WRT ... How hard?

That is a difficult question to answer. The nature of the WRT means that it could be as easy or as hard as you want to make it. Doesn't really answer the question though does it? Yesterdays scouting trip might be a little more helpful. Knowing the facts and figures still won't answer the 'how hard will it be?' question but it might help put things into perspective ... If your longest ever ride is 4 hours around a trail centre you might want to skip this ;o)

Silly bike in nice place caption

The bad points ... I chose a silly bike to ride which made things harder but I have to say, lots of fun.

The good points ... I knew where I was going so didn't have to navigate. The weather was just right, dry, sunny and not too hot. I wasn't loaded. I was running 'special Welsh 29er' gearing of 32:20.

Total distance covered was 30 miles (48k) and the total height gain was 3015 ft. We (hello Sally) had 2 fords to cross and did stop for the odd breather. All seems pretty straight forward so far. However, add the fact that we were out for 7 hours and actually riding for 6 and the picture starts to look a little different ... an average speed of 5 mph is not massive. We could have gone faster in certain places but not much faster!

When you receive your list of grid references and you start to plan your route just bear the above in mind. Due to the terrain and the load carried, your average speed will possibly be quite a lot lower than you imagine it will ... you don't get far by going fast, you get far by going for a long time! (but obviously that doesn't always work either).

Return of the spoon

As an aside, you'll all be glad to know that I was able to retrieve my AlpKit Ti spoon ... it was still hanging in the tree where I'd left it 3 weeks ago.