I have just entered the Cymru Etape which takes place on 9th October 2011. It starts and finishes in Wrexham, is approximalely 100 miles, and involves 6,000 feet of climbing (including World's End and the Horse Shoe Pass).
I thought I'd better get some training in, so went out into North Wales at the weekend. I went from Chester to Hope, through Cefn Y Bedd, up to Coedpoeth, over World's End down into Llangollen, over the Horse Shoe Pass and back to Chester. I found a great site where I could map out my route (it's called bikeroutetoaster). Anyhow I used this to map out the route and the climbs - see the pictures below:
(For some reason the elevation chart horizontal axis is in km, and the vertical axis is in metres - the big climb at around 27 km is World's End, and the 2nd big climb at 40 km is the Horseshoe Pass)
Ignore the time, I actually did 3 hours 45 minutes which is a pitiful 13 miles an hour. I'll need to do a few more rides like this before October.
I hadn't been this route for a while - I also forgot about how dangerous the descent from World's End is. (I think the Etape Cymru is doing it the other way though - going downhill through the Ford was a bit dodgy). I was on a racing bike with 52/39 front rings and a 10 speed 11-23 back sprocket. Most of the climbs I could get up on 39/21 but there were a few I had to go onto the 39/23 !
Hope you enjoyed this, will update you on how the training is going next week
I thought I'd better get some training in, so went out into North Wales at the weekend. I went from Chester to Hope, through Cefn Y Bedd, up to Coedpoeth, over World's End down into Llangollen, over the Horse Shoe Pass and back to Chester. I found a great site where I could map out my route (it's called bikeroutetoaster). Anyhow I used this to map out the route and the climbs - see the pictures below:
(For some reason the elevation chart horizontal axis is in km, and the vertical axis is in metres - the big climb at around 27 km is World's End, and the 2nd big climb at 40 km is the Horseshoe Pass)
Ignore the time, I actually did 3 hours 45 minutes which is a pitiful 13 miles an hour. I'll need to do a few more rides like this before October.
I hadn't been this route for a while - I also forgot about how dangerous the descent from World's End is. (I think the Etape Cymru is doing it the other way though - going downhill through the Ford was a bit dodgy). I was on a racing bike with 52/39 front rings and a 10 speed 11-23 back sprocket. Most of the climbs I could get up on 39/21 but there were a few I had to go onto the 39/23 !
Hope you enjoyed this, will update you on how the training is going next week
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