Stage breakdown GORE BIKE WEAR™ TransWales ’09

The TransWales concept was born out of legal restrictions that do not allow bikes to race on bridleways and a desire to keep a competitive element in the event. The answer was a rally style combination or long distance ‘un-timed’ linking stages and short ‘timed’ special stages.

The 2009 GORE BIKE WEAR™ TransWales will follow the same concept but instead of having the stages separately from each other, the majority of the ‘timed’ stages will be run within the linking stages. So once you come over the finish line at the event camp you will be done riding for the day. The only exception to this rule is the famous night stage that will still be run separately.

Despite of this adjustment the challenge remains the same. The long linking stage parts of the day should be ridden with ‘energy conservation’ in mind so that when the timed sections approach you still have lots of ‘power and speed’ left. You will still be given a timeframe in which we expect you to finish the day’s ride – if you finish outside of this you will get penalty time – but the special stages are against the clock where every second counts and the smallest mistake could make a big difference.

As in previous years we will hold a riders’ briefing prior to the day’s stage(s) in which we will make you aware of what is coming your way, give you the time by which we expect you to finish the day’s ride, and give you a few markers of what to look out for.

John has been spending more or less the entire winter putting this course together which sets itself apart from the courses of prior TransWales events. It’s going to be a cracker.

Here the details of the various stages of the 2009 event. Besides giving you the distances and the amount of climbing of the day we also have marked the lunch and water stops as well as what the start/finish locations in which we are staying, or staying near, and what they have to offer. Please be aware that all details given are approximate and might change before or even during the event.


Day 1 (Sunday 16th August)
Builth Wells – Llanidloes
Distance: approx. 79km
Ascent: approx. 2250m
Descent: approx. 2200m

Morning Water Stop: Cefn Garw, at approx. 24km.
Lunch: Geufron Hill, at approx. 48km.
Afternoon Water Stop: Llangurig, at approx. 62km (with pub and shop).

Stage Finish: Llanidloes www.llanidloes.com
Amenities: cafes, shops, hotels, guesthouses, pubs, bank, tourist
information centre.

Profile (linking stage):

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Day 2 (Monday 17th August)
Llanidloes – Machynlleth

Distance: approx. 79km
Ascent: approx. 2590m
Descent: approx. 2700m

Morning Water Stop: Hafren Forest, at approx. 16km (with toilets).
Lunch: Meml Viewpoint, at approx. 33km.
Afternoon Water Stop: Start of special stage, Climax Trail, at approx. 58km.

Special Stage: At approx. 58km, Climax Trail, approx. 10km long.

Stage Finish: Machynlleth(www.britinfo.net/index_Machynlleth.htm)
Amenities: cafes, shops, hotels, guest houses, pubs, leisure centre, swimming pool, banks, tourist information centre, launderette.


Profile (linking stage including special stage):

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Day 3 (Tuesday 18th August)
Machynlleth – Cwmystwyth

Distance: approx. 76km
Ascent: approx. 2300m
Descent: approx. 2100m

Morning Water Stop: Nant y Moch Reservoir approx. 25km.
Special Stage Timed Section: At approx. 25km, Nant y Arian, approx. 15km long.
Lunch: Nant y Arian Trail Head, at approx. 40km (with café and toilets).
Afternoon Water Stop: The Arch, at approx. 58km (with toilets).

Stage Finish: Cwmystwyth

Profile (linking stage including special stage):

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Day 4 (Wednesday 19th August)
Cwmystwyth – Cilycwm
Distance: approx. 69km
Ascent: approx. 2100m
Descent: approx. 2200m


Morning Water Stop: Strata Florida, at approx. 27km.
Lunch: Soar y Mynydd, at approx. 46km.
Special Stage: Night Stage, Cwm Rhaiadr, approx. 7km long (not included in linking stage distance - shown above)


Stage Finish: Cilycwm Amenities: guesthouses, pub.

Profile (linking stage):

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Day 5 (Thursday 20th August)
Cilycwm – Llansawel
Distance: approx. 77km
Ascent: 2700m
Descent: 2700m

Morning Water Stop: Rhydcymerau, at approx. 30km.
Lunch: Brechfa Forest, at approx. 50km.
Special Stage Timed Section: At approx. 50km at Brechfa Forest, approx 10km long (possibly run as a relay).

Stage Finish: Llansawel


Profile (linking stage including special stage):

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Day 6 (Friday 21st August)
Llansawel – Llanwrtyd Wells
Distance: approx. 85km
Ascent: approx. 2300m
Descent: approx. 2300m

Special Stage Timed Section: At approx. 20km at Cwm Rhaiadr, approx. 3km long.
Morning Water Stop: Cwm Rhaiadr trail head, at approx. 23km
Lunch: Llanwrtyd Church, at approx. 40km
Afternoon Water Stop: Sugar Loaf, at approx. 60km.

Stage Finish: Llanwrtyd Wells (www.llanwrtyd.com)
Amenities: cafes, shop, hotels, guesthouses, pubs, bank, tourist information centre

Profile (linking stage including special stage):

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Day 7 (Saturday 22nd August)
Llanwrtyd Wells – Builth Wells

Distance: approx. 68km
Ascent: approx. 2000m
Descent: approx. 2050m

Morning Water Stop: Cefn Garw, at approx. 14km.
Lunch: Elan Valley Visitor Centre, at approx. 30km (with a café and toilets).
Afternoon Water Stop: Bwlchciliau Forest, at approx. 45km.

Stage Finish: Builth Wells (www.builth-wells.co.uk)
Amenities: shops, cafes, hotels, guesthouses, banks, leisure centre, launderette, swimming pool, pubs, tourist information centre, arts centre


Profile (linking stage):

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Congratulations on finishing the GORE BIKE WEAR™ TransWales 2009!
The ‘official’ part of the GORE BIKE Wear™ TransWales will come to an end with the final prize presentation on Saturday afternoon/evening back at the White House Farm in Builth Wells. Seamlessly following on from that we will have the finishing party which, going by the last few year’s festivities, will carry on for quite a while.

We hope once more that everybody – including support crews – will stay on for the party to celebrate their achievements and to start a very much deserved rest after a tough week.

Obviously the campground and the facilities will stay open until Sunday morning and everybody is welcome to stay on.

Hopefully these course details will give you a better idea what is coming your way over the GORE BIKE WEAR™ TransWales 2009 week. Once more be aware that distances, locations and amount of climbing are provisional at this stage and are subject to change.

The BIG numbers:
Overall distance (approx.): 550km (344miles).
Overall climbing (approx.): 16,500m (53,700feet).