Calton Crawl Fell Race

A few of us from the club headed over to a new fell race for us last night - the Calton Crawl which starts in the tiny village just between Ashbourne and Waterhouses. It was only last minute searching through the FRA calendar that lead us to this one as normally we'd all be up at Grindleford Fell Race but sadly this year it wass pre entry only and was fully booked more than a month ago... grrrrr!!!!

All smiles when we saw the amount of food cakes and beer on offer!

The race route takes us on the lesser trodden grassy hills between the Manifold and Dove valleys and has several sharp pulls on it as you can see on the route profile below.

It was a fantastic race and lovely low key atmosphere with one of the best post race beer, sandwich and cake spreads I've seen at any race. Huge thanks to the organisers. Certainly see you next year!

Calton Crawl Race Route

Route Profile

TINAT 300+km Welsh Epic Cycling Day (and night) ... Wykeham's Viewpoint...

It was a joy to take Wykeham round this stunning route through Mid Wales finest cycleways during the most superb weather. I was disappointed for him that he didn't complete it all in 24h but very impressed with his determination nonetheless. Next time - you'll nail it!

Wykeham’s TINAT write up

"After meeting Alan two years ago, I have been inspired to undertake multiple endurance activities from Fell running to Ultramarathons. The next big adventure he proposed was a 24hr gravel ride in Wales called 'This Is Not A Tour' (TINAT), due to my 'yes man’ nature, I agreed instantly. He sent me the route and I began dissecting what I had signed up to. It looked insane; Brutal climbs, gnarly off-road sections and a lot of distance. This would be the most extreme thing I have undertaken, previously 100 miles of road riding was the biggest ride I have done, this would be double that with much bigger climbs off road plus all of the bikepacking equipment strapped to my bike to make it extra hard.

The TINAT route, with Alan's extra off road extensions was just breathtaking. We set off Friday evening in the Campervan, stopped off for some vital chips in Ashbourne and drove on to Newtown to find a fantastic little lay-by  for a few hours kip, before we set off at 2:15AM. My bike was loaded with some fancy new Bikepacking bags from Alpkit, storing a bivvy in case I needed a power nap (which I did on multiple occasions) and lots of food, which made Alan's eyes practically pop out when he was just carrying a handful of bars.

SECTION 1- Newtown >> Beulah

After Staylittle, an added section to the original route

This section was an interesting start, the realisation kicked in, I had 210 miles, plus, 6000 metres of climbing ahead of me.  It was pitch black, apart from the lit path created from the bike lights, this made it difficult to judge the length and gradient of the Welsh hills, but, it was a fantastic experience seeing the unpolluted skies and the bright twinkling stars above me. However, I regretted listening to Alan's advice of 'you'll be fine in shorts for the day’, this section was freezing cold! But, once the sun rose, the beautiful weather stayed for the whole ride, which led to a ridiculous looking cyclist tan line, that was noticed and ridiculed by many peers at Derby University for the following week .

SECTION 2 : Beulah >> Tregaron via the Devils Staircase

The lead up to the devil stare case was incredible, we was in a beautiful valley watching the sunrise and the thick mist clear. The Devil’s Staircase is a well known climb in the UK with three sections consisting of some 25% gradients. My legs could definitely feel this incline and with my temperamental derailleur, it meant I had 3 less climbing gears to try and spin up with. Hence, Alan sped off (a common occurrence throughout the ride) to get a few photos and I slowly ground my way up the section while trying to smile for the camera (A hard skill to acquire and it was more evident, that a face of pain would be the common look in the photos compared to a happy smiley version I tried to perform) .

