Just wondering how many are going to the Torq Rough Ride this year? Looks like Kington will be full of fun and games on the Saturday!

May have to stock up on essential fluids the night before 😉

looks like it may be quiet then ……………………

well some of us can’t help being a bit slow………. yes looking forward to it, but probably just a dat trip from Cheltenham for me

bonk ………… 🙂

Looks like there’ll be at least three of us there then.

I ‘m riding,with the old man ,both on black Santa Cruz’s.Hope the weather holds out.

Is this the old marin rough ride?

I’ll be there. My geared bike is out of action at the moment and won’t have a chance to fix it before weekend so will either be on a Dean singlespeed or a geared Dean cross bike. Always a good vibe at this event and it’s a nice day out in the hills. But, will this year be the first wet year for the event…? 8)

hmmmmm maybe was planning to camp with my missus and 6mth old son but weather may prevent us 🙁

No 🙁

Having to babysit for my sister now, so got her 3 kids, plus my own 2… for the weekend 😯

It won’t be quiet at the event (or my place).

Have fun.

Wasnt planning to originally, (Mrs at a blimmin Take that gig, and leaving me looking after the kids) However got a bit muddled up on the dates and it appears I’ll be riding if Enter on the day is still an option. Oill be mostly roiding a Red Spesh Epic, with my mate on a trek top fuel. Its a flipping tough event.
If the weathers decent its worth popping into town on the Saturday as theres a good atmosphere with the local wheelbarrow race and general village p**s up going on. We’ve stayed in the campsite in the village for the past couple of years.

🙂

I’m going 😀 really looking farward to it. Even though it knackered me late year 😛

Forecast could be better for Sunday!

75k for me

Been every year so far and despite the forecast looking forward to it 🙂

I’m in. Not sure which tyres yet though?

Choice of SB8’s (fly over everything but mud)
or Rubber Queens (grip anything but heavier and drag a bit on the flat)

Hmmmmm?

Let the late debate begin!

Conti Vert not good at anything then not bad at anything

Just play with pressures

Lazy choice

Ardent front and Larsen rear for me, although might bring a 2.4 NN cw wheel, just in case…

Schwalbe smart sams for me, At about 50 psi 😀

After today’s weather.. thinking it could be rather soggy up on the hills though 🙄

Rubber Queens are on. It’s gonna be wet.

forecast rain and rain, and cold; moors aren`t that wet though (live locally). Ardent on front 🙁 no way, last time did that with a 2.25 Ardent completely unsteerable, alongside Gwaunceste hill peaty trail, just went everywhere.
Using Maxxis HR 2.3 F, Adv 2.25 rear—lodsa weight but comfy

Thought of you all doing it! I have done it for the last 3 years, but couldn’t make it this time. Was out on Mendips at 8 in horizontal rain and thought it would be hard-going on RR!

At least you have an appropriate user-name 🙂

IT RAINED–about 30 mm at home a few miles away; it was also very cold, 5c on Gwaunceste. Just did short route as tracks were exceptionally slippery on all singletracks on the moors, sort of a liquid chocolate mix over hardpack, so went with discretion and survival instinct to cut to short route at Glascwm—still 2200m climbing by my altimeter watch !
Hope those injured were not too badly hurt, many spills seen.
Worst weather of all running of event (8 years now??)

Well……….. that didn’t go well! 😯

That has to be the most brutal ride I have done for many years! Hope all have got back ok, saw the guy down just before the halfway water stop. Hope you are ok fella! Heard tales of many down on the long route before it was closed, again I hope all are ok.

Many thanks to the organisers, marshalls and helpers along the route today, you looked as cold as I was. It couldn’t have been easy sorting that lot out today!

Still, the surreal wheelbarrow races Saturday evening just about made up for the weather.

Talk of a spinal injury by the paramedics, possibly being airlifted the last I heard, hopefully not too serious.At least one case of hypothermia(my riding buddy), pretty horrendous conditions all round, with many(including me) bailing at the feed station and heading back on the road.Hope all the casualties turn out ok.
Thanks too, to the good samaritan that lent us a dry fleece at the feed station, we left it with the organisers in the hope that you’d be back after us, cheers.

Respect to those that went for it. I do like this event, but no way in this weather. I’ve done them all except last year (son’s wedding is a fair excuse I think) and usually come back sunburnt 😳

What an epic!
I turned up at 9am to register on the day. It was pissing with rain then.
It rained the whole time apart from maybe 10 minutes.

The route went on and on and on. Endless steep climbs. The ground was really soggy so it sapped energy even on the flat.

For some reason I decided to do the long option. It was 3pm before I’d made it back to the point where the short and long recombine. By that time they were directing people onto the road. So I had a nice road ride back. It’s amazing how much faster it is riding on tarmac after soggy grass.

It was still worth it though.

I’ve knocked up a quick guess map and still make it around 47 miles.
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=52.2010667192551~-3.126839724641317&lvl=12&dir=0&sty=s&cid=3A5BB81993123281!338&form=LMLTCC

BigFoot MTB – This gives a good summary of what it was like (thanks to Bigfoot MTB for the report).

Big respect Tom for even trying the long route…

We all only did the short route, at the beginning 2 of us had planned the long route – but time/weather just went against us.

Ardent on front no way, last time did that with a 2.25 Ardent completely unsteerable, alongside Gwaunceste hill peaty trail, just went everywhere.

