BB200 2023

[M4tt]

First time BB200 last wke and very happy I completed it - 39.5hrs…. no badge for me obviously but really happy just to finish!

Good luck everyone for this wke and thanks to Stu and Dee for setting the challenge.

Lots of learnings for me…. Including how quickly the brain air gaps the ‘difficulties’. To the point of less than a week later contemplating a tiny possibility of … having another go!!! Is this how in starts?

(Being in Sicily since Weds convalescing with pizza and wine helps a lot )

Memories and other learnings -

Front wheel disappearing into ‘Dead Sheep Bog’, followed by being catapulted over the handle bars.

The first time looking at route ahead, looking at nav, then back up at what’s ahead and saying “really?” Aloud.

Decent down “Scratchy Gully” with it’s holly bush guard of of honour…. Ouch.

The bog march of death.

Waterworld.

The stars on Sunday night …. probs only one left out to appreciate them .

Stopping for 6hrs sleep and a roast dinner does not set you up for a good time…. But for me perhaps made the finish possible.

All round exactly what I wanted from the experience … totally out of the comfort zone, exploring what’s possible .

[Leerowe76]

Well done on finishing Matt, was a proper tough route

[Southbysouthwest]

[...]

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

I think by that stage I’d lost the will to fight, I just remember seeing the bag roll past me and thinking “that’s definitely going to end up in the river…”

And thanks for offering to send the videos over, that’d be great. I’ll make sure to rewatch them just before entries open for next year.

[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??

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.

The harder it sounded the more I thought it may be a good idea!
............but I have had "good" ideas in the past!
Regarding the home guard theme , we cant both be Cpl Jones.
See you next October

[Boab]

If anyone stayed in Room 1 of The Wynnstay last weekend and left a white plug and black USB-C cable behind. Let me know and I'll post it on...

[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

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

That’s me, thanks Lee, I owe you a drink. Not here yet but the post’s a bit intermittent where we are so I’m sure it’ll arrive in the next couple of days.

[TeaFuelledMutantGingerBike]

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

Tempting, seeing as I'm on my third day of lying in bed with covid, and now the added pleasure of the horrible metallic aftertaste of the antivirals I'm on, instead of on my way to Wales. Maybe in a few weeks...

[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.

The harder it sounded the more I thought it may be a good idea!
............but I have had "good" ideas in the past!
Regarding the home guard theme , we cant both be Cpl Jones.
See you next October

I think Godfrey would some me up nicely.

[Hyppy]

I'm guessing the embargo is lifted now—although if you are reading this en route, get back to riding!—so I can safely share my fave route (green) vs. reality (magenta) segment from last weekend. Ten past three in the morning and I'm helplessly stuck on the wrong side of a hedgerow and fence, questioning my life choices … 

[psling]

—so I can safely share my fave route vs. reality segment from last weekend.

What do each of those 2 lines represent and is either of them the actual BB route?
Without being there it's hard to tell if one goes straight through a quagmire whilst the other is beautiful smooth twisty singletrack (yeah right, as if!! )

[Hyppy]

Post edited to add a key, but I guess I'll never know just how smooth (or otherwise) the green route was.

[whitestone]

Whereabouts was that? Most of my "what am I doing here?" moments were on the boggy/tussocky sections. Don't have to be exact, just something like "after village X" and I'll find it

[Hyppy]

Whereabouts was that? Most of my "what am I doing here?" moments were on the boggy/tussocky sections. Don't have to be exact, just something like "after village X" and I'll find it

The innocuous looking section as the route climbed into the forest away from Llyn Clywedog. I made the mistake of aiming myself at a rider in front's tail light and not noticing the track had veered to the right/north between where I was and where they'd got to.

I had a couple of iffy moments in the bog but learned that zooming out a little, so as to see where I was actually meant to be heading rather than trying to follow any suspiciously straight line that was displaying there and then, saw me right.

[whitestone]

I was in head down "when will this end?" mode at that point

I did something similar on the 2018 edition, actually on the first moorland section on this year's route but in reverse, left the road and then got totally confused as to why there were lights "above" me when the route descended Took a little while to get back on route.

[boxelder]

Weather's looking a little worse this weekend

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-67111475

[fatbikephil]

Post edited to add a key, but I guess I'll never know just how smooth (or otherwise) the green route was.

I did that in broad daylight (hot sunshine!) Pete - dead easy, I just followed the gravel track plus Glyndwrs way waymarking!

[Hyppy]

Post edited to add a key, but I guess I'll never know just how smooth (or otherwise) the green route was.

I did that in broad daylight (hot sunshine!) Pete - dead easy, I just followed the gravel track plus Glyndwrs way waymarking!

Nobody likes a show-off Phil, you'll be telling us you did an extra 100km next … 

Shouldn't be long before the first tales from this weekend.

[fatbikephil]

Post edited to add a key, but I guess I'll never know just how smooth (or otherwise) the green route was.

I did that in broad daylight (hot sunshine!) Pete - dead easy, I just followed the gravel track plus Glyndwrs way waymarking!

Nobody likes a show-off Phil, you'll be telling us you did an extra 100km next … 

Shouldn't be long before the first tales from this weekend.

Sorry...
To be honest I was grasping at decent trails by that point. Plus I was following others tyre tracks...

[Alexinthepeaks]

[/quote]
Shouldn't be long before the first tales from this weekend.
[/quote]

I wonder if Rich G will be shelling out £50 to the air ambulance then?

[Valerio]

So since people are hopefully well into the event now, and occupied with keeping their feet warm rather than checking the forum, here's what I meant when I said that the GPS route was confusing/didn't make much sense in places.

The blue line is the route.
The brown line is a bridleway that exist both on maps and in real life.
The route kept taking us off the bridleway and into nothing.

I can't see how RoW has anything to do with the route in this (and others) sections considering we were on/off the same bridleway.

[whitestone]

Of those four differences I'm pretty sure I followed the actual route on the ground for the first and last but followed the GPX for the middle two. TBH I didn't see anything on the ground that resembled a path/track at those points but equally didn't see many tyre tracks on the GPX line either

[Richard G]

How was the weather? Anyone done a stupid quick time?

[redefined_cycles]

Steve and HuwR just posted up in Strava. 16.5 and 19.5 respectively (total times). Super quick in my books but I guess you'd call it slow

[redefined_cycles]

So since people are hopefully well into the event now, and occupied with keeping their feet warm rather than checking the forum, here's what I meant when I said that the GPS route was confusing/didn't make much sense in places.

The blue line is the route.
The brown line is a bridleway that exist both on maps and in real life.
The route kept taking us off the bridleway and into nothing.

I can't see how RoW has anything to do with the route in this (and others) sections considering we were on/off the same bridleway.

I'd be interested to find out too as to which is the official/intended route. I think Stu said above that in all cases there was a RoW on the ground. So maybe you were supposed to follow the bridleway in certain sections and 'other path' in certain ones. OS pics attached below as I may be able to clean up my gps depending on what Stu says


Other path?


Combination of 'other' leading to BW.


I assume we continue north here to take in the rest of the track

I notice sometimes that zooming in/out or switching between maps whilst drawing my routes, can end up changing the exact line I created.

[jay91]

Dnf for me .
Stuck front brake position not returning removed the pads and sprayed water on position but it wouldn't budge this was just before you turn for Llangurig
So rode Llanidloes for coffee Then taken Cycle route 8 back to the car arrived around 4pm
Still not a bad day out saw some different parts of hafren