The Elenydd 307kms Audax to hell

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WorcsPhil
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Real Name: Phil Richards

The Elenydd 307kms Audax to hell

Post by WorcsPhil » 01 Jun 2022 10:04

Dr Philip Whiteman, as you know is a pleasant soul and creates a range of audaxes for Midlanders to ride, including the infamous Kidderminster Killer and 'Skiver's Day out' hillfests, but he also has a number of permanent audaxes available that can be ridden at any time, and the longest, hardest, filthiest of these is the Elenydd 300kms Audax, with more 10% hills than you can shake a stick at.

On Thursday 5th May, the four Beacon ginger Randonneurs (Phil Richards, Nick Shenton, John Williams and Andy Wrightson) set off on this adventure to ride the Elenydd. Meeting at 7am at Hartlebury Esso garage, we were using the excellent E-Brevet app, that Phil Whiteman had prepared for this event...this is an excellent way of registering your ride all the way round, by just tapping the right button at each of the control towns, which meant no receipts were needed.

The first 60kms or so are ok, with just the climb up and over the Abberley clock tower to get you panting, and we rolled into Presteigne (the first control) feeling fine, and de-camped into a cafe for industrial levels of bacon and coffee. Suitably refreshed, we realised that it got harder from here on in, and indeed, the first monster was just out of the town, rising all the way to 402m of elevation as we bypassed Radnor.

We were lucky that our day was a nice day, 19c, sunny and light winds and we were grateful for this as we went up and down, up and down for the next 60kms to the second control at Llanwrtyd Wells. It was a shop stop there for us, Co-Op, One Stop, Tesco Express, who knows, we just bought things and sat outside, wolfing down the lot, knowing what was coming when we got on our bikes again. The next section is just ridiculous, it's only 30kms to Tregaron from there, but it took well over 2 hours, yes, we stopped for loads of photo opportunities given we were into the wilds of Wales, but it was mostly carthorse slow because of the three massive mountains. The first of these is the infamous Devil's Staircase, where the gradient rose to 27% and stopped there for longer than was necessary...we all managed to ride that, gasping for breath at the top, then swooped downhill and onto the Gamallt, relatively flat at 24%, downhill again to the final of the three monsters, Telegraph Hill at 20%...wow what a 20mile section this is...so hard, but so beautiful with views to die for on a lovely day.

Lunch at Tregaron was comedy gold. I ordered a light tuna panini but the other boys went for the special, the sausage pasta bake, which must be the biggest meal in Wales. A oil drum full of pasta, 5 sausages each, and molten cheese on the top hewn straight from the earth's mantle, all served with 100 potato wedges...No one finished it.

Now, this ride ain't flat, but luckily there is a 10kms section straight after Tregaron that is, which was just as well given the huge meals that Nick, John and Andy had attempted...but then before we rode the stunningly beautiful Rhayader Mountain road, there was another 20% hill at an unpronounceable place to get up to it... Arriving at Rhayader after a joyful 6kms descent into the town meant we were in high spirits for another Co-Op/One Stop refreshment break.

There were two more horrible hills before we got home, one before Ludlow (our final control), where we sat outside on the pavement like hobos at 9pm eating pasties, and the one just before Abberley at 22:30 in the dark proving particularly awful.

The day before the event, Nick asked me 'what time do you think we'll be finished, Phil?'... to which I replied 'I reckon about 11pm, Nick'...so as we rolled back into Hartlebury Petrol station at 11:01pm, I reflected that we might as well not have bothered, and just said hello to each other at 7am, go home, then reconvene at 11pm to say goodbye...but don't let that fool you, it was a top, top day.

Reflections:

There are some bike rides we go on that, to be honest, you forget about by tea time, but there are others like the Elenydd, that will stay with you for years. Is is long? Yes, 307kms and nearly 5,000m of climbing. Is it hard? By God, yes, not just the length but the number and steepness of hills fair takes the breath away

...but, to ride it with good mates on a fine dry day is a memory worth having. So thanks to Nick, John and Andy for the brilliant company and to Dr Whiteman of course for organising this event for any rider to ride.

My recommendation is definitely ride this at least once, Simon Woodward (of course) has ridden it, and I remembered that I rode this in 2013 on a calendar audax, and although five of us Beacon guys started, only me and Keith Adcock finished it that day...it really is the pinnacle of riding long.

A bucket list ride if ever there was one.

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Philip Whiteman
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Re: The Elenydd 307kms Audax to hell

Post by Philip Whiteman » 01 Jun 2022 17:13

Thanks for the write up, Phil. It is a good sell for what is a spectacular journey.

The event's original creator, Dave Pountney, told me, "if you can ride The Kidderminster Killer then you can ride The Elenith". The classic Kidderminster Killer takes places on 23rd July as a calendar event and incorporates a WI Cake Control half way round. Go here to enter.

In the spirit of the KK and Elenydd, 2023 will see a brand new Beacon x-rated audax called Severn and Ferlix. The route is designed to incorporate little known cycling roads across the Cambrian fells in the ancient cantref of Ferlix. The easy parts are Stourport to The Goggin, The Goggin to Knighton; and Hay to Leominster. The remainder is a roller coaster finishing with some wonderful Herefordshire hills as a shortcut between Leominster and the finish point in Stourport.



WorcsPhil wrote:
01 Jun 2022 10:04
Dr Philip Whiteman, as you know is a pleasant soul
Creep. <@>

Nicks_77
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Re: The Elenydd 307kms Audax to hell

Post by Nicks_77 » 01 Jun 2022 20:42

Great write up Phil & it was indeed an epic day out on the bike.

I must admit I’m not in a rush to do it again though 😁

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Simon Woodward
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Re: The Elenydd 307kms Audax to hell

Post by Simon Woodward » 02 Jun 2022 08:00

A fantastic write up phil. Being on my own out in the wilds of nowhere has always made me feel alive somehow and the mountain road to Tregaron is definately in the middle of nowhere!

Interestingly, that flat bit between Tregaron and Pontrhydigiad has always been my last favourite bit. A boring bit of flat, sandwiched between two gorgeous roads.

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George
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Re: The Elenydd 307kms Audax to hell

Post by George » 02 Jun 2022 22:52

Brilliant effort. Well done all!

Will.i.ams
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Re: The Elenydd 307kms Audax to hell

Post by Will.i.ams » 04 Jun 2022 20:03

Great review Phil. Still digesting that pasta bake

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