Have done quite a few of these 1000+ mass start events and I’ve decided it’s well worth the effort of starting near the front and giving it some serious effort for the first half an hour or so, even if you are planning on taking the rest of it at a leisurely pace.
That way you get ahead of the traffic jams seen in those photos, makes a big difference to the day.

Did the Rough Ride a few times, and the above is key. Get up to the start line early, as in 30 mins before or so then ensure you work hard until you’re past the first climb.

Yeah, looks dreadful.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nyWsHe]DSC_1087[/url] by ir_bandito, on Flickr

See the look of utter disgust and unhappiness on my face?
No?
Oh, maybe I was thoroughly enjoying it then…. 😉

I’ve done the Dyfi twice (missed out this year due to illness) and I’ve never been stuck in a massive queue of riders at any point. It’s all down to how well you can rattle off the first climb to be honest, if you dawdle a bit I can see there being a bit of a problem along with all the other dawdlers. There’s plenty of time to recover from the initial effort on the first descent.

The comments about roadies are a bit condescending to be honest, imagine if over on road.cc there was a thread about all the bifters on these new Enduro bike things grinding their asses & chatting away up a climb with only one front ring and then having the audacity to complain that there all stuck together on the first non-climb.

I’ll wager there were more of these ‘roadies’ invariably riding their £10k carbon hard tails in the top 100 than there were run of the mill, everyday STW standard riders.

It was our first time,and everyone enjoyed it.
A big thanks to the organisers and Mach for being a great host.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MkvWDqp25E[/video]

This meant I got stuck by the roadie types mentioned above who seemed to stop in order to walk on the slightest rock.

Bit of a sweeping statement.

I’m mostly a MTBer, I ride a road bike too, I also rode in lycra at the Dyfi, but watching that video it looks very much like baggy short wearing MTBer that were making a right mess of that pretty simple descent.

My point is you cant expect to enter a 1000+ rider event and not get held up at some point. If you are at a MTB event then surely everyone around you is a MTBer? No matter what type of bike they ride the rest of the week?

I did exactly the opposite. Sat near the back chatting and enjoying myself. Then when everyone has thinned out after the first descent start crawling your way back up the ranks.
Its all about the chatting to random people on the climbs!

I found myself on my own for some bits. The back is definitely the place to be!

it’s rubbish, don’t bother, in fact it’s so crap it sells out in record time each year, crashes the servers, with organizers going to the effort of getting insurance sorted for the unexpected 200+ more entries made on the system that weren’t supposed to, a free bar on the course, evening/day/course entertainment, a beer tent & cafe, free camping, great relaxed atmosphere, music/DJ’s, not to mention bringing a whole community together unlike any other mtb race in the uk i can think of. in fact don’t enter, leave your space for me and my mates next year 😉

basically it’s like marmite – you either love it, or hate it. luckily me and my mates are all of the disposition of loving it