SECTION 3: Tregaron >>Elan Valley

This was a stunning part of the route with two off road sections, I was cautiously slow as I was afraid of a puncture on the razor sharp scree, whereas, Alan would speedily over take, while trying to resist a grin when he was smashing through all sorts of terrain on his fancy tubeless setup. But, at least I got to take in the views for longer than he did, as I became engrossed into my own little world! This was my favourite section, as it was remote, peaceful and picturesque. However, it did begin to take a toll on the body, primarily my arms, due to the constant pounding and vibration throughout the gravel, plus, it required 100% concentration or you would inevitably fall off. I will definitely revisit this section as its an area that needs to be explored in further detail, whether that will be through running or cycling. It was just an epic part of Wales!

SECTION 4 : Elan >> Llangurig.

After Staylittle, just after the shot above heading down a big descent

After a fantastic cafe stop at the bottom of Elan Valley visitors centre, we set off through some beautiful woods, once we concurred this short sharp climb, we got onto a small road that traversed the Craig Goch reservoir which was just stunning.

However, shortly after this,  my Satnav took us off the nice road onto cycle network 818 that was from  Cwmystwyth to Llangurig. Due to the nature of cycle routes, I thought great, a nice, traffic free, small road. It was definitely a traffic free road, it was the steepest section I have ever encountered, the road was eroded and only a small piece of rough tarmac ws left in the middle, that you had to try and weave your way up or you would fall off into the deep ruts or down the steep embankment. This is the only hill to date that has defeated me, my legs were screaming,  i had to walk for a good few hundred metres to regain a steady heart rate and clear vision, it was steep, technical and slippy, due to all of the loose scree. I will have to revise this section or it will always be at the back of my mind that a climb defeated me.

SECTION 5 : Llangurig >> Staylittle

This had been a challenging ride so far with some brilliant technical climbs and descents on and off road, we passed Staylittle which was around the  halfway point of the ride at about 100 miles. Any extra distance that I would now ride would be my longest ride up to date, I had jumped into the deep end with only doing my first ever ‘100 miler’ a month before,  which was 'the tour of the peak district’. It was quite demoralising knowing I was only halfway considering all of the scenery and distance I have previously covered that day. But the ride was just incredible, so these thoughts only crossed my mind for a few minutes. This section was an additional bridleway added by Alan, it was more grass and mud compared to the scree we have rode all day. We traversed a stream throughout a lovely  V shaped valley which brought us to Staylittle. This was a difficult section that i would have preferred a mountain bike on it but it still blows my mind, the capability a gravel bike has on all sorts of terrain.

Birds Rock Valley - on way to Dolgellau

SECTION 6 : Staylittle >> Machynlleth

This part included further additional loops that was plotted by Alan (a common occurrence that made this ride even harder than originally proposed on the TINAT website), it definitely pushed the limits of my riding skills and capabilities of my  bike. We was covering distance at a slow pace due to the terrain was technical, boggy and sometimes required to 'hike a bike’ up sections that was hard enough to walk alone without having a bike to haul up too. Once we got onto the road again, the descent was incredible, the roads throughout the route was as smooth as a velodrome compared to  derbyshire which made up for the rough off-road sections that took weeks for my hands to recover from the vibrations. And to top it all off, we practically had the roads to ourselves which made descending round corners a joy without having the worry of a car hitting me head on.

SECTION 7 : Machynlleth >> Dolgellau

This was a big stop in Machynlleth to fill my saddle bag with food (even though I could barely stomach a jelly baby at this point). Fatigue was really kicking in, my body felt surprisingly good, but, I was beginning  to yawn, which is never a good sign when I still had 80 miles to go. However, I carried on peddling until we began to climb through ‘Bird rock valley’, but, then I just needed to close my eyes as I was shattered. This would be my first bivvy experience, it wasn’t the most idyllic spot, it was next to the side of a road on a hill but I was that tired i didn’t care or even notice the cars passing me (I think we got some strange looks from people who passed, as I looked like I was in a body bag). After a prod by alan, I got back on my bike and kept climbing upwards towards Cadair Idris, he began to speed up which I couldn’t keep up with, the mist was thickening and the sun was setting but as we got to the top, this was the most memorable and fantastic panoramic view I have experienced. It was 9PM, we was in the middle of nowhere and the sunset was stunning over cregennan lakes. I had a short spell of energy and I was like a little child bombing down the scree decent staring at magnificent rolling hills and mountains. The national cycle route ’82’ should be on the bucket list for any keen cyclist, and its currently my favourite.

