GBDuro – Stage 2

55 hrs 17 mins

293.65 miles

29,478ft gain

Day 4 – Tuesday 15th August

After trying to dry my kit in rather damp conditions and getting a pretty good sleep, I woke up around 6 to try and finish this process and pack my kit away to give me plenty of time before the start of stage 2 at 8am.

There were riders who came in only in the early hours of this morning and were getting some food and getting ready for a quick turnaround. Amazing, the determination to keep going from these people is something I would find hard to muster, especially in a damp field in the middle of Wales.

After chatting with a few other riders about the experiences of the first stage and chatting with trepidation and excitement about the next stage, I wolfed down some porridge and coffee and was ready to go.

8am came and only me and Will were ready to roll out. So we chatted for the first few miles along some small singletrack roads and then when we hit the first off road section, Will sped off and the front runners started to overtake me one by one as I found myself midpack and happy with my pace. Not wanting to over do it to early on and wanting to conserve energy. We still had a very long way to go!

The painstaking effort to dry my socks at the Checkpoint became useless as after about 10 miles, we had to dismount our bikes and walk through a river that came above our knees. Luckily the weather was nice and temperatures quite high.

The route soon found its way into Dyfi Forest, with some impeccable Gravel climbs, descents and a bit of MTB trail singletrack thrown in. Today was a good day.

Bwlch Y Groes loomed. This is the second highest public road mountain pass in Wales, with a summit altitude of 545 metres. And my word, is it steep. It is straight up, with no corners. In the midday heat with not really much food in my belly, it was a toughy. I had no issues with getting off and pushing my heavy rig up the climb. What cheered me on was a group of LEJOG cyclists who overtook me on the climb with their support van clapping and cheering me on.

After the big road climb and decent, upwards again into Coed Y Glyn. This was an expansive off road climb, taking me to some beautiful views for miles on end.

The decent was chilly, so I knew food was needed because we were still in the middle of the days heat. So I dropped down to Llandrillo, and found myself pretty sleepy. So found a corner shop, stocked up on Welsh Cakes, and think I might have had a little snooze on the pavement in the sun.

The next section, I was looking forward to. It was a piece of history for this kind of cycling. A piece of history without, events like GBDuro would not exist today.

The Rough Stuff Fellowship the original off-road cycle touring and mountain biking club has its roots firmly in the ground over this next pass I was about to embark upon, the Berwyns, Bwlch Nant Rhyd Wilym, in central Wales. ‘Wayfarer’ was the pen-name of Walter MacGregor Robinson, (1877-1956), one of the pioneers of rough stuff cycling.

At the top of the pass, there is a commemorative plaque to the Wayfarer, put in place by the Rough Stuff Fellowship in 1957 and its still standing strong in the photo below.

I took a moment to understand everyone who had sweated up this climb and enjoyed being in the outdoors in these hills. With all of these events, I just feel lucky to spend a long period of time outdoors with no real worries apart from food, water and sleep.

The decent was rocky, and then after a pretty cheeky steep road climb, I pedalled through a busy but beautiful Llangollen, another place to come back to visit when I had more time.

Worlds End! I used to go to university in Chester and I started to recognise to roads around here when I used to train on the road bike around these parts. Worlds End was one of my favourite climbs, so this brought another smile to my face and at the top, a volunteer from the race was there cheering and I stopped to have a short chat. This spurred me on to tackle Llandegla forest and some mtb trails.

The sun was just about gone for the day as I popped out on to the road decent and the flat lands to Chester. I was almost TT racing thought the well known roads to make sure I was going to catch Mcdonalds in time. I did and spent about an hour eating, faffing and sitting in the warmth. I also decided to try and make it another 20 or so miles to Delamere Forest, where I woud try and find a place to sleep for the night.

I left Chester around 10pm and fought through the nightlife onto the cyclepath. I then entered the small lanes of Cheshire and sleep started to get the better of me. It was super quiet and I passed a field that looked too perfect not to camp in. So I hopped over the fence with my bike, set up the tent and settled down for the night.

Day 5- Wednesday 16th August

I had slept well. Only got up once when nature called, and the sky was clear and the stars were out in force. I had a bit of a lie in. Still a long way to go, but these extra minutes of rest help in the long run. Well they do for me anyway, finishing and enjoyment is the priority.

