Welsh Rain Thing

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. My planned route had the lake as my overnight bivi spot and I had it in my head that I was determined to reach it, which I did but at the cost of completely exhausting myself. I think the problem is that I’ve spent too much time road riding where distance and speed are a priority. I find it hard to take a step back and get it in my head that it’s not a race and because I couldn’t relax into the experience, I pushed too far when I would have been better off to stop in the Dyfi forest where I was a bit drier and have more rest.

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……..