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One & a half times the length of Wales
Executive summary of my weekend: attempted to ride the length of Wales, twice (619km); packed in the end at 470km due to exhaustion. Bah.
The first stage was pretty good - my arse was complaining mightily (still not fully recovered from last week's Hailsham 400!) but I was going a decent speed (for me...) & arrived at the control with a couple of hrs in hand. Also decided that I rather like Welsh hills, as they may be long but they're gradual so 'just' a case of find appropriate gear & spin up, and importantly the descent is also gradual so it feels like you really get some benefit from the climb.
Second stage thankfully my bottom decided to stop whinging. Mostly this stage seemed to feature about 40k of headwind along whichever valley it was we were heading along. Another couple of cracking descents along the way, and we went past the Centre for Alternative Technology which I'm a member of - decided against stopping to say hello though! Oh yes, & it rained, & I put on my rainlegs (bizarre-looking half-trouser waterproof whatsits), & they worked. Did get a bit grumpy along the interminable headwind bit, but sat down for some sandwiches (& a brief chat with Garry-who-rides-a-bent as he came past) & cheered up again. Still making good time into the 2nd control.
I remember v little about the 3rd stage to Dolgellau, although was feeling a little tired on arrival into the youth hostel. Ah, yes, it involved the climb past Caer Idris, which went on for-bloody-ever, although was v impressive scenery-wise. Also the last 1.4k up the lane to the hostel is arguably the worst climb of the ride, even if it is very pretty (streams, forest, etc)! Out of veggie pasta when I arrived, so ate baked beans, half a plate of plain pasta, & some plain rice. Then off to Menai.
Navigational error here cost me 30min - missed the turn to the bridge & took the next one (& then compounded the error by not realising fast enough due to a misread of the route sheet. Still a bit cross with myself about this - I v rarely screw up the navigation). Eventually made it to the footbridge across the estuary, & the ride up along the coast was magical, with the sun slowly setting behind the sea & mountains, and the pace pretty good. Rounding a turn to see Harlech Castle suddenly appear was fantastic, made more so by the snowy owl who flew over just afterwards, carrying its dinner in its beak.
The climb through Llanberis Pass I actually found OK, although I was very slow. It really was just a case of find appropriate gear & keep the pedals going round. Stopped at the turn to Llanberis for flapjack & the stars were absolutely amazing. So beautiful. The descent from the pass was fun & caused me once again to praise the Solidlights! Got into Menai a bit later than anticipated, though, and pretty tired - tried to get a nap on the floor but wasn't really able to, and was feeling pretty rough on departure.
Menai to Dolgellau (80k) was fairly interminable... Also I slept in a ditch, which I believe entitles me to some sort of badge. (Riding along eyeing up bits of grass, I had a voice in the back of my head going "Juliet, not only are you considering sleeping in a ditch, but you are thinking of this prospect with active pleasure. Something Is Wrong With This Picture..." ). The last 40k or so was really very tough indeed, even after the sun rose (which I was hoping would help a bit!).
Arrived at Dolgellau at about 0730 intending to pack, and burst into tears (& sat down on the grass outside the hostel & had to be picked up again) all over Charlotte who was about to head out. Was convinced to have an hr's sleep & a shower & some breakfast & to keep going by her & the lovely woman helping out at the control (whose name I sadly don't know! She was great, and enormously encouraging). So got myself back out of the door just after 9 - but by now was on 13 hrs to ride 220 hilly k, which I'd find hard even if I was fresh :-\
Made it as far as Aberhapespf (sp?) but in a very bad state for much of that. I was 5min out of time on arrival at the control but the chaps running it stamped my brevet card anyway. Once again either in floods and/or trying not to be... Shovelled food in & called![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dogrando in "argh what should I do" state, decided to keep going again...
And then about 3k out of Newtown, it became blindingly obvious that there was no way I was ever going to make the time up (especially given that I knew the rest of the ride was hilly). I was exhausted to the point of uncontrollable tears & had been off & on since well before Dolgellau, & I was increasingly worried that I was just too tired to be safe on the bike. Tried all the usual tricks of getting through a bad patch but after 6 hrs of bad patch it is pretty hard to manage this.
