Welsh Ride Thing…..

placky bags over socks for river crossings 😉

Will be taking my normal Endura Waterproof and cycle spares, haven't included them in the above as I would be carrying them anyway.

well if your not counting tools and spares, I'M ULTRALIGHT!!!!
get in there my son. 😀

i wish my crocs weren't radio active orange!!

i doubt anybody cares what colour they are. you'll be able to see them float down stream on a river crossing.

After a month of planning everything seems in such a rush. Tonight, two new tyres fitted (tubeless), wash and reproof my waterproof. 20t sprocket turned up nice and promptly, but still need to fit it. The highlight of the evening was Beth finishing my frame bag:

Tomorrow: pack, clean bike, fit sprocket, adjust chain, sort out maps, buy midge repellant, chocolate coated coffee beans, fill hip flask… can't decide between the 10yr Ardbeg or the 21 yr Glengoyne…

clicky linky for inspiration/humbling

http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/200808/great-divide-bike-race-1.html

Indeed, I believe the GDR was the inspiration for the WRT. Scale is somewhat smaller, but you've got to start somewhere 😉

Talking of the GDR, the movie SSP hoped to view has been delayed bya bout a week due to production problems. Seems like he will be packing listening to Nicky Campbell on the R5 phone-in;-)

Got most of my stuff together but not packed – hope it all goes in! Can't decide on full or light weight watrerproof top. And still keep changing my mind on the route. A couple of controls are on or near the Cambrian Way but my original preferred anti clockwise route took them in reverse i.e. Llangurig control to no 11 in the woods. I know there is a track there but not shown on my 1:25,000. Feel I may stand a chance in the right direction but in reverse could be a lottery.

So much fun to be had with a simple set of maps and some numbers 😀

Final shakedown ride on my commute this morning. Pretty much everything here, excluding tent poles and water filter. 13lb extra weight on the bike.

Handled ok. need an extra stabilisation strap on the front bag, it can bounce around on bigger bumps.

apologies for crap phone pic.

tent poles

ooooh fancy camping 😉

How many litres is that front dry bag … looks a whopper 😉

Ready – test ride today and bottle on cross bar didnt work, kept slipping round. 3 litre bladder in bag instead of 2 now. Going to need a new back at the end 😈 See you for dinner or at the start 😀

So where does the big orange Alpkit dry bag go? On you or the bike?

on my back 😐 Not as much stuff in it as last years C2C probably just over half of the bag full as packed well but a lot of weight with the 3 litre bladder in there.

trying to minimise stuff on my back, hate riding with heavy rucksacks, really knackering.

Yup i'm camping. tent's only single skin though and quite light and new, so must be tested.

Dry bag on the front is a 20l, I suppose I could have manned up and got everything in 2 13l bags, but I've got em now and it's too late. weight is reasonable so should be fine.

's gonna be a great weekend.

😀

2 bags on the front survived the back garden wheelie test well.
If it doesn't work well I can always put them on my back as the rucksack will only have water and a couple of changes of cycling clothes as the Carradice saddle bag is ace and holds loads

GPS's are cheating aren't they? 😉

Only if you use them to get unlost 😆

They're handy for logging the ride, and I'll be using one in conjunction with paper maps attached to a map board.

—

All these pictures of bikes are doing my head in – I'm stuck at work, the sun is shining and I'm itching to get home to sort all my stuff out!

To those who have ordered food.

On route to tonights ride I'll phone Tracey at the pub on 01686 420210

with the order of

5 Lasange
3 Sausage & Mash
1 Large Jacket spud.

11.30 arrival time.

If you want to join us phone her yourself ;-p

Good work fellas, it's good to see mountain bikes that are about to do just that, ie go into the mountains.

Judging by the pictures Nick at AlpKit shout be made up with the amount of sales he's had 😉

Just come from Alpkit, warehouse is like a desert! Managed to liberate a down gilet that they thought they had sold out of though. Now where do I put that?

Hope you got my message JohnClimber with two lasange?