Unfortunately, this ‘buzzing’ feeling did not last for long, it was pitch black,  this was surreal that I have rode for nearly a whole day seeing both the sunrise and the sunset. we arrived in dolgellau, found a pizza shop, I order one but once again I couldn’t stomach it. I forced one slice into me and strapped the rest to my bike hoping that at some point I would regain an appetite (this never occurred and seriously impacted the rest of the ride)  

Section 8: Dolgellau>> Cemmaes road

Nearing the top of the climb above Cregennan

After Alan had finished his Pizza, we had a long gruelling climb out of Dolgellau. I was beginning to get myself into a dangerous situation, I was cycling half a sleep going down a few sharp decents. I was mentally determined to complete the ride and surprisingly  my legs felt great, but, my body didn’t. I had to admit defeat to alan, there was only another 25 miles to go of easy road riding but I just could not stay awake for any longer. Therefore, we found my last bivvy spot for the trip. I slept behind a village hall and i attempted to wave goodbye to Alan so he could complete the final section, but, I instantly fell a asleep once i slid into my bivvy bag. After a few hours kip, I woke to the sunrise, ate my pizza and waited for alan to return in his campervan. The wait allowed me to reflect on the ride, I was disappointed I couldn’t complete it, but, I was absolutely buzzing that I rode 185 miles in wales. Regardless of the outcome, I cannot wait to do another extreme event with Alan, hopefully next time I will be better prepared and learn what my body can consume for 24 hours of riding.

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To conclude, this ride was a bunch of new experiences for me; Bivvying, Cafe stops, night riding, gravel/mountain bike tracks and navigating throughout. It was insane, difficult, brutal, but, it was just awesome. I can't wait to explore more of the stunning scenery of Wales and to experience many more bike packing trips. I have always had the philosophy that these ‘extreme’ events is just mind over body but, this time, the body finally gave in, which was a first time experience that i will never forget.

The TINAT route was just amazing, stunning views, traffic free roads and great provisions throughout. I was amazed I didn't get us lost when navigating and I would definitely recommend the route for any other adrenaline fuelled lunatic.

A big Thank You to Alan for the photos, support and progressing my confidence with all of the technicalities with bikepacking. You are an absolute animal, who eats as much as a nettle leaf throughout the ride and can ride up bonkers hills without breaking a sweat!

Tips for next time

To have more distance in the legs before attempting such long distances,

To do a ride in the night to experience sleep deprivation and perception of speed and cornering.

To find the right fuel that will suit my body for a full day of riding (A vital factor that I haven’t mastered which determines the success of such brutal activities) "

TINAT 300+km Welsh Epic Cycling Day (and night!)

Around spring every year I get a little niggle at the back of my mind to dust the bike out of hibernation and get out and do something decent - something worthy of a blogpost even!

I'd spoken to Wykeham previously about his plans to do LEJOG shortly and saw on Strava how he was cranking out some decent long backpacking rides so I knew he was getting the miles in. Whilst browsing through the web one day I came across this series of Welsh long Audax rides which were all dedicated to Mike Hall - the TINAT series. TINAT stands for "This is not a Tour" and as you can read in this article Mike Hall was very much the person who would just go out and ride - nothing organised nothing official just head out for a long day - and I believe he was from Wales too so often that would be through the Welsh hills.

So I menitoned the TINAT 300 option to Wykeham and to my amazement he agreed - with the caveat that he may well backtrack on it when he realised exactly how hard it would be!

STATS:
* Our extended version of the original 300k ride was looking like about 210 miles.

* This would have approx 6,000m of climb.

