Audax rides

Yr Elenydd Part Deux!

Will try and keep this fairly brief...

Leaving Tregaron the roads were covered in slush from the hail and snow, again the sun graced us with an appearance and we rolled along steaming roads towards Ysbyty Ystwyth. The next section was easily the high point of the ride, following the River Ystwyth in glorious sunshine we climbed through Hafod Forest and flew down the lanes towards Cwmystwth. At some point my jacket flew out of the elastic on my saddlebag, thankfully retrieved and returned by a rider from Saddleworth Clarion when I realised and stopped in the village.

Continuing to follow the river we rode along the edge of the valley, past the abandoned mining remains, before reaching the Elan valley and starting a series of stunning climbs.

Two riders had stopped for a picnic under Glan Fedwen, then sun was shining bright up the valley at this point and if I'd had more food I'd have probably joined them!

The road levels out until it crosses Monk's Trod and meets the hairpins featured in the scenic BCM. Dry roads meant a fast descent into Rhaydar and the 4th control. 12 hours down, 200km ridden, most of the climbing now out of the way. Several riders had opted for full meals, I didn't feel too hungry and a lack of cheese-free veggie options saw me getting toasted teacakes and a brew. The picnic-ing riders arrived as I finished eating and promptly order double Jamersons, leaving several riders pondering why they hadn't thought of that too!

As I went to refill bottles I saw Paul again and we went on to ride the remaining 100km together. The remainder of the ride was pretty straight forward, with easy navigation and gradual climbs to the penultimate control - Old Wheelwrights cafe. Opening late especially they served a choice of stews, pudding, hot drinks or cans of coke. The room itself was a little surreal, the lights dimmed as the kettle went on, they'd put dust covers on everything and had a stand full of wedding cakes on display...

Getting back on the bikes, the temperature had dropped to 0. Primaloft gloves went on and after an half an hour or so we started the final climb up Long Mynd. This helped generate a little heat, but didn't do much to help the final descent into Shrewsbury. I could feel the heat being sucked out of my feet as cleats started to freeze.

Rolled back into the village hall at 11:30pm. 17 1/2 hours out, just over 3 hours of that spent at the various controls. Handing cards in we received commemorative mugs, I promptly filled mine with hot Ribena! Several riders were sat with beers and tucking into plates of cottage pie or apple crumble, after a bit of a chat I ambled down to the tent, clambered into my sleeping bag and was asleep shortly after.

Woke early on Sunday and spent an hour or so wriggling around in my sleeping bag trying to muster the energy to get moving. The field had frosted over and there was a fair bit of ice on the tent outer,. Thankfully the sun was out early and this started to thaw. I was glad to have taken the tent rather than a bivvy. It kept me warm enough, despite the optimistic choice of sleeping bag, and dry. I packed my stuff back into the front panniers, had a quick chat with a few people loitering in the village hall (some tucking into leftover cottage pie for breakfast...) and eventually set off. I'd hurriedly plotted a route back to my parents on Friday, ~100km or so and relatively flat. Legs were a little grumpy to start with but soon got into the swing of it. My route back was pretty crap. The first chunk was on busy A-roads, a start contrast to Saturday's ride... despite the sunshine I began to lose interest in riding the whole way back, diverted to Crewe and hopped on a train. Still an extra 60km in the legs with some extra weight on the bike. Just short of 380km over the weekend in total.