For what is possibly the last bike packing trip before the Tour Divide, I’m heading over to Wales next weekend to ride in the BearBones Welsh Ride Thing. An annual “thing”, the WRT is a wonderfully social bikepacking event that is pretty unique in its nature. Riders are given a list of grid references, and a start time roughly at noon on Saturday. That’s it. No obligation to visit all, or even any of the grid references, they’re for inspiration only. Ride as fast and far, or slow and short as you fancy. Ride in groups, or go it alone. Get back by Monday, or earlier if that suits. There’s a raffle in aid of the Wales Air Ambulance service, and tea & baps at the start, and more tea and cake at the end. What’s not to like??
For the novice, who might be feeling a little apprehensive, or someone like me last year, with some bikepacking experience but no local knowledge, one the more experienced riders organise and lead the “Lonely Hearts Club”, a group ride intended to be a nice outing, where all you need to do is show up ready to ride. The organisers figure out a route (usually with various options to adjust it depending on progress), food stops, and the all-important overnight spots. I rode in this group last year, and had a fantastic few days covering roughly 130km of beautiful Welsh countryside with a nice bunch of folk. While I’d planned to ride with a friend this year, circumstances may mean he cannot join me, so I might be back for another LHC spin!
April Stats
April was the best month so far in terms of numbers, with a total distance covered of 1,005km, with over 60hours on the bike, and a total of 11,260m of climbing. Pretty happy with that as my last full-on month of training, as it’s likely I’ll start tapering back the effort towards the end of May.
Training Update
Week commencing 8th April: 7hours 33mins cycling, 55km, and 1,410m climbing. A bit light as I was suffering from a bit of a cold. Got a good spin in with two TD finishers, which also provided many helpful tips!
Week commencing 15th April: 11hours 57mins cycling, 186km, and 3,048m climbing.
Week commencing 22nd April: 20hours 23mins cycling, 413km, and 3,573m climbing.
GoneCaving Goes Cycling 
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