TransUK - TransWales 2010

Wales, UK
Saturday August 14, 2010
by: Joseph Castle

This report is sort of late because I am now just thinking about how to describe an event that seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Although, after partaking in the 2010 event, I often finding myself asking what is next and where can I take this bike riding so my family can enjoy it as well.  In my house, we are beginning to have discussions about next year’s race schedule and I am only three weeks away from TransWales.  Funny how what little recovery time I have had or at least away from riding has led me to think so much about next year.

The race was great!  I had been planning for this race for two years since I first learned about stage racing and first met my race partner, Dick Smith.  Dick completed Trans Rockies 2007 and we started riding and racing together in local 24hr races with some other good friends.  At our first 24hr race on a team, I remember asking Dick about what races are in the UK that are similar to what we were doing in the US.  He immediately told me about 24hrs of Mountain Mayhem, probably the largest UK 24hr race.  Over time riding and emails being sent, somehow, we decided on a stage race and the largest and most local to Dick in the UK was the TransUK being held in 2010 in Wales.  Part of why we decided on this race was because of my desire to do a stage race.

The TransUK stage race is a seven day mountain bike race that takes place either in Wales or Scotland.  Initially, it started by bouncing back and forth between the two countries in the UK.  It had never been held in England.  For the past three years, it has been held in Wales.  In 2010, it was held in Wales where we did a point to point race and the camp moved with us from town to town.  We basically did a large circle within the interior of Wales while getting close to the English border, the Scottish border, and the Welsh coast line, but never seeing any of the three.

The terrain was mixed between paved roads, gravel roads, and single track.  The mix was probably 10% paved road, 80% gravel roads, and 10% single track.  This terrain was different than what I was used to riding.  It seemed like a lot of gravel roads but they were interesting in that they could be rocky to really smooth, at times they were muddy, really wet, or very rocky.  A small car could drive on most of the roads that we rode on except for the single track.  Often, we would find ourselves crossing fields where sheep would be grazing openly and the trail would be made of grass so it was a version of gravel roads by width with some car tracks and at times it would be single track.

The riding was different too in that it favored riders that were good road riders with strong fitness and climbing abilities.  At times, there would be very steep hills where only the granny gear would get you up the hill.  This would happen on paved roads as it would on gravel.  The amount of climbing was about 1,500 feet per 10 miles of riding.  Each day we would ride about 45 miles with five to six thousand feet of climbing.  There were shorter days with less climbing and then there were really long days.

The racing format was different than a typical US race too.  For the overall stage, there would be a set time to get to the campsite, usually being around five or six hours.  You didn’t race from point to point or during the linking stages.  In the middle of the linking stages, we would do a timed section of the course that would be used to determine our race standing.  The timed sections usually lasted for about two to five miles which were not too long.  The timed sections were uphill, downhill, singletrack, occasionally technical, and one at night.

The weather was great four of the seven days of the race.  It was sunny for the first four days with the temps reaching 70 degrees.  The last three days it poured off and on with temps in the 60s.  Overall it was really nice considering the bad weather I anticipated.

Dick and I did really well finishing in the top third of the male duo teams.  We came in 7th out of 21 teams.  We broke into the top 10 about mid week which made the timed racing sections mean a little more.  I was surprised that we were in the top 10.  I loved the scenery of the hills, fields, towns, and greenery.  I could have used more technical single track but it was fun nonetheless.

The experience was great and well worth the trip.  It was a nice ending for a long year and long three years.  It was even better to hang out with my partner who I see about once or twice a year and one of his good friends.  Now we have to determine where we will go next in a couple years to team up one more time and to keep this a lifelong event.

Cheers!