So decided to pack, & due to difficulties with train services (thank you to Pete, doop, & my parents who coped with me in floods on the phone & looked up taxi numbers/trains for me!) ended up getting a very, very expensive taxi back to Chepstow (where I went to the hall to pick up my bag & chatted to various people - having had a nap in the taxi I probably looked OK by then compared to the state I was in at Newtown!). Bath at the hotel & then back to meet Charlotte, who did finish - & who did a fantastic ride, chapeau to her!
Of course, yesterday & today, after lots of time off the bike & 8 hrs sleep, I'm feeling better & thinking maybe I could have done it after all... I do on the other hand also remember how I felt when I packed, & I'm pretty sure it was the right call. 470k is further than I've ever ridden before, so still not a bad go.
What I've mostly taken away from this is that I just can't cope with sleep dep (it does, quite literally, make me cry - & I knew this already, it's always been true. Could never pull all-nighters even as a student, & I'm usually the first to leave clubs...). So I shan't be riding another 600 until I'm fast enough / enough of a climber that I can reasonably predict to get 3+ hrs sleep in the middle. However, I have been being told by several people that the BC is particularly hard, & on a regular 600k I would have been into the sleep control a lot faster. Plus I have just done 470k of hilly training! I'm not convinced atm about the speed thing, but I'm intending to ride a 200k in a fortnight, & see how fast I go. If I manage that in around the 11hr mark I'll consider the 3 Coasts 600k which would be the last PBP qualifier, if I still wanted to go to France.
Failing that, I'll ride some more 200s over the summer & have another bash at a 600k before the end of the season, for my SR series (200k, 300k, 400k, 600k in a season). France was always going to be a bit of a stretch for my first season anyway...
What I definitely *don't* want is a repeat of the sleep dep thing - not good for me, not fair on the folk who I wind up phoning in hysterics :-\dogrando, uon, & my parents were all absolutely splendid & very lovely indeed, I might add at this point!
ETA: photos.
The first stage was pretty good - my arse was complaining mightily (still not fully recovered from last week's Hailsham 400!) but I was going a decent speed (for me...) & arrived at the control with a couple of hrs in hand. Also decided that I rather like Welsh hills, as they may be long but they're gradual so 'just' a case of find appropriate gear & spin up, and importantly the descent is also gradual so it feels like you really get some benefit from the climb.
Second stage thankfully my bottom decided to stop whinging. Mostly this stage seemed to feature about 40k of headwind along whichever valley it was we were heading along. Another couple of cracking descents along the way, and we went past the Centre for Alternative Technology which I'm a member of - decided against stopping to say hello though! Oh yes, & it rained, & I put on my rainlegs (bizarre-looking half-trouser waterproof whatsits), & they worked. Did get a bit grumpy along the interminable headwind bit, but sat down for some sandwiches (& a brief chat with Garry-who-rides-a-bent as he came past) & cheered up again. Still making good time into the 2nd control.
I remember v little about the 3rd stage to Dolgellau, although was feeling a little tired on arrival into the youth hostel. Ah, yes, it involved the climb past Caer Idris, which went on for-bloody-ever, although was v impressive scenery-wise. Also the last 1.4k up the lane to the hostel is arguably the worst climb of the ride, even if it is very pretty (streams, forest, etc)! Out of veggie pasta when I arrived, so ate baked beans, half a plate of plain pasta, & some plain rice. Then off to Menai.
Navigational error here cost me 30min - missed the turn to the bridge & took the next one (& then compounded the error by not realising fast enough due to a misread of the route sheet. Still a bit cross with myself about this - I v rarely screw up the navigation). Eventually made it to the footbridge across the estuary, & the ride up along the coast was magical, with the sun slowly setting behind the sea & mountains, and the pace pretty good. Rounding a turn to see Harlech Castle suddenly appear was fantastic, made more so by the snowy owl who flew over just afterwards, carrying its dinner in its beak.
