The best bits were:
* Meeting amazing people and sharing the fun
* The techy descents and especially that swoopy, loamy gulley. There were definitely a few bits on the route I wouldn’t want to walk down carrying a gravel bike!
* Wales - my god it’s beautiful
* The community cafe - I love that place and the volunteers who run it
* Wildlife - including being swooped on by a murmuration of starlings, deer, various birds of prey, rabbits, voles and a hedgehog.
* Dee’s veggie breakfast. Amazing! Thanks Dee
Today, I am destroyed.
Thanks again to Stuart and Dee and everyone else who made this such a great experience.