BEFORE YOU GO BIKEPACKING – THE HEADSTOCK 200

the headstock 200 the shorter version of the headstock 500 bikepacking route around wales, in this before you ride video we will take a closer look at what you can exspect and my thoghts on the route.

Watch the full adventure here – https://youtu.be/ksHYPX0IkGs

More info and to enter go here – https://allmountainadventures.wales/events/

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The Ride – https://www.strava.com/activities/10699903191

The route – https://allmountainadventures.wales/events/headstock-200/
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The gear i am currently using

The tent – https://youtu.be/n9GKHSf805E
Framebag – https://youtu.be/6LM3UJKDOEk
Seatpost bag – https://youtu.be/W1E_iWY6Ajo
Jones Handlebars – https://youtu.be/dhPBSdRros8
Gravel bike – https://youtu.be/Gnd_4LgTyrg
plus bike mtb – https://youtu.be/COTUOzLPbGk
gps device – https://youtu.be/BWeMmx62A9M
mtb shoes – https://youtu.be/OYVEnfXwT0k
All the gear from GNT – https://youtu.be/e5oKSoPoMk0
Vest bag – https://youtu.be/01nzgd-t550
Ortleib bar roll https://youtu.be/Uk9fLgS1ioo
Dynamo setup – https://youtu.be/SL7MhjB6Lp0
Questions answered – https://youtu.be/u1q9AEs9flE
Gb divide bike/gear- https://youtu.be/epcZ81wqFCo
Sonder looped bar – https://youtu.be/BqWGTxd2VaQ

The headstock 200 is the little sibling of the headstock 500 by all Mountain Adventures a 200 km or 130 M bike packing Route Around the South and mid Wales including the black mountains the Breen beacons and some of San Helen and with just having completed the route I

Would try to give you some insight into what to expect if you decide to take it on for yourself including what bike is best the wild camping we will be giving this route a difficulty rating one being easy and 10 being hard and also my overall rating again 10 being the best

Thing since slice spread and one well don’t even bother so let’s quickly jump into this before you ride the headstock 2 200 headstock 200 is a bike packing route created by all Mountain Adventures and will be an organized bike packing Adventure in late May the route is offered in two versions the shorter one the headstock 200 or the longer one that I have covered in a previous video the

Headstock 500 the headstock 200 consists of mostly all off-road traffic free however there are a couple of Road sections most of which are on quiet narrow country lanes so do expect to see the odd car every now and then but the majority of your time you are away from

The traffic and are on the Welsh Trails just like the headstock 500 the Welsh landscape and the wsh trails can be hard going with the train being rough Rocky and you guessed it steep don’t expect this one to be an easy one don’t worry though because this route has some

Incredible descents too you will ride over some incredible trails with great views including the iconic Gap climb in the Breck and beacons which is an incredibly rewarding climb a steady climb up to the top with a couple of big Rocky sections here and there but the

Views are incredible and it’s a must do climb and descent both of these routes will be starting in a town called rogerstone just a ston throw away from Newport South Wales this is organized ride that you pay to enter and will have feed stations checkpoints Etc I will

Leave a link in the video description if you want to consider entering who’s it for so the question who is it for well just like the headstock 500 I won’t say it is for an absolute beginner because I don’t feel whales really suits complete beginner rides however it is noticeably easier

Than a headstock 500 because well it’s obviously shorter however it’s still whales the trails can be tough going and slow going in places and whales can be an unpredictable place to ride with the everchanging weather and trails that being said this ride has a fairly good balance of challenging terrain to easy

Rolling terrain I say easy but it is is often steep but ridable if you’ve got the energy and the gears the ride typically sees you tackle some challenging terrain for a couple of hours and then reward you with some smoother trails to let you recover so I

Would recommend this to someone who does have a good level of bike handling skills and perhaps has some bike packing experience already but is looking to challenge themsel push thems both mentally and physically maybe you have done a few routes around England and now want to experience the Walsh Hills then

This might be a good rote option to dive into some Welsh bik packing and see what it has to offer spoiler alert it’s steep I took on the headstock 500 on the rigid mountain bike and that was the right cool but the headstock 200 I wanted to

Get a different perspective I know a few of the viewers of this channel have entered this ride and will be taking it on on their gravel bikes so I wanted to see how the gravel bike fared on a Walsh bike packing route and just a disclaimer