The climb through Llanberis Pass I actually found OK, although I was very slow. It really was just a case of find appropriate gear & keep the pedals going round. Stopped at the turn to Llanberis for flapjack & the stars were absolutely amazing. So beautiful. The descent from the pass was fun & caused me once again to praise the Solidlights! Got into Menai a bit later than anticipated, though, and pretty tired - tried to get a nap on the floor but wasn't really able to, and was feeling pretty rough on departure.
Menai to Dolgellau (80k) was fairly interminable... Also I slept in a ditch, which I believe entitles me to some sort of badge. (Riding along eyeing up bits of grass, I had a voice in the back of my head going "Juliet, not only are you considering sleeping in a ditch, but you are thinking of this prospect with active pleasure. Something Is Wrong With This Picture..." ). The last 40k or so was really very tough indeed, even after the sun rose (which I was hoping would help a bit!).
Arrived at Dolgellau at about 0730 intending to pack, and burst into tears (& sat down on the grass outside the hostel & had to be picked up again) all over Charlotte who was about to head out. Was convinced to have an hr's sleep & a shower & some breakfast & to keep going by her & the lovely woman helping out at the control (whose name I sadly don't know! She was great, and enormously encouraging). So got myself back out of the door just after 9 - but by now was on 13 hrs to ride 220 hilly k, which I'd find hard even if I was fresh :-\
Made it as far as Aberhapespf (sp?) but in a very bad state for much of that. I was 5min out of time on arrival at the control but the chaps running it stamped my brevet card anyway. Once again either in floods and/or trying not to be... Shovelled food in & called
dogrando in "argh what should I do" state, decided to keep going again...And then about 3k out of Newtown, it became blindingly obvious that there was no way I was ever going to make the time up (especially given that I knew the rest of the ride was hilly). I was exhausted to the point of uncontrollable tears & had been off & on since well before Dolgellau, & I was increasingly worried that I was just too tired to be safe on the bike. Tried all the usual tricks of getting through a bad patch but after 6 hrs of bad patch it is pretty hard to manage this.
So decided to pack, & due to difficulties with train services (thank you to Pete, doop, & my parents who coped with me in floods on the phone & looked up taxi numbers/trains for me!) ended up getting a very, very expensive taxi back to Chepstow (where I went to the hall to pick up my bag & chatted to various people - having had a nap in the taxi I probably looked OK by then compared to the state I was in at Newtown!). Bath at the hotel & then back to meet Charlotte, who did finish - & who did a fantastic ride, chapeau to her!
Of course, yesterday & today, after lots of time off the bike & 8 hrs sleep, I'm feeling better & thinking maybe I could have done it after all... I do on the other hand also remember how I felt when I packed, & I'm pretty sure it was the right call. 470k is further than I've ever ridden before, so still not a bad go.
What I've mostly taken away from this is that I just can't cope with sleep dep (it does, quite literally, make me cry - & I knew this already, it's always been true. Could never pull all-nighters even as a student, & I'm usually the first to leave clubs...). So I shan't be riding another 600 until I'm fast enough / enough of a climber that I can reasonably predict to get 3+ hrs sleep in the middle. However, I have been being told by several people that the BC is particularly hard, & on a regular 600k I would have been into the sleep control a lot faster. Plus I have just done 470k of hilly training! I'm not convinced atm about the speed thing, but I'm intending to ride a 200k in a fortnight, & see how fast I go. If I manage that in around the 11hr mark I'll consider the 3 Coasts 600k which would be the last PBP qualifier, if I still wanted to go to France.
Failing that, I'll ride some more 200s over the summer & have another bash at a 600k before the end of the season, for my SR series (200k, 300k, 400k, 600k in a season). France was always going to be a bit of a stretch for my first season anyway...
What I definitely *don't* want is a repeat of the sleep dep thing - not good for me, not fair on the folk who I wind up phoning in hysterics :-\
dogrando, uon, & my parents were all absolutely splendid & very lovely indeed, I might add at this point!ETA: photos.