Final preparations……

The Welsh Ride Thing is finally upon us and months of preparation have come to an end. Lately, I’ve been doing very little on the bike but have been getting out for more and more walks, which now means that a couple of the guys are taking great pleasure in calling me Rambler Dan and liking me to every person we see with a rucksack.
Last week, I went rock climbing with Hatt Adventures. It’s the first time I’ve ever tried it and I found that it was really enjoyable but very tough. I’d certainly like to do it again sometime but think I will do a few indoor bouldering sessions before I do another outdoor course. I certainly won’t be buying any kit though as I’ve spent enough already this year!

As the course was at Harrison’s Rocks in the middle of the woods, I decided that it would be good to test my bivvying gear prior to the WRT. Last week was especially hot and sticky but I managed to find a good spot and set up camp. The tarp was a struggle and as rain wasn’t forecast, I decided to ditch it and just sleep in the bivvy bag. After an hour of mozzies buzzing around my head (I’d forgotten the head net and mozzie spray), I decided that I’d had enough and got the pop-up tent out of the car which meant I had a better night sleep. The mat was as uncomfortable as I’d expected but my lightweight sleeping bag was ok, if a little chilly in the morning, which resulted on me adding a fleece around 6am.

I hadn’t appreciated just how bad I’d been bitten and by Friday night, one of my legs had ballooned. The doctor said I had a blood infection and so I’ve spend the last week on antibiotics, which in turn kept me off work as they’re a pretty strong dosage and upset my body a fair bit!

Anyway, so I’m all set for the weekend but it looks like it’s going to be a rainy one. I’m torn between using the bivvy and putting up with the rain and midges or whether to use my 2 person backpacking tent. It means a 1.4kg weight penalty but I know I’ll be more comfortable and happier in it, which will make the weekend more enjoyable.

I think unless the forecast drastically changes, I’ll opt for the tent. My route is all planned. I hope to cover approximately 100 miles over the 3 days but there are bail out points if I struggle. Having no knowledge of the area, I don’t know the kind of ground I’ll be covering so if it’s particularly boggy, I may struggle. I guess that’s why it’s so much of an adventure.

Precaution wise, I’ve set up Buddy Beacon so that I can be tracked as and when I have mobile signal and I’ll be carrying a good old map and compass as backup.

So my final(ish) kit list is:

Shelter/Sleep:
Eurohike Backpacker 210 tent or Rab Storm Bivvy and silnylon tarp.
Alpkit Base 120 mat
Lifeventure Downlight 600 sleeping bag
Exped pillow

Cooking/Food/Water:
MSR Pocket Rocket stove
125g gas canister
Lifeventure Ti Mug
Blacks solo panset
Spork
Lhoon (long handled ti spoon)
Lighter
Fire steel
1L camelback bladder
750ml bottle
Chlorine dioxide purification tablets
2 x dehydrated meals
1 x instant porridge
8 x brioche/raison roll/waffle (selection of for breakfasts/snacks)
5 x pepperami
1 packet cheese crackers
Cereal bars
Banana chips
Coffee sachets
Horlicks sachets
High 5 Zero electrolyte tablets

Clothing:
Montane fireball smock
Montane featherlight trousers
Regatta shorts
Cotton hat
Buff
Mosquito head net
2 x base layers
1 x pair evening socks
2 x riding socks (wearing 1)
Flip flops
2 x cycling jerseys (wearing 1)
2 x bib shorts (wearing 1)
Gloves
Arm warmers
Knee warmers
Waterproof jacket
Sunglasses
Paracord wristband with whistle buckle

Misc:
Etrex HCX gps
Spare AA batteries
OS map
Compass
Mapping on phone
Vehu Pebble external power pack
Spare phone battery
Alpkit Gamma headtorch
First aid kit
Alcohol hand gel
Biodegradeable wet wipes
Suncream
Anti-mozzie roll on
Ear plugs
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Microfibre towel
Book
Ipod shuffle
2 x inner tubes
1 x Park patch kit
Tyre levers
Multitool with chain breaker
Leatherman Charge Ti
Chain lube
Chain link
Pump
Gaffa Tape
Zip ties
Trowel

I’ll let you know how it goes…..