Dragon ride - Name the hills for me!

n+1

Hi,

I'm doing the dragon Gran Fondo on sunday, and not really knowing the area I don't know which peaks on the elevation chart have which names (eg Rhigos, Bwlch etc), can someone put some words around it for me?

I'm particularly interested in the two big peaks shortly after the start, and the steep one around the 85 - 90km mark, also the last biggy that peaks just before 250km mark, any others I should be looking out for?

Cheers

ManOfKent

If you're doing the Gran Fondo not the Dragon Devil there's no 250km mark! That last big hill is Black Mountain, which I've only ever approached from the south, but from what I remember of the descent it should be a fairly hard climb.

The first (summit 30km) is Bwlch, a long climb that becomes quite exposed towards the top. Next is Rhigos, which I've never climbed from that side but from memory it's similar in gradient to the top half of the Bwlch. The Devil's Elbow, up to 33% on the hairpin, is at 90km. The next longish climb after that is up to Cray reservoir at 130km - not too bad.

The section between Sennybridge (140km) and Llangadog (230km long, 160km GF) I've never ridden but the organisers must think it adds something (suffering, probably). If you're doing the GF you'll probably be glad of the shortcut! My guess is that the Devil's Staircase mentioned on the ride website is the needle-like peak at 185km or so.

There used to be a long descent off the last hill but now you'll have to work (and brave Neath) in those last few miles. Enjoy!

swcr

The most famous mountains on the Dragon ride (in no particular order,) are the Rhigos Mountain, Bwlch Mountain, Devil's Elbow and The Black Mountain. (PM me and I'll send you more info and links to recently filmed descent videos.)

The main thing to remember is that unless you're familiar with these mountains, and/or live in other parts of the UK with similar terrain, these mountains often catch new Dragon riders out. Either because of their length (the Rhigos climb from Glynneath, up to Rhigos village and then up to the summit of the pass at almost 600 meters,) is 7.5 miles in length!!!

The other thing you'll see a lot of is people who haven't brought the right gears for the ride. For a fit 'club cyclist' I'd recommend a 34 x 28 at least with many riders going as big as a 30 tooth rear sprocket.

Finally, if you're not used to these mountains (and their often technical descents,) please please take care as the carnage on the Dragon ride in 2013 was almost enough to put me off completely. Too many riders who weren't familiar with these mountains, were attempting to 'race' down the descents and there were many nasty offs.

Good luck with the ride. I did it last year and it was superb, probably one of my 2013 highlights (after my trip to the alps of course!.)

Cheers,

Nic

Toks

Hi Nic, can you not post the links for the rest of us Dragon Riders? Thanks in adavance for the advice

n+1

Thanks all, good info and feeling happy that I've fitted a 30-12 on the back!

drlodge

So I guess carbon wheels are not advised then

swcr

Here you go Toks:

Rhigos Mountain Descent:

http://southwalescyclerides.co.uk/rhigo ... -sportive/

Bwlch Mountain Descent:
http://southwalescyclerides.co.uk/bwlch ... -wales-uk/

Black Mountain Descent:
http://southwalescyclerides.co.uk/the-b ... -sportive/

Waiting for some good weather before getting out to the Devil's Elbow and a few others, but will be adding them soon.

Let's hope this Sunday's weather is as good for the Dragon ride as it was last year.

Have a good one all.

Nic
http://www.southwalescyclerides.co.uk/

Strith

Devils elbow is the only climb that's really steep, but it's short. Most people suffer on that one mainly because they're knackered by the time they get there. There were loads walking up it last year.
The rest of the climbs are not steep so you can just spin your way up. It's a nice route anyway.