And the Ardent/Larsen combo was perfect – 20psi though

b r well done,
maybe my 35 psi was cause of problem on my Ardent (I have run it at 25 psi but felt it was draggy) ; but felt OK with my tyres too although at 35 psi (85 kg rider) maybe lower would have helped but might have increased floatiness. HR was quite drifty on some of that gloop

I swear by my tubeless tyres, but would have loved to have been handed an easy way to swap out my front mounted Crossmark yesterday! It was interesting handling to say the least… First time I’ve done it and thought it was a great event, in spite of the rain. I hope the guy that took the tumble is okay.

Intended to do the long loop,but after seeing the rain come down went for the short option,thank god !….It certainly sorted the men out from the boys,some great slippy descents & horrible draggy climbs,but tubeless Nic front & Ralph rear worked a treat….Was wishing I’d put the granny ring back on though…..

As above, hope that fella was ok,he looked in quite a bad way when I saw him..

Another to complete the short route only here. It was seriously wet (rain) and cold (sleet), the climbs felt longer and steeper than in previous years and it was seriously hard work 😯 Had a couple of comedy offs, one when the front wheel stopped dead in a bog throwing me into a double sideways roll in about 9″ peaty water 😳

All the marshals out on the route did an amazing job and must have been just as wet and probably colder than us riders, massive thanks to them. The route was great too, would be nice to ride it on a dry day and enjoy the views… 8)

Wifey and I camped on Saturday but chickened out of the ride on Sunday morning. The temperature thingy in the car said 8 degrees at about 9:30 and neither of us were kitted out for winter weather. I think we made the correct choice.

We did the short route too…pretty grim (but it’s a pretty grim course anyway imho).
I was amazed to see a pair of riders heading up to the start, one wearing football shorts and a cotton t-shirt, the other in shorts and a cotton sweatshirt…wonder how long they lasted?!

I agree with “brutal ride”.
I chickened out of the long route too.
Even the short was character building.Apart from a couple of lovely bits of singletrack,the friendly
stewards and the end of the ride , the highlight for me was wetting my pants on the way in to Kington – too cold to stop.

I saw a friendly young fella ,Pi$$pot helmet, footie shorts ,single layer & no mudguards! turn back to do the long route – he must have been freezing.mentalist – hope he finished ok.

BTW – hope the fella who was hurt makes a full & speedy recovery

I was talking to the lad in shorts & T shirt as we rode on Hergest, he said he was quite warm enough, maybe that changed by Gwaunceste. In full leggings and a buffalo type smock I was just warm enough, last ride I needed such kit was mid February 🙁

Usually camp but given I now live less than 2 hours away and it was forecast to be damp overnight I decided to drive over on Sunday morning. I registered about 9:00 and the usual queue for day entries was unusually quite but given the forecast I was not surprised.

The camp ground car park had already turned into a mud bath, the entry was a tricky of camber affair, but with my rallying skills I parked up and got ready, it was wet very wet, I was told some people had already left.

The start line was only about 10min riding from the car park; which was already sorting people, I saw riders deciding that retreat was better than valour. I was just having a age related moment before the start I was heckled by two Treads MTB chaps on a secret Trans Alps training ride, really nice to see you guys, then we were off…

… with a little light rain and gentle breeze the first hill was dispatched with ease, then the Rough Ride lived up to its name. The terrain was back breaking; there was fog/mist, torrential rain and strong winds. Puddles that went to the middle of the earth, wet grass, soft mud, liquid mud and hill lots of hills. Even riding on the flat was hard work.

I had contemplated the longer route but common sense and a lack of a man suit resulted in the decision to take the shorter route. By now I was fully wet, saved only by proper clothing, I rode on. Many were less than well prepared and they were falling by the way-side, with much walking and moaning.

Just before the long/short cut-off there was a steep descent towards a village, Glascwn I think, challenging and technical. About ½ way down a rider had come off, as I passed the scene paramedics had just got there, his mate looked to be in a bad way with a survival foil jacket on and the chap on the ground was un-conscious and white as a sheet. I was later told he was airlifted to hospital with a broken collar bone and spinal injuries.

The first water stop was like a scene from hell, people in all sorts of trouble, bikes all over the road. I saw a few riders in a tiny house with a old woman offering tea and shelter. Not wanting to get dragged down I pushed on, the feed station was at the top of a steep climb. Cake, flapjack and banana eaten I set of for the return journey. Thinking back there weren’t many riders; I learnt later that soon after they closed all off road trails as they had so many casualties the paramedics had reach capacity; I was told a figure of 30+ people being treated for hypothermia.

I found myself in a group of 5 slowly making our way around the route, no talking; I had massive respect for the others as it was tough. Arriving back at the first village of Gladestry there were riders making their way back on the road. By now the group of 5 had became me and one other, we set of the final hill on to the ridge and my companion succumbed to cramp, after checking he was ok I pushed on riding the last 4 mils alone, finishing in a time of just over 4 hours.

By the time I had got to the car I was very cold, so quickly got dressed and wolfed down a bowl of bean casserole, cake and coffee. I check that the chap with cramp had booked in and he had. I hung around waiting to see if the Treads chaps on a secret Trans Alps training ride had made it back, but the heavens opened, so I set of home.

Will I be back next year….