Gideon tackles the Bryan Chapman Memorial

Gideon Rabinowitz
Jun 19
9 min read

So, my second big event of the year for Dad and Jeroen earned my classic understatement of ‘Challenging, but uneventful’ in my Strava feed, which has drawn a bit of derision from other mortals who have difficulty on the levels of daftness I achieve in the pursuit of fulfilment on 2 wheels.

My last year's attempt I titled my appointment with Bryan Chapman so I thought about calling it my second attempt of an appointment with Dr Bryan Chapman, which is not entirely accurate as I don’t think he was a doctor, but hey in this post Trump world, never let Truth Social get in the way of a good line. OK well it wasn’t the best of lines, but forgive me for my rather pathetic attempt to pad this out!!

Last year was all about disasters with puncture proof tires that were not and bent gear hangars that prevented the use of my easy gears, which as a result ended in up in much grinding of the teeth and, oh yes, pushing the bike!

The immediate prelude to this was on the Friday night in the Wollaston Inn looking at a rather wet weather forecast. With a met office yellow warning for wind and rain, fortunately my own forecasting app – Epic Ride Weather said it was going to be a bit damp and draughty, so I chose the believe my app and not the state funded government propaganda machine.

Saturday morning at 3.45 alarm went off, I slipped into my gear with a banana for immediate support, (food – what else?) and into the car exiting the car park on to a very deserted road in the middle of nowhere, which happens to be 8 miles from Chepstow. Into the Innage farm carpark the ride had booked, just as the light started to break and into a very damp field to assemble the bike and add all the things I might need but not use. There is always the hazard of losing that wheel through axle in the long grass, thankfully avoided.

5 minutes later down pot holed strewn minor road I arrived at the Bulwark community centre to be greeted with my growing acquaintances in the world of audax, fellow LEL riders who have forgiven me for giving them an LEL start time they really didn’t want and misguided types who like my write ups…Being early, beans on toast was consumed, the culinary highlight of the ride.

Brevet card issued and at 6 we all assembled to briefed by Will with strict instructions on not to miss controls, well outside my capabilities! Off we went, the weather depressingly damp, but not tipping it down, which was a better than forecasted, out of Chepstow and onto to the Black Mountains, to witness one prang by some riders who had been going a tad too fast for wet Welsh roads with shards of expensive broken carbon on show.

I started to get close to one rider Sunil from Reading as we seemed to be doing the same pace and made it got the 1st control at Bronllys at 70km in good time, well 15 mins ahead of last year. A superb Bacon bap was consumed which actually improve with its repeats later in the ride, but not so nice for anyone downwind of me.

As with last year not much memory of a fast-rolling bit of riding to the next control Llanidloes at around140km, and into the Spar as really there is not much choice here. I knew that straight after we’d be on some big hills to get to the reservoir and onto the Cambrian Mountains, more to the point Machynlleth mountain, so this feed was important.

The weather was so severe that Will Pomeroy the organiser had moved the next control at Mach Mountain back by 3km to stop it from being blown down the mountain, an interesting prospect of a downwardly mobile control chasing a rider, with a controller clenching their buttocks if you can visualise that. Even so with the wind and the drizzle it made for a pretty miserable pit stop except for the generous quantity of flap jack and club orange bars.

Doing that last climb with said flapjack digesting was tortuous, rewarded by some amazing views, then to be rewarded by a fast and wet decent in Machynlleth with some rather daft speeds being recorded… through the town accompanied by Sunil and now Gregg and Jason, who I’d stay with for much of the ride.

Much of the following road was free flowing, undulating with the occasional sharp ramp, then through Dolgellau to the Kings YHA at 200km. On Friday night I’d given birth to kittens seeing the Facebook page fill up with the news of the local car rally club running their event through the very narrow and steep access road, fortunately they were running in the small hours and it was 16.00 when I arrived, chastised by my new found companions for not riding the remaining 10ft climb and going around the flat way! Lots of nice pasta consumed and a quick check on the bike that my tyres were OK as this is when the 2024 ride started to go very pear shaped. Back down the steep road, which I exclaimed to Jason and Gregg was shorter than the way up.

Onto the next info control at Harlech at 230km, the contents of which I have been sworn to secrecy by Will, (but for a small fee I could be persuaded 😉). I was hoping that knowledge of the exact location of the info control, would keep Gregg, Jason and Sunil with me, but much to my surprise, it was surrounded by other riders as we arrived! So much for ‘knowledge is power’ then. Then onto Barmouth across the rutted wooden slatted bridge, which I cannot ride at speed as I like to keep my bike and teeth in one piece. Onto fast rolling coast roads eventually drifting inwards.

Undulating again as we approached the base of Snowdon and the long assent up Pen Y Pass. All went OK, much better than last year. I had the control fixed in my mind from last year, unfortunately my mind hadn’t checked that it had not moved, a fact that started to dawn on me on the rapid and smooth descent was not being followed by another large climb. Being sheep like, another rider followed my lead, and we stopped when it started to flatten and that I’d been a bit daft and missed the control. We were in Llanberis, so it did dawn on me that when I saw we were at 280 km we were rather close to Menai, whoops, I will have to repent my sins to Will and beg forgiveness. We made for the local Spar to get a receipt as our proof of passage.