Not finished plotting yet, no matter packing! Sure it will all come together!

Map? Packing?

I've just spent this evening rebuilding my rear wheel after the hub failed, and Lukes been busy servicing his forks.

I'm sure it'll all come together tomorrow night. See you all there.

OK, I'm ready now 🙂

The bike and gear weighs 30.2lbs all up. Bike weighs about 20.5-21lbs on it's own. Rucksack has a few bits of food, waterproof, camera, water.

No Alpkit stuff though, sorry.

The bike and gear weighs 30.2lbs all up

i'm sorry but stu needs to add some ballast to obsessive freaks like you. 😯

Yes trio

I've just emailed them the following

7 x Lasagne with salad and garlic bread
3 x Saus n mash
1 x (Large) jacket potato topped with tuna and ham

Please make sure you turn up around 11.30am on Saturday
Please make sure you remember what you ordered.
Please make sure you pay for your own food.
Please turn up as the rest of us don't want to pay for your food.

See you on Saturday in the pub.

PS Should we just stop there until Monday?

This time tomorrow most of us will be on route to the start.

Must double check my stuff

Ian – that's a beautifully neat set up. Very impressed. very nice bike as well.

after the comments yesterday about the size of my front bag, I completely repacked last night, removed a few items I now think are unnecessary so now running the 13l on the front and a half full 20l on the rear… My wife thinks i've gone all OCD about it…… 😉

Slightly worried that IanB seems to have one of those flip over calenders on his bars. Or is it a book to read whilst pushing 😳 It is only 3 days isn't it? I'm just taking OS 147 & 135 and a good memory.

My wife thinks i've gone all OCD about it……

i've been OCD about it since last year and i'm nowhere near finished yet. 🙄

I've printed all the maps out in landscape, then found that I can't fit them on my bars with my gps, so will have to reprint 20 pages of route again tonight in portrait, still it gives me a backup set in case the first lot get wet…

just fold them in half

I had thought of that, could make a smaller map board too, think a spare set of maps might still be a good idea

If you've got the room then spares might not be a bad idea … it's a big area to get lost in.

Even I'm starting to get a little excited now, which is odd because;

1- I'm not going.

2- I don't do excited.

Still thinking about the route – maps are great though… And which waterproof.

And to quote the Pointer Sisters (possibly a first on the forum) 'I'm so excited'

Ian – that's a beautifully neat set up. Very impressed. very nice bike as well…[snip]…My wife thinks i've gone all OCD about it…

Thanks. OCD? Remember the 5 P's – proper preparation prevents pi$$ poor performance.

Slightly worried that IanB seems to have one of those flip over calenders on his bars. Or is it a book to read whilst pushing It is only 3 days isn't it? I'm just taking OS 147 135 and a good memory.

I have 5x A5 laminated maps, double-sided. I must admit, they look bigger on the bike than I thought they would be. There are sections I'll be able to do without the map, namely the Doethie section, Twyi Forest, Claerwen and up to Nant Rhys, but I still need to take them just in case. I originally printed the maps in Tracklogs, landscape at 1:60000 scale, but I might redo them A6 to stop them from flapping about on the map board..

It is only 3 days isn't it?

That also occurred to me last night when packing. I'm only out for two days, one night! With the exception of needing to stock up for food and fuel, and taking a spare pair of shorts, I could go for a week with the above set up.

that's 6 Ps

That illustrates my point perfectly – you try and do something in a hurry and look what happens… 🙄

I am gutted because I've had pull out due to illness. I had been looking forward to this all year, according to Stuart I was first to reply with the entry form, so really p!$$ed I am going miss it. Oh well there is always next year.
Hope all of you doing the event have a great time and hopefully may be we may meet next year.

I'm going now before the tears start filling the keyboard up.

Rob

Rob, don't know you but sorry to see you are missing out at the last minute.

Last year I could not do it on the weekend because I was already booked to be somewhere else – so I went a couple of months later and did it on my own. Still a great experience – saw hardly a soul – not even other smelly bikers!