The day started with a few back lanes of Cheshire, then through Delamere forest and onto bridleways and canals edging closer to the centre of Manchester.

It was busy, but not so bad. I was pleased to cycle straight through the centre and start to escape the cars and noise of a big city once more as I cycled through Bury and into the Pennines. A breath of relief, quite and hills once more.

All of the buzz of a city must have had an impact on me as as soon as I hit the Pennine Bridleway, I started to fall asleep. I took no time to hop off my bike and lie against a gate in the sun and was only awoken 20 minutes later when Paulius cycled past, a great alarm clock and I felt ready to face the hills.

Another dot watcher was out on the track and I gave him a wave and a quick thank you for coming out. The route now entered the Pennines proper and memories of previously ridden sections came back to me as a sort of comfort, as i knew I had ridden this before and I made it through the other side in worse conditions. An upbeat playlist saw me keep a decent average speed up and before I knew it I was descending into Gargrave for a chippy tea.

Full up and stocked up at the shop for the night, I continued on for a few miles with Paulius back into the hills. The next section was through a lot of muddy farmers fields with lots of gates and the sun was setting.

I made a pact with myself I would keep going until Horton in Ribblesdale and then find a place to camp after that. The riding wasnt too bad, some rocky uphills and decents and then I found myself looking for a campspot just after 11pm. It was very dark and with not much monlight, really hard to find a good place to pitch up. I tried a few potential places but wasnt happy. I then hopped over a fence and although on a slight hill, this spot would have to do. The rain and wind started as i put my tent up. Then a pole connector snapped on my tent, and gorilla tape and super glue to the rescue, I was finally in my sleeping bag just after midnight. CP2 loomed tomorrow.

Day 6 – Thursday 17th August

I woke up with the bottom half of my tent collapsed where the pole had broke, so not a great fix. It was dark and I was pretty tired, so I gave myself a break. The field I was in was full of sheep, so not a bad shout and there wasn’t really much flat ground around either. I packed up and lifted the bike back over the gate and headed north again by about 6.20am.

The weather was a bit rainy, but not too bad for this part of the world. These roads I had been on many times and it almost felt as if I was riding home, the next checkpoint is only about 40 miles from my house, so I suppose I was.

Skirting Cam High Road and decending it into Gearstones, I actually got to see the Ribblehead Viaduct clear as day for only the second time in my life. The other time being during Dales Divide and all the other times I had been up here it was either the middle of the night during an all night ride/race or it had been too foggy to see it.

Whilst I was overthinking what to do about my broken tent, I back and forthed a bit with a few other riders, Alex, Adrian and Paulius in the mist on the hills above Hawes and then descended down the road to Kirkby Stephen.

Here I stopped for a quick resupply and went to a few outdoor shops to see if they had the part I needed to fix my tent. They didn’t. they also didn’t have any 1 person tents for sale. I gave up the search and headed for Great Dunn Fell. The ‘Ventoux of the North Pennines’. It sits at 848m above sea level, and is said to be the highest paved road in Britain. This was tough, and having done it a couple of times before it doesn’t get easier, but I knew how bad the bridleway walk/bog/decent down to the checkpoint was and that was more at the forefront of my mind rather than the climb.

I reached the top, put on a jacket and started the off road decent. I then came across a used single use BBQ, alongside it was a 2 litre bottle of lighter fluid and all of the rubbish of the food wrappers along with most of the uneaten burnt sausages. Someone had obviously thought it was a good idea to come up here, try to have a bbq, then not eat any of it and leave the rubbish. This mindset I really don’t understand. So in the spirit of the race, carrying all my own rubbish to the end of the stage, I knew it was only about 1 hour to the CP, so tried to stuff all the rubbish in my bags and strapped the lighter fluid to my handlebar bag.

The decent was a walking fest as know, but somehow was over sooner than I thought and I freewheeled into Garrigill and the Checkpoint mid afternoon in the sun and warmth. I had made it. Pretty much half way and nothing too damaged. I went about eating, cleaning and fixing things with my kit and bike and switched off for the afternoon and evening.

This stage had been a tough one, but I had loved it all and was quietly excited and eager to get back on the bike again tomorrow to head up to Scotland on tracks and roads I knew all too well.