Merlin Ride..

Phill Thom

Just a quick mention about the Merlin ride today..Start point was the picturesque Botanical gardens in Carmarthenshire.. What a fantastic ride, beautiful scenery, taking in the Black mountains, which had a descent which looked like something out of the TDF..104 miles of absolute breathtaking views.. It was hard tho and had a few brutal climbs along the way..Just wanted to say what a well run event it was, very relaxed and the stewards were great, stopping traffic at nasty junctions... A+ event, cant wait for next year..

Swansea_Dave

I completely agree, a very tough 104 miles and great scenery. I really had a ball today.

Stewards were very good indeed. Could have done with a few more direction signs though. There were a lot of riders on the road for the first 50 miles before the turning for the 70 mile route, then the last 50 miles was a solo exercise with navigation using The Force in some places.

Great event overall.

bendertherobot

I am very very flatulent following this ride. Moreso than any other.

Twas great though. Maxed out at 48.5 mph. Unfortunately what goes down, must go up, and up, and up, and up.

jonsi

+1

A glorious day for a ride with glorious scenery. Plenty of time to look at the scenery as you're going uphill!!

jackfeeder

Agree as well, superb route. Some of those climbs went on for bl##dy ages. 104mile route was tough.
I also thought the marshalling was excellent, the organisation was much better than the last time I did it 2 years ago.
The section between 60-80miles was really hard in the heat today.
Only a couple of things,maybe a few more things at the feed stations and at the stop at the bottom of Black Mtn could do with a couple of portaloos.
Got taken out halfway up Black Mtn by a rider in front going down, lucky with my fall onto the rubble at the side of the road, no damage to me or the bike...phew.
I would encourage anyone to have a crack at this, you would reallly enjoy it.
We have some great event in Wales at the moment - Preseli Angel, Tour of Pembrokeshire, Merlin Ride, Tour of The Black Mountains - just superb riding........as long as it doesn't p#ss down.
What time did you do today?
I've looked at the 104mile results and surely a lot of the quick times were for the 70mile route?

ynyswen24

I'd agree that the day was a great one and that the organisation was much improved over last year, no complaints whatsoever. The marshalls and police were great and the feed stops were fine by me, plenty of basic but good food and drink.
I've done it every year - though I always baulk at the turn for the long ride and do the 70 - and this was the first time that the ride has had the weather it deserves. The view up the Black Mountain as you turn the left hander and get the view all the way to the top is good on any day but was especially so today with so many riders. And the view north from the top is as good as any. There were even marshalls to warn of some loose chippings on a resurfaced section on the way down.
Some of the quick times are maybe down to riders doing shorter rides than they registered for (certainly the case for a mate who did the 57 rather than the 70...) but that'll be a matter of honour for them to 'fess up to Phil Edwards.
There was a good mix of 'serious' and 'fun' riders and a good number of women riders as well. Good on Peter and Sandra at County Cycles for putting it all together.