Dragon Ride 300km

Dragon is brutal, always has been. Have always looked at it and then bottled it! ;)

Lots of heavy training ahead, or are you already near that level of fitness?

Whenever anyone mentions the Velothon to me I always say the L'etape is a better ride/challenge and I'd always do that first...

The majority of the extra parts of the harder rides of the Dragon (Devil & Grand Fondo) around Brecon & Devils Elbow I know quite well (without knowing the southern parts) as I'm originally from that direction and worked around mid & west wales for many years. Have always intended to do several 'dams' rides with the pinnacle probably a ~150 mile epic - start in Llandrindod/Crossgates/Rhayader and go around the Elan Valley dams, then up Abergwesyn, Devils Elbow dropping down to Devils Bridge then to the sea at Aberystwyth. Then back! Loads of good riding around there! :) :cool:
 
I've ridden up the Rhigos, Bwlch and Black Mountain which I think are in the longer routes. All are fantastic open climbs, probably the most "alpine" ones we have in Wales. 300km is however way too long for my legs, but best of luck!
 
Roady said:
Dragon is brutal, always has been. Have always looked at it and then bottled it! ;)

Lots of heavy training ahead, or are you already near that level of fitness?

Whenever anyone mentions the Velothon to me I always say the L'etape is a better ride/challenge and I'd always do that first...

The majority of the extra parts of the harder rides of the Dragon (Devil & Grand Fondo) around Brecon & Devils Elbow I know quite well (without knowing the southern parts) as I'm originally from that direction and worked around mid & west wales for many years. Have always intended to do several 'dams' rides with the pinnacle probably a ~150 mile epic - start in Llandrindod/Crossgates/Rhayader and go around the Elan Valley dams, then up Abergwesyn, Devils Elbow dropping down to Devils Bridge then to the sea at Aberystwyth. Then back! Loads of good riding around there! :) :cool:
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That doesn't fill me with confidence haha.

I am generally quite fit but it needs a lot of hard training and dieting over the next 6 months before the ride to make it optimum. The routes look breathtaking in terms of scenary.

I think the 'devils staircase' is the steepest element of the ride, which is at around 200km in to the ride which is going to be a real test, looks like there were quite a few DNF's last year.
 
Liefrich said:
I've ridden up the Rhigos, Bwlch and Black Mountain which I think are in the longer routes. All are fantastic open climbs, probably the most "alpine" ones we have in Wales. 300km is however way too long for my legs, but best of luck!
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Black mountain is definitely in there, think the other 2 might be also, its around 4500m of climbing over the distance
 
Signed up for the 230km agian next year. Did it this year as well and really enjoyed it. Went hard for most of it and was totally destroyed by the end but was a lot faster than I was expecting. There's a lot of people to group up with a share the work with which really helps.

The scenery is really nice, especially if you've not been around that area before. I don't think the devils staircase is on the 230km route. I've done it before though and it is very hard. Had 34/50 and 11-30 gearing and really wished for a lower gear. Was trying to keep up with a fast group and really blew my legs going up it. Maxed out HR for most of it as well.

Only advice would be to get there really early and beat the rush. Be ready to leave in one of the first groups for the 300km otherwise you'll be finishing really late. The main rush for starting can take almost an hour to get through.
 
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