actually, i hoped there might be a bit more climbing! Maybe next year...
Twas a great course, really fast/easy rolling. Some of the downhills were fantastic, especially one in 70k section which weaved between fern bushes - i liked that one i did.
A big thanks to the organisers and especially the locals who gave up their fields & time to help 800+ mad ejits ride bikes.

More climbing? You're having a laugh surely :). I do think it was well organised, I probably should have put that in somewhere. The fern section was ace but for me it was just after I'd gone wrong and climbed back up for 20 minutes.

That last climb up the rock face tho. That has to be the product of sadistic course design ;)

i am a sadist because after pushing up the actual rocks i hopped back on the bike and breezed (relitively) to the top at which point someone called me a show-off and cramp immediately set back in. how i hate them :-)

hmmm, I'm sure I heard the words 'I don't think 70km is enough' coming from the direction of the bloke who wrote this article. Of course that was around the start of the ride...

Al - you always seem to end up in pain or half dead at the end of your articles. Are you sure you're in the right sport ?

Ever thought of taking up bowls?

TBH I think it was one of the toughest things I've ever done. I've never known such drawn out and relentless suffering.

I felt great when I started out, and even managed to grind out the first half of it quite comfortably with a bit of sheer bloody-mindedness, but three quarters of the way along I was exhausted. I kept having to stop and lie down to recover for a while. By the end I was running on empty and had really lost the will to live. I don't even know how I made it that far at all.

It's my own fault though. I've read some of Als articles before, so I should have known better...

;-)

Superb ride well set up and a great day, Well done i say! to get that much off road into that distance is great, If there was anything to change it would be to move the last drink stop nearer the middle of the food stop and the end.
Bring on next year where i hope to be fitter for it

You should come out to Arizona for the Soul Ride, 100 miles, 12,200 feet of climbing. Last year a rider on a fixed gear single speed put in a time that would have given him fourth overall in the open division.

lol @ Milo ;-)

I agree that it was about the hardest things I've ever done. The Nwnham 90 was easier. I'll be back for more!

Spare Rim - nope, not me matey. I may be stupid but I'm not that stupid.

Milo, when the horses head arrives, make sure you're around to sign for it ok? Takes me ages to get it properly bloody :)

Next year I'm going to get a water bowser at Three Wells [at the beginning of the downhill road section off Glascwm Hill]
We try to run the event as we would like it were we ourselves riding
Thanks for all the praise
Anna, Phil and I wouldn't bother to set it up if people were not overwhelmingly positive.
And thanks to all our friends, and their friends, who helped on the day; and the landowners, who very kindly let us use huge swathes of moorland.
You made a very good impression on so many local people, so we should be ok for next year. Thanks again

Er I've just read Alex's article
I am the course designer, but it's ok as I'm shortly to be working in Cornwall and nobody will have my address
Hey Alex why don't you substitute bricks for water and carry that round instead?[rather like the SAS used to do on the Beacons till the army made them take a set list of items as rather too many were inconveniently dying]

Hi Cloggy, My problem was although i stopped and had water at the first two feed stations i didn't refill my reservoir. If there's going to be such big distance between the 2nd & 3rd stations it might be worth putting up a big sign saying "XX miles until next stop, have you got enough water?"
I accept that we were warned but a lot of people were still caught out.
Thanks again for a grand day out.

Al, I woke up this morning with a UPS delivery note on the pillow. Apparently I have to go and collect it from the depot.

I jest of course, I always enjoy your witterings and I love the way you refuse to pander to the modern short attention span. You might remember a Deadbike weekend review I wrote that required a chunk of your holiday entitlement to get through (even after they edited it). Maybe we should go into the MTB journo business. We could call the company 'Bike Verbiage'.

;-)

Lol @ Milo.

Do you two get paid by the word? :)

Cloggy - I'm sure you have a mean streak. Putting the marshalls right by the "knigton, 5 miles" road sign as they sent you back over the dyke - oooh, you bugger :)

As I sort of said, thought the course was great, downhills really fast and that fern singletrack fantastic. It was just the hills. There were too many of them :)

Milo - you're a genius. I'll go and register that name on the web. Worth getting the extra 30 gig of disk space I feel. Get a wriggle on with that horse tho - in this weather, it's bound to get a bit wiffy.

Dave - I wish. I'd be a rich man.

So who was the man in the c1xxv (or what ever!) announcing 70k wasn't enough, I must have been in the same group as spare rib and thought either this man is some sort of super athelete or barking! Come on own up!

Bet you that it will rain next yera and the extra water won`t be needed!! Well done on having more than enough water all around the course, even if the separation was a bit skewed! Bacon butties too were a life saver as well as the Twix butty rolls later.
As for the last uphill section Jerry you`ve not responded to my comments on other sites about sadistic inclinations etc etc. PLEASE don`t do that again. Otherwise a fabulous course and totally knackering, serious mistake of running narrow Skinny Jimmy tyres at 50 psi will not be repeated next years two days on pain killers for my back not appreciated!! Maybe I will learn for next year and possibly even use 2.3 Gravitys?? Comfort over lightness?