Bear with me for a grizzly adventure

Rob Norris enjoys some company on his long distance rides – that’s why the 44 year old Audaxer takes his teddy bear,

Captain Bluebear, with him! The bear has accompanied Rob on numerous biking adventures, including London-Edinburgh-

London, the Mille Cymru and Paris-Brest-Paris. In August 2020 it joined Rob to tackle the Devilishly Elegant SR600 – a tough, testing and undulating route through Wales. Bear with me for a grizzly adventure WORDS & PICTURES ROB NORRIS

LIKE MANY OTHERS, my 2020 Audax plans went seriously awry, thanks to coronavirus. I’d thought to have a crack at The Crackpot – a 1,000km event through Wessex. Then I saw that the Devilishly Elegant SR600 had been reopened for early August. In a Covid-disrupted year, this seemed a likely option for me.

The Brevet card duly arrived and I headed for Tintern to sleep in camper-van luxury before an early start. The weather was forecast to generally improve over the weekend and beyond, so the plan was quite simple – bivvy out for both nights giving flexibility on where to sleep, stay as dry as possible, and always have enough rations to cater for the next refuel position being closed.

DAY ONE

It wasn’t particularly warm for August as I set off in morning showers at 6.45am. The first of many hills involved climbing out of the Wye Valley on small lanes, then skirting the Forest of Dean before dropping down Symonds Yat.

After passing through a sleepy Ross-On-Wye I was concerned about missing the first checkpoint on the road as the waypoint indicator on the GPS device had not showed up yet. I stopped to consult the route notes more carefully, and as luck would have it I was actually right beside it!

The next stage through England was relatively flat and uneventful, through Leominster to Ludlow and having to shelter under trees from a short rain showers.

In Ludlow the bear and I sat outside a coffee and cake stop just before midday, then headed to Church Stretton and the start of serious hills. The regular showers meant a few more tactical stops.

Then it was the Long Mynd, tackled with gusto, but the downhill had a downside – a heavy squall with no hiding place. The clouds thickened and darkened as Wales loomed.

I’ve descended the Stiperstones before. They should be called the slipperystones. The back wheel locked in the wet and I over-shot the hairpin corner. Fortunately there was nothing on the other side of the road. Nerves shattered, I reach checkpoint four.

After another impromptu rain shelter in a farm shed, checkpoint five came rapidly at the top a suitably decent 200 metre hill climb before I dropped down into Wales proper and Welshpool for the next planned food stop.

Because of the drizzle I headed into a café, which required not just name and number, but also a temperature check, due to Covid safety measures. This was followed by coffee with a decorative chocolate swirl and an upmarket ciabatta sandwich. Delightful.

Then onwards, but not before yet another shower caused a pause – bringing back unhappy memories. This was the spot I’d resigned myself to my first Audax failure after suffering multiple punctures on an event almost exactly four years previously. The rain shower didn’t pass, so I carried on to the next village where there was better shelter.

Managing to get a signal on the mobile only confirmed the depressing view that the weather forecast was for solid rain in this area for at least the next six hours. I was heading into remote country, and into the evening, with only a couple of pubs

ahead. It occurred to me that, thanks to the pandemic, they may not even be open – so a new plan was hatched.

Stopping at the marvellous Dafarn Newydd Stores, I was just in time to get last hot food of the day before the fryer was turned off. It was gratefully consumed in a pitch-side dug-out at the local football club – which was going to be home for the evening.

The plan was to dry out and wait for the rain to pass, though this would use up substantial amounts of time, making the rest of the event schedules rather tight. I’d only done 180km by this stage.

It was surprisingly comfortable in the bivvy, even without a sleeping bag, using a featherweight down jacket instead. But sleep was difficult, thanks to the rain battering on the tin roof of the dug-out. I didn’t manage any real sleep or quality rest.

DAY TWO

The rain stopped at around 2am, so I was back on the road at 3am. The skies cleared, but this led to a drop in temperature. Night riding is generally extremely peaceful but not on this part of the ride, due to the raging torrent of a stream in full spate beside the road.

On the downhill the other side I had a close encounter with a wandering badger, but no harm came to either of us. Then it was on to a gated road, with a more obvious obstacle – hordes of sheep in the road. Presumably the road is warmer than the grass. Finally I was safely back on a main B-road, making better progress as the dawn broke.

Approaching Checkpoint seven the next climb at Glyn Ceiriog defeats me. This beast of hill peaks at 25 per cent, rising 200 metres in less than a mile. At least there was the reward of a short stint on a lovely ridge road before the descent into Llangollen for breakfast.

After suffering the indignity of walking the last hill, I wasn’t looking forward to the next one – the Old Horseshoe Pass, but despite being steep at the start, it never gets overly taxing and was completed in quiet solitude with no traffic to disturb the mind from the climbing effort.

On to Checkpoint eight at Moel Famau car park, already getting busy with walkers. A steady rise led to a great vantage point. The road dropped steeply to a traditional hairpin, but unlike previously this one was taken in total control.

