Wales In A Day

desweller

Anyone doing this? Wondering how the bigger climbs compare to the Tumble...?

bikergirl17

I've cycled the portion from hay on Wye to Chepstow - and it isn't particularly challenging.

The only climb - spectacular at the top & my favourite in the UK - is the gospel pass. Not any harder than the tumble - but I wouldn't qualify the tumble as "hard" as it is totally sit & spin-able. The gospel pass southbound has a c10% gradient section like the tumble in the middle and then levels off a bit. The top is flat with one mini bump.

The descent may be hairy if a lot of people ... it is single track & can be very gritty and even flooded if it has rained a lot plus there's spots where you can't see cars coming & there's literally no passing space. I rode it yesterday in the rain & I would not want to descend it on a sportive if the cycling is as dangerously out of control as on my commute home today in London.

They are, oddly, skipping the flat B road to usk & taking a somewhat more rolling road. There will be a climb into Chepstow but it looks like they are skipping the more "challenging" one - star hill - and daevedon (I didn't spell that properly!) - which also was annoyingly steep but short.

It seems a shame to me to race across Wales as it is so beautiful. There's several audaxes in the area too ... You have to self support but you can take it a little more leisurely.

desweller

Thanks for replying!

It won't be a 'race'. Looking to enjoy the ride, so although there's feed stops I imagine we (by which I mean me and my two companions) will probably stop for sarnies and photo ops if we can. Unless it's lashing down (it is Wales, after all), in which case we'll have to keep the speed up to avoid getting cold.

I found the Tumble more grindy than spinny, but I'm hoping that was because my gearing was a wee bit too tall at the time (36x28); I'll be riding Gospel Pass and the Tumble at the end of next week in training with a shorter chainring (34) so hopefully I'll find it a bit easier.

I think it's only 300 riders, and they will be well spaced out by the time we reach the Brecons so no worries over a crowded descent. I've ridden to Hay from the south so I know how narrow and grotty it can be.

gethinceri

They are not The "Brecons", they are The Beacons.

desweller

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19651984#p19651984]Gethinceri[/url] wrote:

They are not The "Brecons", they are The Beacons.

Of course. I stand corrected! What do you think of the course?

bikergirl17

I looked at route again & it seems to follow ncn 42. it is already signed so easy to recee

prb007

One month to go - how is everyone's training going for this one?
Proper sh!tting myself, one month out, hoping to get my first 100 in on BH monday or poss. Wednesday next week, weather dependent.
Been riding to a heart rate, rather than a speed, biggest rides thus far, this year were a 93 miler from Siena- Viterbo in Italy in June and a lumpy 85 ending with the Rhigos and Bwlch climbs two weeks ago.
I'm no spring chicken at 51, so have been using a HRM for the first time in ages...keeping to 125BPM on the flat, and not getting over 150 on the climbs, sees me averaging 15mph, which I'd be more than happy with for Wales in a Day!
Three of us mates, doing it, staying in the Premier Inn, hoping for a 5am start, hoping to reach Chepstow at/around 7pm, hopefully avoiding the dark at the end of the day and get to the pub to watch Wales gloriously defeat England in the RWC

gethinceri

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19652031#p19652031]DesWeller[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19651984#p19651984]Gethinceri[/url] wrote:

They are not The "Brecons", they are The Beacons.

Of course. I stand corrected! What do you think of the course?

Sorry, I failed to reply to this.....the Gospel Pass is a cracking climb, from either side, I need 34/29 with my weedy little legs for some parts of it but it,s doable with higher gearing than that. The descent is a helter-skelter and I advise anyone to err on the side of caution especially if it is damp or there has been a heavy downpour because debris will fill the road, also sheep pooh is quite common there, too.

Enjoy.

desweller

Thanks Geth.

Before last weekend I'd gone up to the Hay Bluff from the other side (although it was a few years ago now), so I knew it was not the easiest descent.

I did go up Gospel Pass last weekend but for various reasons didn't start on the Forest Road until 11:45PM (!). Did take me quite a long time, but it was at the end of a difficult day's riding that started at 7:00 that morning, so was pretty knackered.

prb007, training's going well for us, all ready for your 100 miles tomorrow?

prb007

Des...still not done a 100 yet, hoping to get it done this week, on this course...https://www.strava.com/routes/3232479

desweller

That looks nice and bumpy! Good luck. Are your two partners experience in this type of event (e.g. audax)?

prb007

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19696582#p19696582]DesWeller[/url] wrote:

That looks nice and bumpy! Good luck. Are your two partners experience in this type of event (e.g. audax)?

apologies for the late reply - BR no longer pings me when my posts have activity??
No - my two mates are not especially experienced in monster rides of this nature; one did Ironman Wales 3 or 4 years back and is on a par with my fitness level (hopefully good enough to complete WiaD), the other has several long, multi-day tours under his belt over the last few years, but has let his fitness slip over the last few months!
Only two weeks to go, now, and we did this; https://www.strava.com/activities/389297215 , last Thurs. in the nice weather, but 5 days of sh!te forecast now, so time to break out the wet weather gear if we are to do much more training.
The ride (above) was completed at a comfortable 14.2mph, so if we dip below the 14mph for WiaD, I'm still hoping for a 5am start and a finish at/around 19.00hrs in Chepstow to watch Wales v England in the RWC and get pleasantly pi$$ed on four pints or so! (been off the beer for a month!)

prb007

Last big ride, yesterday, before tapering off training and fitting a few new bits to the bike - it's taken a hammering, of late!
https://www.strava.com/activities/394918088

desweller

Nice one Pete. That's good speed.

We've been trying to stick to ~100ft/mile on our rides to emulate the climbing rate of the event, so we're expecting to do roughly 12 to 13mph overall average (i.e. including stops) based on those rides. One of our party had never even ridden 100 miles in one ride before he started training for this.

There's some crazy talk floating round of riding back to Gloucester from Chepstow but we'll see how we feel on the day.

prb007

https://www.strava.com/activities/401168085

I was WAY off with my 15mph and 7 o'clock finish, finished after 10pm :oops:
I was more accurate with my prediction for the RWC, though
Ride was just awesome, by far the hardest thing I've ever done on two wheels.
Pre-dawn and post-sunset riding was a new experience for me - over those kinds of
distances, anyway, the weather was tremendous, if a little chilly in the am - my Garmin showed 0degC
at/around 7am!
Well signed, marshalled, organised and run and I can whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone
in search of the hardest Sportive in the UK and a proper challenge;
300k long, 4400m of climbing, and some of the best scenery that God's country has to offer!

kelliano

Nicely done

vorsprung

The Bryan Chapman does a similar kind of thing but goes on a route west of the "Wales in a Day", after Abergavenny it goes Elan Valley/ Machynlleth / Harlech / Beddgelert / Llanberis

Then it doubles back to a YHA in Dolgellau, quick kip and day two is riding back again via Newtown