Firstly, let's get the assault on Dr Dick out of the way - this was his idea and he then didn't do it!!!  Damn that bad man.  Bad show or what.  At least Val had a good excuse - Gammy Arm!!!  

We'd decided to do this in a day, i.e. leave Pembrokeshire at stupid o'clock, do the ride, and drive back...possibly not the best idea!  Firstly we were nearly half an hour late leaving (Al seemed to think that to be at our house ready to leave at 530am involves setting your alarm clock for 550am - doh!).  Then we had to take a detour at Aberaeron into the bowels of Ceredigion due to a fatal accident a little further up the A487. The upshot of all this was that we signed on at the start at around 940am, having targeted 9am.  Still, the finish check point didn't open until 4pm, so we had at least 6 hours and 20 minutes to complete the course and Al had projected it would take 5:30 - wrong.  

The idea behind the event is a challenging ride, with a generous time allowance, so it's not a race.  There were 2 checkpoints on the route so mentally I'd divided it into 3 smaller rides - with tea & cake to break them up!  The first section involved a run down the eastern shore of Bala Lake/Llyn Tegid (along the route of the Bala Middle Distance Tri run course, a good chance to reccie for next year - scenic but a little lumpy).  After six miles or so it was across the A494 and the north-west following the course of the Afon Lliw - and before we knew it we were straight into a 17% climb!  Lungs full to bursting, legs barely turning the pedals, this was where I nearly bailed out and turned back...but thankfully I perservered and at around the 10 mile point we emerged onto open moorland.  

After passing the highest point of this stretch at around 530m, there was a fantastic sweeping series of downhill across the moor - wonderful!  After a series of twisty downhills with hands pulling the brakes for all they were worth, we reached the first check point at Llanelltyd near Dolgellau.  Set in a village hall, as well as the needed toilets and opportunity to refill bottles, we were provided with tea and a kit-kat plus a couple of cereal bars - in my case despatched in record time! 

We'd taken nearly 2 1/2 hours to reach this point, some 28 miles in, so Alex's 5:30 estimate was rapidly revised!   After Llanelltyd we headed west, crossing the Mawddach at Penmaenpool (all nice and flat) and then heading south and west, up some severe hills, to the foothills below Cadair Idris - one of my favourite places in Wales, with wonderful scenery.  As we emerged from the shore of Cregennen Lakes, we had a spectacular view out across the mouth of the Mawddach across Barmouth - breathtaking.  Just as we'd crossed Barmouth Bridge and were rising up to the main road, Ian decided to perform a comedy "I can't unclick my shoe" moment and topple off, just avoiding trapping an elderly gentleman between himself and a wall (though he did managed to squish the guy's toes) - much fun (following a good deal of concern of course).  

We decided to grab a bite to eat in Barmouth, and then it was off north towards Harlech, where we turned inland at Dyffryn Ardudwy onto quieter roads again, and yet more climbing....and finally a big decent (steep as heck and much loose gravel!) back to the A496 opposite Penrhyndeudraeth.  A lovely few flat miles followed, but yes there was a sting in the tail then as we turned off to the final checkpoint at Gellilydan to be faced with another monster climb - Ellie & Ian had to stop and walk the steepest bit, it was really that steep!  So the checkpoint was a very welcome site, and the cereal bars of Llanelltyd had been replaced by cake (yey!) and we duly despatched several slabs and a cuppa. 

This had been the longest section - roughly 37 miles, so although we were all tired, the last section was the shortest one of the day, around 20 miles.   At this point the sun was still shining, but as we pushed south past Trawsfynydd and then south and east back across the moor to Llanuwchllyn, the clouds began to build and by the time we'd finished the climbing and were starting to freewheel back down the climbs we'd started with, the drizzle began.  Out onto the A494 and it was a straight run back into Bala (along the Bala Standard Distance Tri course).  Al and I took turns on the front and we were fairly flying along!  The finish was a welcome site, and my clock had registered 7:05 of cycling and some 140km (86 miles). 

Ian's Garmin produced a reading of 10,823 feet of climbing so that gives you and indication of how tough it was!  We rewarded ourselves with chips on the way home in Machynlleth - well we had burnt a kazillion calories!!   All in all a very enjoyable event, I would definitely recommend doing it again (the route changes every year) and great value for the £12 - the commemorative slate coaster was very smart indeed.   To view Ian's Inspector Gadget Garmin read out, click here:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/dashboard.mb?episodePk.pkValue=6601156  

To view a map overview (requires a download for Internet Explorer), click here: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/player.mb?episodePk.pkValue=6601156  

To view the route as a Google Map, click here: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Ftrail.motionbased.com%2Ftrail%2Fkml%2Fepisode.kml%3FepisodePkValues%3D6601156&ie=UTF8&z=10  

To view the event web-site, click here: http://s198483320.websitehome.co.uk/wildwales/wildwaleschallenge.htm