* There would be at least 5 offroad sections

As we had absolutely NO idea how long it would take and to enter into the spirit of it being "one very long ride" and not "two day rides linked together with an 8h kip" we would take basic bivvy gear if we should need a quick kip at any point.

ROUTE:

We liked the look of the original draft route but both felt there was a little too much A Roads and not quite enough offroad. Hence we added a few more offroad bits and lopped some road bits - I can't remember the changes now but perhaps the section after Staylittle was an additional?

To make it more "manageable" we broke it down into smaller sections which can be summarised here;

SECTION 1 : Newtown >> Beulah. This was mostly in the dark and was generally remarkably flat and on main roads. I say "main roads" but lets get this clear - this is Welsh main roads and they are about as busy as B roads in England! I think it was Wykehams first night riding and generally it went well apart from it still being bloody cold until the sun popped it.  The moon overhead was very clear and lots of stars were visible too. Towards the end of the section the sun started to appear over the  horizon - much to our pleasure as we were quite cold!

SECTION 2 : Beulah >> Tregaron via the Devils Staircase. This would be a new section to me and it looked lovely on the map and like most sections on the  day - it exceeded expectations. The lanes leading up to and after the Devils Staircase were truly stunning and as a bonus we had a lovely low sun as you can see from the two photo's below. There's only a couple of 25% sections on the staircase itself but it goes on for a little bit more than Wykeham wanted I feel!

Section 2 : Early morning mist as we left Beulah. We nearly missed this view until I looked over my shoulder!

Section 2 : We both had pained expressions on the Devils Staircase - it was only metaphorical pain though - just look at the view!

SECTION 3 : Tregaron >> Elan Valley. We would have two offroad sections here - a very gentle flat introduction to life offroad through some lovely marshy nature reserve (see first photo below), then a long climb up to the Teifi lakes before the Claerwen descent. I'd done the Claerwen section with Dave a few years back but this time it would be a descent not a climb. I'd also done a Mountain Marathon (running) round this area many years ago and distinctly remember the high level lakes at the western end so I thought I'd show Wykenham them via a small diversion. And what a diversion!!! As you'll see from the photo below it's a lovely spot to relax - very remote and very quiet - one chap had even driven his car up and erected a small tent next to it - no doubt having a very offgrid bank holiday weekend himself!

Section 3 : Our first gentle introduction to offroad of the day -
Nature Reserve near Tregaron

This was a good place to have  a break before we did the longest section of offroad on the whole route. The next two photos show Wykeham crossing the ford and then a nice panorama with the dam just about visible.

We ended the section at the Elan Valley Visitors Centre - again a wonderful place with large cafe and generallyt very quiet considering the weather and that it was a bank holiday.

Section 3: Minor detour offpath to the Teifi Lakes area before Claerwen. Highly recommended spot - especially as you can just about get a car here too!

Section 3: We certainly couldn't avoid wet feet on "The Ford" through Claerwen but then again, we were that warm it was almost a good thing!

Section 3: Descending the Claerwen Reservoir offroad section at the Western end of the Elan Valley area

SECTION 4 : Elan >> Llangurig. A truly stunning section that really surprised me and Wykeham. The tiny road going north from the Elan area alongside Craig Goch Reservoir in particular being one of the nicest sections of road I've ever ridden - it must have been good as the Triumph owners club were having their "Trans Cambrian Tour" down through there too and I bet they know the best roads!

This did lull us into a false calm though as very shortly after (out from Blaenycwm) we encountered some supersteep offroad following closely by the steepest section of tarmac I've ever ridden (closed to cars unsurprisingly). I think this section to Llangurig is now called a "Mountain Road" - not surprising as I'm not sure many cars would make it up it! I'm glad we hadn't gone any slower through this section as when we walked out of the cafe in Llangurig at the end of this section the owners put the closed sign up.

