I think my game plan was wrong from the start. I’d spent so
much time on kit choice and faffing that I failed to properly plan my weekend
and get my head into the right place for what should be a relaxed event.
That being said, the weather didn’t help. I set off on
Saturday morning with an excited knot in my stomach at the prospect of what lay
ahead. I knew that I’d probably packed too much food but wanted to cover all
bases with the knowledge that I could be completely self sufficient for the
weekend.
My hardtail bike was prepared and having been undecided on
whether to use a bivi bag and tarp or opt for a tent, I decided that with the
heavy rain that was forecast, a tent would offer a more relaxed experience and
give me sufficient shelter from the rain. There was a massive weight penalty
though of about 1.8kg because the only small tent I own is an old 2 person
backpacking tent. The only saving grace was that the tent fitted snugly,
strapped to the inside of my bike’s main triangle
After a nice and smooth journey, I arrived at Stu and Dee ’s place for the scheduled start. They live in a
lovely location and it’s hard not to be envious when you see the beautiful
surroundings. There were plenty of raffle prizes on offer (sadly, I didn’t win
any!) and bikes and kit were weighed. My stuff came in at a whopping 67lbs but
I was carrying 2 litres of water and enough food for a small army.
We were sent on our merry way and headed out into the hills.
I headed south and then east to the wind farm at Trannon. I’d been looking
forward to seeing the wind farm but the climb up to it with a fully laden bike
came as a shock. The remainder of the day was on gravel tracks and quiet roads
with a particularly nasty bridleway which turned out to be a midge infested bog
through the trees. I was immediately up to my calves which meant that my
waterproof boots were now full of water as they filled up from the top. It was
pretty unrideable so after all the hard work climbing, I had to drag the bike about
a mile downhill. The views were spectacular though and at times I felt in the
complete wilderness.
It was after the bog that I started pushing harder to reach Lake Vyrnwy
Just as I approached the turn off for the lake road, I met a
fellow rider who said that he’d heard of a farm further towards town where the
farmer allowed camping for £2. I was so tired at this point that anywhere would
have done so we headed straight there and were met by the farmer who allowed us
to fill our water bottles from the tap outside his kitchen before I pitched my
tent at the bottom of his field by a river. After cooking up some dinner and
fighting with the midges, it was time for bed.
It rained all night and at times I woke up cold but
fortunately, the tent stayed nice and dry. A wet start meant that everything
got packed away wet and by the time I set off again, my heart really wasn’t in
the ride. I started with the intention of a ride in the general direction of
the start with a café stop before camping again but after the first few miles,
I was struggling to warm up and knew that a wet night in the cold would be
miserable so I took the easy option of a road ride back to the start and headed
home for the night.
What did I learn?
Basically that mountain biking and bikepacking are two
different kettles of fish. My route was too ambitious in the wet (probably in
the dry too for that matter) and I should have scaled back my ambition sooner.
I need to relax and learn to enjoy these kind of things
rather than pushing on when the whole ethos of the event is to have fun and
enjoy it.
I think that next year, I will make sure I don’t ride alone
as company will make the whole thing more enjoyable. I think a few more
overnighters will help set me up into the right frame of mind to take things
easier.
Kit that worked:
My Montane fireball smock and featherlite trousers were
brilliant. The smock kept me nice and warm and boosted the rating of my
sleeping bag while the trousers just took the chill off my legs. I slipped on a
set of knee warmers underneath them as the evening got cooler.
The tent! Heavy in bikepacking terms but kept me nice and
dry and afforded me the luxury of a large dry area to relax and unwind.
Garmin Etrex Hcx – I use this all the time for hiking so
know how good it is. Meant that navigation was a doddle all weekend.
Alpkit dry bags. Everything stayed dry despite the downpour.
Kit that didn’t work:
Me.
Karrimor dry bag holding my first aid kit – FAIL!
A short camping mat - It would be unfair to say that the
Base 120 mat from Alpkit didn’t work because it was adequate to sleep on. The
only fail is that I opted for the short version which meant that my legs got
cold during the night but this is poor kit choice on my part. I’ll be looking
at alternatives in the near future.
Plan for next year:
Take less stuff!
I carried a lot of unnecessary clutter that I could have
done without. I had a big hang up about powering my phone and ipod so carried a
couple of spare phone batteries and a Vehu Pebble external battery pack. For 3+
days this might have been necessary but it was a bit OTT for what I did.
Carry less water. If I had a reliable filtration system like
a Travel Tap, I’d have more confidence for carrying less as there was plenty of
water laying around the place!
Carry less food. I was over cautious and carried too much.
Bike choice is open for debate next year too. Using a hard
tail mountain bike was fine but a bit of a slog on the road and arguably a bit
more than necessary for the predominant gravel tracks I was riding. I was glad
to have gears, especially as I got more tired so was pleased that I hadn’t got
round to converting the bike to singlespeed. I think with a set of wider tyres,
my Specialized Sirrus hybrid could have worked and would have been lighter and
more efficient. A few test rides off road will soon tell.
A better route choice with options to stop for food and more
realistic daily targets will make all the difference next year, plus I need to
learn to relax and enjoy the ride……..
