Sunday sees the debut edition of Graean Cymru ("Gravel Wales"), a brand new gravel race from the team at Glorious Gravel.
The race is set around the shores of Llyn Brenig in north Wales, promising spectacular scenery and - if you're fast enough - a chance to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Series finals in Flanders next month.
We've ridden a few Glorious Gravel events and always been impressed by the routes and organisation, so when the chance came up to drop in at Llyn Brenig yesterday (I was driving between Holyhead and Chester) I wasn't going to pass up.
Llyn Brenig is a 90-minute drive from Holyhead; arriving at 3am off the ferry the visitor centre was, unsurprisingly, locked up so I parked at the gates for a few hours' sleep in the van. It was a beautiful clear, starry night and when I woke up sometime after 6am the sun was already burning off the mist that lay on the water and valleys around.
The visitor centre was bathed in morning sunlight and already a few anglers were unloading gear from their cars. The reservoir also attracts bird watchers looking for ospreys, and you can hire bikes on site - or even try out what is apparently the UK's only waterfall swings. These look like a regular kids' playground swing but with water gushing out of the beam across the top, so you have to try to avoid a soaking as you swing - I've already bookmarked this for my post-ride shower.
After a breakfast in the cafe overlooking the lake, I saddled up for a lap of the course using the GPX files supplied to riders by Glorious Gravel.
The start/finish is on a lovely, arrow-straight stretch of gravel track that borders the southern edge of Brenig Reservoir. It's the perfect setting for a group sprint finish, and there's even a natural amphitheatre for spectators in the shape of grassy banks that shelter two corners of the water.
With 500 racers expected, this climb is likely to prove an early bottleneck but the course soon widens out as it passes the visitor centre and heads north on a wide, paved road that skirts the lake.
There'll be plenty of opportunity over the next 5km for groups to form and faster riders to press ahead - and they'll want to, because around the 6km mark the course ducks onto a narrow, gravelly section of rollercoaster singletrack as it turns east across the top of the lake.
Riders will be forced into single file here and it could get a bit messy, there are some sharp turns and sudden dips littered in loose gravel to negotiate.
As the path climbs it emerges to run alongside the road with just a narrow grass verge between. It might be tempting to hop across onto the tarmac at this point but it wouldn't be advisable as you'll be riding into any oncoming traffic. In any case, at the top of the climb the course cuts right onto a wide, well surfaced track for a fast descent back down to the eastern shore of the lake.
The next couple of km are a fast blast along the shores of the reservoir and again, a great chance to make up ground or establish some distance between yourself and the pack if you're in a faster group.
After 15km of fast-paced racing you'll be back at the southeast corner of the reservoir, not far from the start line. But here the real fun begins, or at least the real climbing as you turn left onto Bryn Maen climb.
At 1.2km in length and around 55m elevation gain it's not the steepest, but it's a testing drag and will likely split up some of the groups that may have formed on the flat waterside loop.
The reward comes immediately with a ripping forest descent on wide gravel road that will allow riders to carry plenty of speed - and I might have got a little giddy here, because I somehow took a wrong turn shortly after causing me to miss about 10km of the course!
I rejoined the course around the 22km point; the majority of the next 25km loops through Clocaenog forest but there's plenty of variety of terrain, and some great views over the surrounding countryside when you emerge from the woods.
While most of the course is on broad, quite well surfaced forestry roads that lend themselves to speedy racing, there are a few significant sections of narrow, in some cases overgrown and muddy, singletrack. At one point the course winds through woodland before turning abruptly onto a narrow wooden bridge - another "gotcha" moment to look out for.
I found it a really enjoyable course, but it's a tough one: not the most technical, but there is a lot of climbing packed into each 57km lap. On the other hand, there are also several fast, exhilarating descents where you can really build up a head of steam while allowing the legs to recover a little for the next climb.
Emerging past the wind turbines and descending to the finishing straight by the reservoir, I was pretty gassed; the idea of setting off on a second lap didn't fire me with enthusiasm - and I hadn't even done a full lap!
Instead I cut along the water's edge on the gritted path back to the visitor centre, where I hosed down the bike and myself using the provided bike wash facilities and hopped back in the van.
In terms of timing, the organisers anticipate riders taking between 3hr45 to 7hr45 to complete. At the faster end of the scale, for the elite riders, that's an incredible average speed of over 30km/h. For comparison, I completed my 50km partial lap at an average of around 20km/h - I don't expect to see much change out of 6 hours on the day.
I'm not sure how much advantage my truncated recce actually provides - forewarned is forearmed, but also ignorance is bliss... Of course, since the race involves two laps everyone will have a chance to scope out the course on their first go around, and work out where to make their moves on the 2nd lap.
If you're one of the 500 riders who've signed up, have a great weekend and maybe see you there. Just don't follow my wheel if you've hopes of qualifying!
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