Section 4: Lovely dappled shade alongside Penygarreg Reservoir (Elan Valley)

SECTION 5 : Llangurig >> Staylittle - We added a large chunk of offroad variation to the original TINAT route here. And what a beautiful variation it was - alongside streams and then through woodland to pop us out just shy of Staylittle. See photo below. Staylittle was around the  halfway point of the  ride at about 100miles. We both had certainly felt fresher!

Section 5 : Some nice varied river / grassy sections before woodland

SECTION 6 : Staylittle >> Machynlleth - Again this next section is I think an additional offroad section to the original route - a section which I've done most of before with Lewis and which I had good memories of. We headed over the ridgeline south of Dylife - now getting very warm (around 4pm) and views in every direction. We had a large drop (giving a suitably large climb out!) before the superb track riding past Glaslyn lake which then popped us out at the top of the superb descent into Machynlleth. Previously with Lewis I'd done this road descent as a climb so I'd not really appreciated the stunning views but I certainly did today. Whilst Wykeham shot off in front (as was the theme on descents all day!) I relaxed into the stunning descent. It really feels unlike any other descent I've done in the UK - you keep doing sections over rises which open up whole new vistas - there must have been about 4 or 5 new vistas that kept opening up to us. We were really lucky to see this in such beautiful weather. Oh - and as with all roads all day - virtually no traffic on it.

Section 6 : Nice track riding past Glaslyn before the superb road descent to Mach 

SECTION 7 : Machynlleth >> Dolgellau. We had a really good restock of supplies in Machynlleth as it was approaching tea time and we were about 130 miles in. We knew that when we got to Dolgellau most places would now be shut (probably after 9pm), so after much faffing, drinking and eating outside the coop we headed north through Corris and down towards the coast and Abergynolwen  where I treated myself to a pickled egg and coke - food of champions!!!

The next section was again impressive - I was particularly impressed with the "Birds Rock" valley however I'm not sure how much Wykeham remembered of this as very shortly after this we had to stop to give him a kip half way up Cadair Idris. And what a climb that was! Never ending and taking us apparently into thick cloud (when we'd been under perfect skies all day) my dreams of a perfect sunset photo were scuppered ... or were they!

After the 45mins had passed for Wykeham's kip, we set off towards the top of the old road climb in thick mist and eventually near the top I could see blue sky above us which we eventually broke through. After a short descent and reascent we were greeted by the scenes below which I will remember forever. This was coincidentally the viewpoint I'd most been looking forward to all the ride as I'd been to Cregennan Lakes before with Lewis so knew how good the area was. To top it all off this was BY FAR the best descent of the  day! All taken slightly too fast but why not when you're enjoying it that much.

We reached Dolgellau with our lights now on and luckily stumbled across a late night pizza / kebab place which was open. Heck - this beats a coop! Unfortunately Wykehams tummy had been playing up all day so I think he only ate 1 slice which as we would find out soon would not help his energy problems on the final section of the  ride.

Section 7 : Sure enough - we broke out above a sea of mist. A truly truly magical experience before the descent to Dolgellau.

Another sunset shot before the descent into Dolgellau...stunning

SECTION 8 : Dolgellau >> Newtown - After the most shockingly long and relentless climb of the whole route out of Dolgellau I was starting to worry about Wykeham's safety as he was now extremely tired and we would be taking the next huge descent at 30mph plus in the dark so I reassured myself that he was in a coherent state to take it - and he was. Once reaching the bottom though he had to stop for another quick bivvy kip before pushing on. Sadly the  combination of a massive ride, not enough to eat and not enough sleep soon got the better of him so we deposited him safely behind a village hall on the agreement that I'd pick him up after sunrise.

A huge well done to Wykeham - previous longest ride was just over 100miles. This was double that with offroad thrown in too (plus some kit to carry).

Also - big thank you to the organisers of the actual event. We couldn't do the actual ride as it didn't fit with our diaries but what a stunning long day out in the Welsh  Hills it was.

Strava Link here