It was still daylight and by 9 pm as we made it to the bridge, last time it was dark and this time I could see everything, which felt very odd! I posted the photo on Facebook which drew the response of ‘who was able to get there in daylight!’ Into the Menai control for some more good grub and time for the cold weather gear. The four of us trooped of to the night stop at just under 400km in Aberdyfi so another 90km and arrived at 02.45 in the morning. The route to the night stop took us back to Barmouth, (not via Snowdon fortunately), back across the bridge to find that nightfall had not improved the riding experience on the bridge.

Riding at night is very different in the middle of nowhere and we took turns in leading, the rain threatened but by mid night it really was a bit wet! It eased of and was dry for much of the return leg. Memories of last year colliding with a stationary car going in the opposite direction and falling off when I could not see that the curb was a curb and not flat were banished as I managed avoid both this time keeping my bike intact.

So onward to the night control unscathed and very dark at 394km at 2.45….a different experience from arriving when the light had come up last year – not so much a night stop as a morning collapse! Sunil was ahead of us, his gears had died, and he was franticly looking for a charger, no not for an electric bike, but without it he could not change gears. Found a vacant mattress dumped my stuff and stripped off to get my head down for a not very successful sleep, but at least I was resting and horizontal. Come daylight I stayed another 30 mins horizontal before putting my gear back on and grabbing some breakfast at around 5.30 of tepid baked potatoes, sausages and tea, yes, I know how to live.

Gregg, Jason and I left at around 7 ish as Sunil had gone at 5, turned out he was stuck in a large cog, great for going up hills, of which there were many to come, but frustrating when your max speed is 13mph! We stayed together for an hour or so, but Jason dropped back. Gregg and I stopped at the Spar at Curno as being a better choice than the McDonalds at Newtown and off up the first big climb of the day – 800 feet. All went well and we kept on expecting Jason, which by now we had suspected passed us while we were at the Spar or was consuming his second McMuffin waiting or us in Newtown!

Climb was uneventful as was the fast long descent which after 14 miles took us to the 1st control of the day at Knighton, by 11 time for yet another bacon roll and cake before heading over what felt like many hills to get to Hay on Wye, many memories of the hills I walked in 2024, but 2025 I rode. Many fast cars from which we shout obscenities given the speed on the narrow lanes, not the sort of behaviour you see in more gentile West Berkshire.

We stopped to gird our loins in Hay, (I had a gel!), then off to the Gospel Pass, 1,500 ft in about 8km which took an hour, exactly what Gregg predicted. By the time I got to the top alone having seen Gregg and others disappear into the distance, it was miserable, windy and wet, but still a great view. Down the fast narrow decent where the surface ranged from smooth to moon like craters, to the Treats café, at 544km heaving with other riders – well about 5 and a gathering of scouts.

We now had a mixture of riders finishing their 3rd 200km in 3 days, (the soft option 😉) and riders who started earlier than us, a good boost to the ego. The café is very quaint, cash only and in the middle of nowhere. I caught up with Gregg again and our discussion of ‘where’s Jason?’ continued. Again, I was hours ahead of last year, memories of trying to sleep on the grass came back to haunt me.

Out again and onto the last nasty sharp climbs of the day which almost finished me off in 2024, before a wonderful fast sweeping roads into Monmouth and across the river and onto the last control…Redbrook at 580km by 17.45.

So now it was a short scenic climb to Tintern, where for the first time I’d had the presence of mind to take photos. Final climb of the day and down into Chepstow and the Arrivee at 7 o'clock on the dot although for some reason I clocked a one-minute penalty. I was greeted by Will, ‘Gideon you've smashed it’, for which I had to be humble and admit I had sinned missing the control at Pen y pass… thank God my receipt was accepted…

Gregg was a few minutes ahead of me and it was good to see Sunil at the finish as well. But no sign of Jason, so Gregg and I wondered what had happened. Our concern lasted until the 3rd cup of tea and 5th flapjack, by which point we thought we’d done our bit. After I had packed the car up, I saw Jason trying to avoid a rather erratic BMW driver, (me!) coming out of the Bulwark estate. At least I didn’t run him over 200m from the finish, something I feel good about.

Ride was quickly uploaded on Strava, followed by lots of kudos and some debatable comments on my sanity especially as I’d called it challenging but uneventful. Perhaps if I’d gone to the McDonalds at Newtown instead of the Spar at Curno, and had 6 Egg McMuffins then it would have been eventful.... especially for my bib shorts.

So that was it, Dad, Jeroen, challenge met, hours ahead of last year and my second Super Randonneur, (audax speak for a 200,300,400 and 600km ride all in the same season). So not far off 400 miles and an assent of Everest for a weekend an average riding speed of 13mph. Not bad me thinks…Thanks to Will and all the helpers, to make my second appointment the best…next year??? Well, we will see.