Superstar OBW! Yes, it was monsoon conditions!
My first draft of race route did take us south from Hay Bluff as you describe.
Unfortunately, this did not give us enough climb over the 22 miles to qualify as A grade.
Therefore I had to add the climb up LHK and go south from there.
Good news about the ODP.
Cheers mate!
Or.... just suppose.... strike south-east from Hay Bluff, across the untracked tops to Crib-y-Garth / Black Hill (handy trig point for relocation if the clag is down) and then off the narrow ridge down to the valley - no idea what this is like, looks like it could be interesting. Possibly a control at the picnic site at the bottom, then down into the Olchon Valley and back up and over the ridge to The Vision? I reckon it would add about 3k to the race route, and about 170m of additional climb? Worth a recce... that unnamed ridge could be an find!
Yes I considered that. However, I need to manage safety refuges which are all linked within a definable and realistic use of terrain. What i've got gives me 3 very controllable refuge points which will also allow the marshals at those points to set/deset the control points on the summits as well as keeping competitors and organisers within a manageable loop.
Sounds great Wheeze. I live in Hay so I'm going to have to do this! I'll see if I can cajole any of the local running club into it also.
Let me know if you need anything done here - i'd probably be happy to forego the race & marshall if you find yourself short.
Brendan.
Brendan, I will pm you. Cheers mate!
Fair nuff.... might still have to recce that ridge now, got me intrigued! It's apparently known as the Cats Back, and is the highest point in England south of Yorkshire (or so the internet tells me)Originally Posted by Wheeze
http://breconbeacons.wordpress.com/2...the-cats-back/
Last edited by Boy Wonder; 21-01-2014 at 06:57 PM.
This is turning into a forum production!
RO's: Wheeze and Toffer
Safety Consultants: Always Injured and Fellhound
IT Director: Dominion
Local Coordinator: Woodenwealth.
Refuge Marshals: Boy Wonder, Molehill+The Missus
More to come! Cheers to all of you for your support.
Just waiting to hear back from Open Adventures and Martin Stone regarding trackers and sportident costs.
Will the refugees need to claim asylum?
Only from the madness of Steam Bunny events - just pray Wheeze doesn't have the rabbit hat on!!
Cat's Back does indeed make some fine running, but the ascent back over from the Olchon Valley gets very overgrown and will be a real drag. It's also going to be very hard to know when to pitch back over to get to Capel y Ffin; very easy to over or undershoot. There is also the issue of fence crossings; quite a few potential snags heading from the Blacksmith's Anvil (as it's marked on the map) which is the cairn at the point at which you head from the Vale of Ewyas into the Grwyne Valley and down to reservoir. Likewise, going from Waun Fach summit and heading over the stream that descends down into the reservoir, it'll be hard not to cross a few fences. That area also gets extremely boggy and chewed up by MXers and 4x4 drivers so it's going to be tough on tired legs, as I know from plenty of bitter experience.
Great looking route though! I'm meeting Brendan for a recce run on Saturday so one of us will post our findings on here.
Ed D(ickson), Mynyddwyr De Cymru
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