Brevet Cymru 2025

Ride Details

Series 6a Super Randonneur 2024-25, Ride number 4

Ride Stats

Ride Notes

The Big One! Never done a 400km and here I was at the start of Brevet Cymru, the longest running 400km in the Audax calendar. Having stayed overnight in the M48 Travelodge I rode to the départ in good time hoping to get a cuppa and maybe some toast. Oh dear, the key-holder for the hall had let the organiser down by not turning up and we were forced to sign on outside, so no brekkie….. luckily the weather was dry, sunny with only a slight chill.

After the obligatory safety brief we were off. Outside Chepstow, after the racecourse, was the first climb followed by a beautiful section along the Wye valley to Monmouth. Once there we tracked the border and crossed into England just before a ‘secret control’ at 50km just off the A465. Beautiful lanes followed for the 30km to Hay-on-Wye where the first control was at Drover Cycles. After a coffee and bacon roll I headed off with a group which largely stayed together as we tracked the Wye upwards into Wales until the crossing at Builth Wells and the up-up-up on the A road towards Llandovery. I was dropped here and then caught by Simon (who I’d met on Mr Pickwick’s in March) coming down the massive hill into the town - some of the guys in the group were on full ‘send’ but not knowing the road I was more cautious.

The West End Cafe in Llandovery is an icon for cyclists - both lycra and leather clad - and it didn’t disappoint. After lunch I headed out, having made great time to this point (150km and an average of 25kph). I was riding with Darren at first, who promptly dropped me at the first climb out of town, and I continued on sometimes passing, and being passed, by other riders on this more lumpy section to Tregaron (the half way point). The village store in the square provided a meal deal, fruit and water and I sat in the sun with quite a few others. Even though I was riding solo I was definitely part of a group… riders going at roughly the same pace as me and stopping at the same time.

After the stop it was time to head for the coast at Newquay - a challenging 38km with quite a few ramps to contend with. It was worth it though as making it to the coast felt like a significant objective had been achieved - now all I had to do was ride back!

I sat in the Mariners Cafe control with quite a few other riders - they all seemed to be having fish and chips but I opted only for a coffee as, although I was quite chuffed to get this far in the time, there was a realisation I still had 170km of pretty hilly stuff to do to get back. This became apparent immediately on the climb out of Newquay - although steep at first it does level out and I quite enjoyed it in the evening sun.

Simon caught me again on the road to Llandovery - I was glad of his company and we rode together into the control where there were quite a few other riders in the cafe. I opted for scrambled egg on toast (it looked weird but tasted good) but didn’t linger as it was getting cold and I was starting to get a little stiff. I again headed out solo for the long section on the A40 to Brecon - the climb out of town went on FOR EVER - the hamlet of Halfway is only…. half way, after all. I was going OK and enjoying the solo ride while thinking I might get caught by other riders - this did happen eventually after Talybont and I followed Darren’s rear light into the village hall control at Llangattock.

This is the final control, and a designated sleep stop, so some riders were bedding down. Others, like me, were fuelling up on pasta, jaffa cakes, rice pudding and hot steaming tea. Darren opted to rest but I decided to press on leaving at around 1:15 in the morning. Alistair left at the same time but dropped me directly after Crickhowell on the road to Abergavenny (where the Rozzers seemed to have their hands full with the local night club revellers). As I rode towards Usk the thought of final climb loomed large - I’d done it before and was confident I’d be okay and as it happens I was! This was in large part due to the fact that I rode it with Alistair, who’d stopped for a power-nap after Abergavenny, and came up to me at the bottom of the climb. We tapped out a nice rhythm together in the dark and even managed to have a chat which took my mind off how steep it was. It turns out that even though he lives in E.Sussex he knows Somerset well, having lived for many years in the Quantocks - perhaps that’s why he’s such a strong cyclist!

We rolled together into Chepstow and the Arrivée - a free control at the 24h garage. I grabbed a milkshake to get a receipt for validation - for the record my finish time was 4:07am on Sunday morning, about 5 hours inside the time limit.

The weather was lovely for my tilt at Brevet Cymru and Wales is so, so beautiful in the sun - it was a real pleasure to experience places I’d never normally see (although I can imagine it being a bit grim if the weather is bad). Obviously its a very hard ride, and most people think you are bonkers for doing it, but I enjoyed myself immensely. The experience was made all the better by the great people I rode with (Simon, Darren, Alistair and others whose names I didn’t get) plus Oliver and his team of volunteers who put on such a fantastic event.

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