Nothing was open in Ruthin on this Sunday morning, not even the Costa. So I moved on to a B-road to meet a steady stream of individual time trialists heading the other way. Around 80 per cent acknowledged me and waved back. The other 20 per cent probably need to work on their manners rather than their speed.

Another undulating 25km, just after hitting the A5 to find a suitable cake and coffee stop. It had been dry so far, but a check on the latest forecast disappointingly predicted rain for most of the afternoon.

And indeed it started that way, soon after the café, across the open moorlands of Snowdonia. The rain beat down for good hour. My consolation was that I’d have enough time for reasonable sleep stops.

I wondered how anyone could be mad enough to attempt the calendar event version. I doubted that my moving time would see me finish in time, even if I could keep it up without any sleep or power naps. The calendar event has about 20 per cent less climbing, making it much more feasible but still very hard.

The next checkpoint at Stwlan Dam, required lifting the bike over a gate but the reward is silky smooth service road that goes up to the dam. The evidence picture I took at the top from the viewpoint was of uninspiring blanket cloud. Yet moments later on the descent it magically lifted. The weather began to look promisingly clear – at least for a bit.

After a couple of busy main roads it was back into open hilly terrain. Without the rain clouds it was a wonderfully scenic crossing of the moorland. And so the “easy” climb up Bwlch y Groes – which indeed turned out to be relatively easy.

The inescapable A470 was the low point of the ride. The Ochr y Groes climb to Cross Foxes is deceptively steep. I was riding into the wind with fast moving traffic. The next A-road was much calmer, then it was back to a gated road with just the sheep for company.

Then it was on to Machynlleth. The aim of the day had been achieved as I was in plenty of time to get hot food from a fast food joint to maximise the calorie intake

Technical e-shoes

Checkpoint 1 – Hole in the Wall

via chips and burgers.

As night fell, I found a bivvy spot and camped for the night in some woods, low down rather than on exposed hills. The temperature was rather pleasant, and no annoying insects, so at last some proper sleep.

DAY THREE

After five hours of luxury sleep I got going again at 4am. The sky was clear, there was not much wind, so I chose to forgo the raincoat, having faith in the weather forecast.

At Nant-y-Moch reservoir I went in search of the Hydro Electric sign for checkpoint 13 validation. However the sign is no longer there and instead the only occupants in the car park were some dope smokers – at 5.45am – they must be keen.

The temperature continued to drop on the descent to Devil’s Bridge (Checkpoint 14). On the climb I noticed some play in my shoe and initially suspected the cleat was wearing out. But minutes later it became obvious that the entire sole of the shoe was coming apart.

I always carry zip ties and tape. With these I bonded the shoe together, hoping it would last the day. Down into Rhayader for breakfast. I did my “Eat Out to Help Out” duty and ate a full English breakfast – as its 50 per cent funded by the government. From wearing three layers, leggings and gloves, I went back to just shorts and short sleeves as the temperature picked up nicely.

Llanbedr Hill was the only one to defeat me on the Mille Cymru, partly because it was baking hot. This time, again, the sun was shining strongly and it rapidly turned into one of the warmest parts of the ride. This time the hill is conquered, but with my shirt half unzipped, I got stung twice in the chest by some unknown insect. No pain, no gain, as they say.

After Hay-on-Wye it was on to the literal high point of the ride, the Gospel Pass at 549m. I’ve done this hill before, several times, so it held no surprises. Llight rain began, and there were big rain clouds to the west. The descent though, did hold surprises. It was definitely worse than last time – more pot holes, more stones and this time more floods. A gravel bike would have been more appropriate.

The penultimate climb is a real sucker punch, being not very long but considerably steep with a hazardous strip of moss running down the middle of the road. This lane clearly didn’t see much sunshine and would be devilishly difficult in wetter conditions. It led out to the penultimate checkout in the village of Trellech were I took advantage of another Eat Out to Help Out offer at the local pub, sitting outside in the mid afternoon sunshine.

The final descent was a real stinker too – 25 per cent gradient and strewn with stones. And then to the final hill, passing a place called Mork, sadly there was no place nearby called Mindy. There was still plenty in the tank to finish strongly for the reward of a job well done at St.Briavel’s Castle and to reflect on the adventure.

I finished with about two hours to spare. The scenery was fantastic and made all the effort worthwhile. Will Pomeroy deserves thanks for designing this epic.

Rob Norris is a native of Somerset, but these days lives in Portsmouth, where he rides for Audax Club Portsmouth, also known as the Pompey Wednesday Night Pub Ride. He’s been a commuter cyclist since the age of 16, and cycles mainly for leisure. He admits that he joined the Portsmouth club for the beer-drinking opportunities. He’s completed 100 Audaxes since joining the club five years ago. And the teddy bear? Captain Bluebear is the mascot of Bristol Rovers FC, the club Rob supports.