Wales : Clwyd Chester to Llandudno - June 30th 2018

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johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
I may be interested. I'm just a little worried it may be a little out of my comfort zone and end up struggling to complete it though.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I may be interested. I'm just a little worried it may be a little out of my comfort zone and end up struggling to complete it though.
You still have over 5 months to develop a new 'comfort zone'! :okay:
 

johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
Aye that's true. The old fitness level has slipped back a little during the winter months and I'm judging how I feel now at the moment. It was exactly the same last year and by summer I felt I could tackle anything lol. ( mentally I could anyway hehe)
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Aye that's true. The old fitness level has slipped back a little during the winter months and I'm judging who I feel now at the moment. It was exactly the same last year and by summer I felt I could tackle anything lol. ( mentally I could anyway hehe)
I went off the boil in December, but still felt okay on today's lumpy 53 km ride. I was quite pleased because I thought I might have lost a lot more fitness than I actually have.
 

johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
I think you may lose a little fitness during the winter months, but I found it didn't take long to regain it again when the weather picked up and cycling intensity increased. It's a more a mental thing lol ,that you think cycling a long ride in few months time is going to break you. So looking forward to the lighter warmer evenings again :-) :-)
 
OP
OP
si_c

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
I've been off on my jollies for the last two weeks, so not had much time to review the route. It appears that the consensus opinion is that a 200 is a bit much, but that a 160 is doable.

Taking that onboard - and bearing in mind that there is nothing to stop me extending my ride should I choose - I'll shorten the route and put up a revised version this weekend. This should reduce the total climbing to in the region of about 2000m which is a fair bit more manageable. The nice thing is that the hills are steady rather than overly steep, but there are some pitches around the 15% mark, so bear that in mind.

The route will start at Chester station, as previously advertised, and end in Llandudno, Iaiming to start between 8am and 9am. I'd estimate about 8 hours or so riding time at a sociable pace, so aiming to reach Llandudno around 6.30ish. I'll need to look at dates, but the first two weeks of June are likely to be difficult for me, so I'm thinking either, last two weeks of May or the last two of June, although the weather might be better with the latter.

Any further thoughts?
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I just had a quick look at the train times. Those of us hoping to come over by train from this neck of the woods couldn't make it for 08:00 but should be ok for 09:00.

We would probably have to opt for the 19:42 back to Manchester to avoid a potential panic ride in to Llandudno. (We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened with @Littgull and @alibaba on nickyboy's Llandudno ride last year!)

If you avoid the first 2 weeks of June then I will arrange my annual 200km Cheshire forum ride for either 2 weeks after your May date or 2 weeks before your June date.
 

alibaba

Über Member
Location
Manchester
I am interested too:cycle:
 
Put me down as a possible. I'd be happier if the route was less likely to involve battling a headwind for long periods. June is often surprisingly windy. It does seem very scenic though as proposed. As @ColinJ has mentioned, we wouldn't want a race against time to get the train back from Llandudno.
 
OP
OP
si_c

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Apologies for the delay in getting dates sorted, I've had problems finalising my calendar for May and June, but it should be ok now. It looks like the best date would be Saturday June 30th, meeting at Chester station for 9am with a 9.15 start, expecting to be in Llandudno for about 18.30.

Edit: Updated Route Link
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26930137
And route profile:
elevation_profile.jpg


Total ride distance is 156km (97mi) with 2000m (6500ft) climbing.
 
Last edited:

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Apologies for the delay in getting dates sorted, I've had problems finalising my calendar for May and June, but it should be ok now. It looks like the best date would be Saturday June 30th, meeting at Chester station for 9am with a 9.15 start, expecting to be in Llandudno for about 18.30.

Edit: Updated Route Link
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26930137
And route profile:
View attachment 397491

Total ride distance is 156km (97mi) with 2000m (6500ft) climbing.
Excellent - a nice flat warm up, an interesting lumpy middle section, and what looks like an easy ride down to the finish after the hill at 100 kms!

4 kms missing from the distance required for an imperial century but I would get most of that in to and from the stations, and would make up any shortfall when I got back to Todmorden.
 
Looks good. I've just checked the train times. There is one from Littleborough at 6.44 am (a few mins earlier for @ColinJ from Todmorden). It arrives at Chester at 8.54 am - so just prior to the ride start time for 9 am. Trains to return home on the Saturday evening are hourly at either 50 or 52 mins past the hour. However, the cheap ticket sites only show the availability and timetable up to 19th May at the moment, so I am assuming the June timetable for Saturdays would be the same timetable as May.
 
OP
OP
si_c

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
June advance tickets won't be available until 4 weeks before rather than 3 months if the recent news reports are correct, so might be worth holding off buying tickets for now.
 
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