Entered this one now. Rode it last year, and thought it was a good mix of terrain - some benign cyclepaths, a bit of climbing for variety. Very easy navigation on what proved to be a completely empty A road on the return leg overnight.
My recollections from last year are:
- Anglesey closes early. Because of the 9am start I was hitting the outskirts of Holyhead around 11 hours later and it is surprising how little there is in Valley and LLPG. The chippie in Valley fed us, but only after we appealed to them to stay open, think it closed at 8pm.
- There is a small section of unlit lanes on the return that are rolling after leaving Bangor. Some riders I was with thought about jumping on the A55 for a few miles to avoid these lanes. My own view was this is not a good idea but you may think differently. It looked to me like the closest thing to a motorway in that part of North Wales.
- There was a control at a 24 hour garage at Abergele, but worth noting that there is a Macdonalds that is open 24 hours very nearby that meant we could sit down and get coffee at 2am, which was great if you're flagging. Hopefully it won't be drive through only this year.
- The finish at Poynton early on a Sunday morning may be a little anticlimactic, you may have to pat yourself on the back as there will be no one else there to do it!
Edit: Entered now, and looking forward to it.