Bottleneck at Capel Curig Event Details| Audax UK - The Long Distance Cyclists' Association

Bottleneck at Capel Curig Crewe Brandon Edgeley

400Km

Summary

415Km cycling event starting from Crewe.

Controls at

Mickle Trafford
Corwen
Barmouth
Criccieth
Bangor
Pentrefoelas
Chirk
Tern Hill
Crewe
Plus 1 information control

E-Brevet permitted.

Description

A wonderful trip around North Wales, the highlight being the evening / night time 90km section on the A5 from Bangor to Chirk. Postal finish, E-Brevet available.
A straight forward event, no sleeping provision are made, (some riders may take power naps at 24hr cafes for example etc). A free brew at Yum Yums in Corwen and a manned feed station at Pentrefoelas (295km) included in the entry fee. An 08:00 start means all riders should pass through the 90km long A5 section from early evening and overnight meaning very low traffic volume. The event takes in some stunning vistas. There are also some remote sections that have little in the way of habitation or commercial services so you are advised to take some time to look at the route and plan accordingly.
Decent roads to Frodsham and onto Chester. From here you have pass through the Clwydian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to get to the Corwen control. You now head to Bala lake and ride along the east of the lake, a bit further on you turn off the main road to follow a lovely rural lane taking you over to Dollgellau. At Dollgellau you then get to enjoy over 10km on the stunning, traffic free Mawddach Trail which culminates with an estuary crossing using the iconic Barmouth Bridge. You now head north, trying to make sure you get to Criccieth in time to be able to use the local services. Suitably refueled we now continue heading north all the way to Bangor services. The next part of the journey sees you passing through epic Snowdonia scenery via the Ogwen Valley using the A5 all the way back to Chirk on decent road surface with no navigation to worry about for 90km. This section is broken up with a basic outdoor free food stop control, it ends at a 24hr McDonalds which may or may not have randonneurs catching a brief nap! Pushing on for home now, 75km of lanes and B roads takes you (via the final commercial control at Tern Hill) back to Crewe. The end is not manned but there is a 24 hour McDonalds and other commercial services (depending on your arrival time) fot you to obtain your final proof of passage. Further details can be found on my website - https://creweandnantwichaudax.wordpress.com/

The provisional route can be seen here - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41260634