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COME PLAY! WALES.

By Gruber Images

August 19^th, 2015

adventure is out there!

The original piece is down below somewhere, but I figured I’d push it down for the sake of cramming in a whole bunch of information (hopefully useful!) Email me with any questions. jeredgruber@gmail.com

Day 1: Friday (28 August)

Snowdonia (click on Snowdonia for the route!)

175k and 3000m climbing (those are RideWithGPS numbers, and they‘re always high - I bet we‘ll do 2600-2800)

Note: this is a different route from the original. I took out one climb around 60k in and added in a new one at 120, which looks fantastic.

Start time: 9am (if it‘s pouring rain for some reason at 9, I reserve the right to hide in a cafe for up to one hour)

Meeting point: intersection of the A494 and B4391 - where the route begins in the town of Bala. There‘s even a car park right there! I didn‘t plan it that way, but I felt very pleased with myself when I saw that just now.

Stops:

52k: small village grocery to get something quickly and keep on rolling

95k: LUNCH in Tywyn along the coast. I‘m leaning toward two options - Dolly‘s Upper Crust (this one makes the most sense…and looks good too)…or, because I‘m American, and due to the fact that I have no issues taking down 2000 calories in the middle of a ride: Buccaneer Burgers (I like my lunch breaks)

130k - there‘s a small gas station in the latter part of the ride that could be of use.

Day 2: Saturday (29 August)

Devil‘s Staircase (click on the link for the route!)

180k, 3000m climbing. Note: this is a different route from the original.

Start time: 9am - if it‘s raining - we roll. We need to make it to our lunch spot no later than 2pm, but hopefully around 1. That is totally doable, but worth keeping things moving for.

Meeting point: intersection of South and East Streets - right in the middle of Rhayader. I don‘t know about parking for this one. I am ashamed. :-(

Stops:

58k: small village grocery to get something quickly and keep on rolling - right after crossing the river

95k: LUNCH at the Royal Oak Inn in Rhandir-mwyn. As I mentioned before: we HAVE to make it there by 2pm at the latest, or we‘ll be very unhappy. Food is going to be a commodity along this route, and this spot is perfect. They‘re open for lunch from 12-2pm.

153k - there‘s a small gas station!

Day 3: Sunday (30 August)

Brecon Beacons

160k, 3000m climbing Note: this is a completely different route from the original. There are also some spots, which can be chopped off - notably, 72-96k. I would not normally be down for beheading part of my ride like this, but finding food is going to be an issue on this ride (but I think I just found a solution!). See below. :-)

Start time: 9am (if it‘s pouring rain for some reason at 9, I reserve the right to hide in a cafe for up to one hour)

Meeting point: Glanaman. In the middle of town, there‘s a parking area next to a big church just off the A474. FACT! The first Chain driven Bicycle in Wales and one of the first in the World was manufactured by the Defiance Cycle Company Glanamman and ridden to Swansea in 1885.

Stops:

26k: there‘s a Red Kite feeding station (!!!!) that might have some water. Maybe. I‘m struggling to find pretty much anything for this ride.

69k: Because I‘m a gigantic tourist, we‘re stopping at the 69k mark for an early lunch, also because I‘m a sucker for cream tea. They have other food there as well. :-) It‘s also a practical thing, because if we don‘t stop there, it won‘t be until 100k when we can get anything. UNLESS - we chop off the 24k bit of bonus. I‘d rather stop at 69k for lunch, get some cream tea, and do the whole ride. :-)

109k - there‘s a Tesco Express on the route

BACK TO THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE! :-)

We thought we were going to shoot the Vuelta - we swore we wouldn’t, but then it looked like we might, but then it didn’t happen, and we’re ecstatic that it didn’t, because we have something cooking. So - we’re heading out in search of something new, something different, something not-Alps.

As things often happen on the internet, I stumbled upon a page, which led to another page, which led to another, and then another, but the main idea was born entirely from THIS blog post by Sir Guy Litespeed (who will hopefully be joining us for at least a day), which detailed three rides ahead of the Cent Cols Challenge Dolomites last year. In short, it looks like one of the better trios of bike rides I’ve seen in a long time.

So the idea was born:

“Hey Ashley! Wake up! Let’s go to Wales!”

Ashley looks up, rubs her eyes, blearily peers back at me…

“Uh, ok?”

“Great!”

To sum all of what’s to follow below: we’re going to do three rides in Wales, starting this weekend. The weather looks bad on Sunday, so I don’t need to ride in that. Right now, Saturday looks like a reasonable prospect, and then Monday and Tuesday, or Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday. Depending on the weather. The hope is to do three big rides between Saturday and Wednesday.

If you’re game, email me, and I will keep you up to date on our plans:

jeredgruber@gmail.com

the plan.

I learned one very important lesson from our trip through the Alps last week: I like riding with good people. I especially love riding with amazing people.

So I figure we have two options:

1. We can go up there by ourselves

2. We can let the world know that we’re riding bikes, and if anyone is interested: you can join us for a bike riding, picture taking, and laughter filled extravaganza.

TWO is the logical choice, so that’s what we’re going with.

details.

Each ride will be at least 100 miles in length. The shortest is 100, the longest is 110.

The routes are HARD. The climbs are STEEP. In short: it should be fantastic.

If you do come, know this: we won’t be raging, but we do hope to finish the rides in a reasonable amount of time, which means we will follow Ashley. Ashley is not the fastest rider in the world, but she gets the job done, and I have unlimited patience for her, so she serves as the barometer of all things big bike rides. She’ll likely do these rides with an average speed around 12-15 mph.

I’m happy to wait for Ashley speeds. I’ll likely jump around and take pics in nice spots, but in general, Ashley just keeps on rolling. So the key is this: you need to be as fast, or faster than Ashley to enjoy this ride. I hope that doesn’t come off as rude, and I don’t mean for it to be - at all - I just want to make it clear that my hope in doing this is to get some fun people together and for it to stay a reasonably quickly moving adventure on some roads that get me really, really excited.

nothing is certain.

We’re still in the midst of shooting Paris-Brest-Paris at the moment, so we’re a long way from Wales. We’re working on our plan at the moment, but the routes are set (though not the order):

1. Snowdonia

2. Devil’s Staircase

3. NOGARD - it’s the route of the Dragon Ride backwards. All credit goes to Mr. Litespeed for that amusing title.

The start points can be adjusted to fit the needs of the many (if necessary).

As a disclaimer: I have no idea what to expect by doing this. I don’t know if anyone will show up, if anyone is interested in riding with us, if this is the worst idea I’ve ever had. I’m willing to give it a go though in hopes of an awesome time.