We left all 4 bikes unlocked out side a pub while getting fed and merry, then next to us in the field nearby while we slept.

They weren't nicked, maybe it was the sheep shit camouflage hiding them.

John, were you one of the group in the Teifi Inn on Saturday night, the chef was telling us you were still up and about at 2 o'clock, he reckoned you were steaming. Nice pub isn't it?

Not us, on Saturday it was a damp forest bothy for us lot.

Sunday saw us at the Blue Bell at Langurig. After 2 days of riding and 2 or 3 beers we were merry but not pi$$ed. We made camp before dark 3 miles away from the pub.

Nah that was us, fantastic bloke, sold us a load of bacon and eggs for breakfast and let two of us sleep in his shed and the other two put their tent up on the kids play-area. We weren't completely trashed but it took us a while to get moving in the morning 🙂

And after a few pints some of us slept like a log 😉

And some of us had to listen to you snore all bloody night long 👿

Fantastic weekend

Thanks to Stu and Dee for organising Thanks to the Shropshire lads for the chain oil and thanks to Duncan for the guide over the Monks Trod, wish we had continued with you through the forest instead of the road

Whole new way of riding opened up to me now

At the risk of sounding like I've just been presented with an Oscar, I have a few thanks:

Stuart and Dee:- For organising the best cycling event I have ever taken part in. It was a fantastic adventure, I loved the relaxed (Get out of it what you like) format and the route took you through absolutely stunning and for me previously undiscovered part of the country.

Matthew (Chew) and Luke for motivating me on the climbs, allowing me to use my brakes less on the downhills and for the company. This also applies to the group of 4 that I rode with from Devils bridge to Nantsyddion.

JohnClimber for the local knowledge, Checkpoint 12 ticked off without incident 😉

Mozzies and midges for going away for the weekend.

Trivia:
12 checkpoints gained
150 miles covered
16,380ft climbing
Approx 23 hours in the saddle
10,813 Kcals burnt
1 stripy badger tan on my head due to forgetting to apply sun lotion 😆

Night1 🙁

Absolute luxury

I am still on a high from the ride even though I can barely climb the stairs and have already started thinking about how I can shed a few kilos of my kit for next year…..bring it on….I think my wheels may be bigger by then!

Nice shots! Camp 1 doesn't look too bad!

alfachippy – your directions you gave us on Monday morning were spot on, we were close to dropping 10 and 12 after the horror stories we had been told by other riders who had come through that way on Saturday, as it was we had a great ride back, don't think we thanked you properly at the finish

Teifi Inn on Saturday night, the chef was telling us you were still up and about at 2 o'clock, he reckoned you were steaming

we were involved in that too.

we'd had a few but steaming isn't quite fair!! we still managed to ride another few KM before getting setting camp.

How many people were in Claerddu on Sunday night then?

Was just two of us on Saturday, though I did keep the fire in 'til late as blackhound was under the impression the Nick & Co. were coming back up after the pub.

alfachippy – nice looking bivvy set up there. Where did you camp on Saturday?

I arrived at 5.30 cooked and then sat around bemoaning not having brought anything to read or listen to. At about 9, just as I was giving up on seeing anybody, 3 more arrived (over active knife etc) having come from a direction I didn't think was possible to ride. Then Chew,Luke and Alfachippy turned up, the 3 Shropshire guys and about 11.00 2 more so I ended up moving 12 bikes out of the place in the morning so we could get going, mine being the closest to the wall. It was cosy 😀 Doing Monks Trod at 7.30 in the morning clear and sunny was one of the best memories of the weekend.

Just a thought, Claerddu is run by the Elan Trust, given it's facilities, quality and obvious lack of neglect, those who stayed there might consider sending them a donation. I'm thinking of moving there permanently!
Here they are

I must admit I was getting a bit lonely before blackhound turned up on Saturday evening.

You're right – something of a donation to EVT is probably appropriate. Couldn't get the lights to work though – gas bottle was empty I think. However, I was impressed by the carton of fresh orange juice and the pint of milk still in date on the side…

Monks Trod – highlight of the weekend for me too. Wind on my back, sun out – beautiful.

It was a bit complicated as there was a master tap in the kitchen and outside on the bottles and the individual pipes had small taps as well, gave me something to do, by the time everyone else arrived I had the fire on, cooker going, water heater sorted so it was home from home. I'd forgotten how nice gas lighting was, took me back to caravanning as a kid before the days of electric hookups.

I found the master tap in the kitchen and considered the possibility of there being a tap on the gas bottle, but as it was 8pm when I arrived and I needed to eat, I had to weigh up the possibility of not managing to get the lights to work, and the consequence of cooking in the dark. So, I just got the fire going and cooked my dinner.

Bit of a delay post but here goes for the travels of Thomthumb and I.

Time start: Sat 2.30pm
Distance: 194km
Ascent: 6194m
Travelling time: 17h 12m
Beers consumed: 12 pints
Flapjacks consumed: lost count
Checkpoints visited: Quite a few
Gears: more than 1
Time finish: 7.00pm Monday

Thanks to Stu and Dee for a cracking weekend. It was one of the best weekends riding, period. Even though it has been a few days after the post-ride grin is still there!

Hello to the Shropshire lads from the Teifi Arms. Thanks to the landlord at the Teifi for persuading us to go into the Teifi Arms instead of the Red Lion Hotel down the road. I don’t think the Red Lion would have stayed open till 2am!

Bog of doom on Saturday. Futile effort to keep feet dry.

Bivy spot for Saturday night. We woke up to find that we bivied in the middle of a fly tipping site, great…

Doethie valley

Climbing up the hill of despair. We could have gone round on the road if we had looked at the map, instead it was hike a bike up a 500m+ hill following a bridleway that didn't exist. It was midday on Monday, and it took 2 hours to climb up the hill and walk down the other side (too steep to ride down).

Where is everyone?

Stu and Dee made us cups of tea and offered us choccy biscuits on our return at 7pm (cheers guys!). Will definitely be back again next year!

alfachippy – your directions you gave us on Monday morning were spot on,

Just caught up with this…its pistonbroke you need to thank, I just relayed to you the directions he gave me! Sorry pistonbroke, I got my alias' muddled up in me spiel earlier.

alfachippy – nice looking bivvy set up there. Where did you camp on Saturday?

This was in a camp field in Tyllwyd. I had got the checkpoint in Llangurig and headed west over the hill to the next checkpoint but the conditions got really bad with visibility reduced to 20m or so combined with a complete lack of the bridleway that was on the map added up to me taking over 2 hours to cover 3 miles. Wet, cold, no visibility I knocked Monks Trod on the head and instead headed downhill on the road towards Cwmystwyth. As I descended what must be a lovely road on a good day the fog began to clear and there in front of me was the campfield!