Welsh Ride Thing 2011

[99percentchimp]

Day 1 of the "Welsh Ride Thing".
3 days of bikepacking in Mid-Wales in late May 2011 to give you a flavour of a very low key 'event' in the UK (as organised by s8tannorm of this forum) and a feel for the Welsh weather (all seasons in 1 day).

Welsh Ride Thing - Day 1

[annoying crack]

Looks nice. 

Now, tell us more about it!

[goldenboy]

bikepacking in Mid-Wales  (all seasons in 1 day).

I was thinking how lucky you were to have a whole day of sunshine until I saw that this is only day 1.  That is more like the UK I know. 

I did a 4 day bikepacking trip through the Breckon Beacons in Wales back in about '92.  It rained only once, but it lasted for two days.  Our 'nutrition' was a 2 litre bottles of hard cider and tins of heinz beans.  We made a lot of those trekking type 'mistakes' but we had a blast.

That ride looks great.  We could use something low key like that here Colorado. It seems the options for bikepacking are either a race or a solo trip.

Tell us more.

[s8tannorm]

All right Chimp.

The WRT isn't the easiest thing to define but I'll try to give you a brief outline. One month before the 'event' entrants are sent a list of grid reference points, these could be spread over an area of 200/250 square km. They then have the next month to work out a route which passes through as many of these points as possible (or they can be bothered with). The grid references do tend to be located in places which can be linked in numerous ways but always with one eye on some good riding ... and it has to be said, tough climbing at times too.

Riders set off around midday on Sat and return sometime Mon afternoon. The majority will carry whatever they need and spend Sat and Sun night out in the mountains (or pub beer garden!). You can ride solo, pairs or whatever size group you like, there's no prizes for getting back first or visiting the most reference points ... it's about riding and enjoyment. All money raised by the WRT gets donated to the Wales Air Ambulance charity, something which should be pretty close to any riders in the UK who venture off the beaten track.

Besides the WRT there's also the Bear Bones 200 (much more like a race) and Mach' N Back throughout the year. XXC Mag ran a feature on the WRT a couple of issues ago and I believe the next issue will have something about the Bear Bones 200. Anyone interested can keep up to speed with everything at www.bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk the forum there gets pretty busy too.

[99percentchimp]

Cheers Stu for that.
From a participants/riders point of view this event is great if you are not a racer, but like a challenge. As Stu says the grid references arrive by email and then it's a month of trying to lace together the best route and riding into a satisfying 'ronde', taking in some hike-a-bike sections, excellent downhills and pub stops too.
Once on the ground, over the weekend, the weather or rider mood frequently has a big say in the actual route. The reaction to these factors and the ground conditions leads to unplanned off-piste or re-routes, but ultimately Stu knows the area and puts some time into grid reference selection as a 'hint' to good riding.... works really well as an introduction to riding a new area and seems to be getting a fanatical following here in the UK.
It was a great opportunity for me to spend some time with an old friend doing the sort of thing we used to do a lot together (Alpine climbing etc.) and just meet new folks, discover another riding area and have a good laugh. I like the lack of competitive edge to it.... and most folk taking part are of a similar mind set.
Mark