I love my gravel bike and I have ridden a gravel bike all over the UK including Wales many times and for me Wales and the gravel bike in my opinion just don’t really go well together the trails are Steep and the nature of the gravel bike

Is just a lot harder to get over the rear wheel and enjoy them technical steep descents the trails tend to be rougher with plenty of big rocks to navigate which the smaller tires typically are not always the best at getting through these sections so with that being said how was the headstock

200 on the gravel bike well my opinion still stands and although you can get through on a gravel bike it’s not the best bike for the job you will find yourself under biked on a lot of sections and you will have to ride with a bit more caution there are of course

Some sections of this route that the gravel bike is more than capable the last 20 to 30 Mi of this route is mostly along some nice cycle paths and there are a few Road sections that will benefit from the gravel bike however to really enjoy the main points of this

Ride I would want a mountain bike you will get through it on a gravel bike but you are giving yourself a lot more work if you choose that option on this route also it probably does not need mentioning but get the easiest gearing you can and try to pack light to give

Yourself the best chance of getting up them good old Welsh steep climbs Wales is one of them places where it’s not really allowed without permission from the landowner however Wales also has a lot of very remote places and as long as you leave no Trace

Set up late and leave early you will be fine there is plenty of places along this route can hunker down for the night I didn’t really have any issues along this route in finding places to sleep but you will be wanting either a tent or a bivvy and bear in mind that the

Weather can be unpredictable so make sure you have the correct gear to keep you dry and warm there is also a small Boby just off the official Trail at around the 40 Mi mark it is just a small shelter with some chairs and a place for

A fire but if you need to take shelter there it’s there the trail down to the Bobby can be a bit tricky with a bike however so proceed with Caution as this route is going to be an organized ride there will be checkpoints with feed stations including high five nutrition water and snacks so you will have that to look forward to this route does also pass through a couple of small towns where you can restock your

Supplies if need be the main places are abeni there also there is a small Cafe shop just before you get onto the canal called the walnut tree the route roughly passes through some where with a shop around every 30 to 40 miles so you just

Need to be able to carry a small amount of food to keep you Going this route starts and finishes in rogerstone a few miles outside of Newport South Wales there is a train station in rogerstone or alternatively once you get to Newport you can just ccle along the monou canal to the start of this ride depending on where you are coming from you will likely find

Yourself on a Great Western Railway train which are not the best for bikes the trains coming from London will require a bike reservation and they use the smallest hooks so fitting their mountain bike tires can be a pain the transport for whales trains are very hit and miss with them either being rammed

Full with no chance of getting your bike on or being completely empty and being able to get your bike on completely fine they don’t use the hooks so tire size isn’t such an issue here but like I said they can get busy so you will want to

Make sure you book your bike on before you travel if you are going to be driving to the start of this ride then the ride is actually going to be starting at tiny Rebel Brewery and there is ample parking and they are very bike friendly so that is also a

Possibility the headstock 500 received an8 out of 10 difficulty rating so it’s time to see how the headstock 200 Compares with the difficulty well if you have entered or are thinking of entering this route because you thought the 500 was going to be hard then I have some

Good news this route is easier don’t get me wrong it still has its challenges you will still be pushing yourself hard to overcome them challenges that a route like this froze in front of you but it’s easier it’s shorter and it feels like every time you push yourself to overcome

Them challenges you are rewarded with a little bit of rest bite which the 500 sometimes doesn’t feel like so in terms of difficulty I will give this a seven out of 10 it’s still a challenge and you will be pushing yourself but once you finish you will feel like you have had a

Solid adventure with all the ups and downs that Adventures like these bring the 500 got a 7.5 on my overall rating so which one did I prefer and how will the 200 do well I had an excellent adventure that had a bit of everything that Wales has has to offer the Steep

Rough terrain the Epic descents of course the weather the ups and the downs I think the 200 is on par with the 500 maybe even slightly more on the enjoyable side so I will also give it a 7.5 I think it really is going to depend

On what you are looking to get out of each ride the 500 will certainly test your limits both physically and mentally it might even make you want to quit sometimes whereas the 200 will still test you will still push you you might even question why you are doing this

That’s just a whales bike packing thing though but just when you get to that point you normally get to take a break enjoy the views realize you made it to the top of that steep climb and now it’s time to descend the route will take you on an adventure through Wales a ride

That will probably make you want to come back to Wales for another bike packing Adventure Soon