Bikepacking Wales :: Day 02 :: The Storm

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=== Description ===
Day 1 of this ride hinted at the storm to come. There were warnings in the news and the forecast looked grim but I carried on because it was just too much hassle to try to come up with a viable alternative.

On the morning of day 2 I looked out of my tent then zipped it back up and didn’t get out of my sleeping bag until midday. So unpleasant was the weather.

This video shows the few hard miles that I covered once I finally got my arse in gear and my lazy bones out into the rain.

Well I’ve had a coffee I’ve had some porridge the rain is eased the wind is still blowing I’m going to share something with you which doesn’t get shared very often by YouTube bike pack of types I’m not really up for this if I’m honest I’m tired I got a headache the

Really bad weather is coming back um half a day behind schedule now if there was a big red button here that I could press that would transport me straight to the nearest train station I would press it without hesitation rain’s coming back in I’ve got an unpleasant day ahead of me I

Think but I think one of the skills you have to learn to be a bike Packer or a hiker or anyone in the outdoors is the ability to sometimes just say to yourself do you know what I’ve just got to go I’ve just got to go there’s

Nothing else to do so I’m half packed I’m going to break down the tent I’m just going to go we shall see if the day improves from here it may well Do Oh Oh Ah I put a few miles behind me now and for a moment things were starting to look up uh I started off into a really nice long descent which blew away the worst of the headache and the overs sleeping fuzz the weather I mean it could be a

Lot better but it could be a lot worse the rain is mostly passed by what’s left is being whipped into a manageable Mist by The Unbelievable headwind that’s come up the roads are covered in tree debris the rivers are running really high it’s flooded out Fields down in the bottom of the

Valley and I’ve got to find a proper campsite for tonight now the worst thing is I’ve lost half a day and I’m not going to make it up um it’s far too windy to pitch in the open it’s far too windy to pitch in amongst the trees anywhere low-lying and

Sheltered is absolutely running with water and no fun at all and I thought I’d spotted a campsite over this next section of Hills which is not that far off it’s doable in the next few hours of daylight and then the track I was following turned into well swamp and now it’s blocked by

Fallen trees up ahead not recent ones I don’t think I think they’re old so I’ve got to see if I can pick my way around if not I mean h if not I’m stuck up here I don’t know so it’s a long loop back to anywhere oh bike

Packing I love it absolutely love love It I think I’ve made a terrible mistake I mean oh this is probably up there with the RGA who I’m entirely honest in terms of effort expended to meat as covered it’s just the the forestry trail that I was following on the map isn’t a forestry Trail it hasn’t been used for a

Long time falling trees saplings it’s foot and a half deep in absolutely sodn Moss it’s impenetrable and the forest to either side of it is just crisscross with old Fallen trees um all the ditches are running with water I’ve fallen properly on my face twice uh I mean I can hear can hear

Chainsaws or dirt bikes up ahead so I’m assuming there is an end to all of this but it’s slow going I don’t know I don’t know if I’m going to make it to this campsite even tonight at this rate I guess only positive is I’m so deep in

The forest now there’s hardly any wind there’s hardly any rain it’s a beautiful forest all hung with moss and stuff but I don’t really want to camp here it’s mosquito Central and everything is soaking wet so anyway I’m smashing the snack bars and making the best progress I can I’ll report back Shortly [Applause] [Applause] A One put that one up alongside the hardest days I’ve ever done on a bike I think distance-wise it was nothing I didn’t even do 35 km but in terms of physical and mental hardship that was really tough my Benchmark for hard days is the Ragan

Ride that I did and this I mean that section in the forest was unbelievably physically demanding but it only went on for an hour maybe but the weather the conditions made this yeah it up there Ian at least on the ran I knew that I was on a line I knew that

Once I got through the snowy bits I’d be back on a line this one I was doing in the constant knowledge that I could at any minute come up against an impenetrable section and have to turn around which would mean basically resetting the day and spending the night

In a very very unpleasant wild camping pitch um fortunately I got through that section of trees by the time I got out I was I was exhausted and the weather had gone nasty again rain was coming in and the wind my days the wind I’ve checked

It was gusting 48 to 50 m an hour and it was coming in from the side most of the time so I was having to C the bike over like 10 15° just to stay on the line and then the gust would drop and of course you then over correct and you’re over

The other side of the road it put me in the ditch once like properly off the bike into the ditch and all of this time I was just aware that I was heading for a campsite that I didn’t know anything about status wise and finally I got there big sign on

The gate no tents so I dropped down into the village and I asked the local if there was anywhere to stay she pointed me at a pub which looked closed it had a for sale sign up it said closed but there was a fire burning in the GR in a

Darkened room and tables set for breakfast the front door was open I went in I shouted I tried calling them I could have just gone in and taken a room they were there open and made up but that it just all smelt like a sort of

Get the lonely biker in and then Harvest his organs in the basement scenario so I just started phoning around Caravan Parks until I found one that takes tents and here I am pitched up absolutely starving what a day it wasn’t all bad it wasn’t all bad it was a beautiful ride

Lovely route up over the hills um I mean that sort of landscape that forest and Heather and gor and rough I think it actually looks better in this kind of weather you know Bleak and forboding and exciting so that was nice and something really cool that I spotted was all the

Way along there’s me battling against this wind you know really struggling to keep control of the bike and all up out of the grass are constantly flying these little brown birds I don’t know what they were but they were having a whale of a time flying about looking totally

On it you how much do they you know they weigh like what 10 grams if that and yet there they were flying around in the wind as if nothing was happening so hats off to the small brown birds of the world thank you very much for keeping me

Company on a otherwise pretty grueling day the weather tomorrow morning is looking pretty miserable again but I might be able to get out earlier than I did today going to eat two dinners have another early night we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it thank you very much for watching

Along um yeah to my monthly Kofi awesomeness peoples thank you very much it is uh you who keeps me inspired to do this horrible unpleasant sort of Adventures um everyone else please consider liking subscribing leave a comment always helps hit the thanks button if you’ve really had a good time

Uh check out the link to my Kofi page if you want to maybe buy a spoon or stickers maybe some other stuff I’m trying to Branch out but we shall see depends when you’re watching this I’m waffling cuz I’m really tired and I didn’t think about what I was

Going to say to end this one so yeah cheers all I’ll see you on the next one bye now