Skip to main content

Wales 500 post 1

Day -2 (of the rally)

I can't remember where I saw it, but I found details about an event called the Wales-500. It's a 500 km off road (ish) motorcycle weekend. I've never done any off road riding. but have always wanted to, so, I decided (and no, I wasn't drunk) that it would be a great introduction to off-road riding and I entered it.

Now I actually have to do it as a friend of mine said he would like to do it too. No wit's not just me, so I cant suddenly come down with the plaque and stay at home.

It's funny how many things seem like a good idea until it actually come to doing them.

But, with two more days until we ride to the Malvern Showground to the start of this event, I have started packing.

Now the event expects us to follow as closely as possible a pre-designed route. the winner will be the rider (or team?) who most closely matches the routes mileage.

I have entered the GPS category. I thought this would make things easier. Then I realised that I have never been off-road. Then I realised that my TomTom was bought for road use and I have no idea if it will work for the course they have come up with.

So I dug out an old Garmin Oregon hiking GPS. okay, so this one should work for off-road.

Great, I'm all set, Or at least I will be once I work out how to get the GPX file that the organisers will be giving us onto the devices. I also have to work out how to use them. All I have ever done on the TomTom is pick a destination and tell it to take me there. Now I have to load up a pre-defined route and tell it to follow it.

The Garmin is even worse. It's been sitting in a drawer for so long, I can't remember the last time I used it.

I have managed to find my tent and sleeping mat and sleeping bag. and I've got a bag that will fit everything I want and fit on the bike, so I can at least spend a nice weekend camping, even if I can't follow the route.

Guess I need to go read some manuals.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Triathlon Training in the new year

So, my 2019 training has got off to a good start. I'm running regularly and my knees seem to be holding up. I've got a training plan to get me to a middle distance triathlon in September and I am managing the run distances I have set myself. I need to find some longer cycling routes to work and ones with a few hills too, but that shouldn't be a problem. my weekly cycling distance is okay, I just need to move to get my ebike to be doing less of the work. last week I did use my normal commuter bicycle and managed the whole four days as well as my runs, so that was a really good sign. Swimming won't be an issue, I have always found that to be the easy part of a triathlon (not that I'm fast, but I can keep going, and I did manage to swim the distance within the cut off time when I tried the ironman 70.3 last time) The main worry about going longer is my knees. I've got a 10K booked in late January which will test my knees out and I'm hoping that they hold ...
Post a Comment
Read more

First race of 2019

As I am aiming for a middle distance triathlon in September, I want to make sure that I can complete it before shelling out the (rather high) entry fee. my main concern is that my knees cope with the run section which will be 21 Km (a half marathon). In the past, I have had a bit of trouble with my knees playing up. I thought it was because I had run too much (increased my training too quickly, too many races close together, that sort of thing). So for the last 8 months, I have been trying to acclimatise my knees by running around 5km three times a week To take stock of how my knees are with running, I decided to enter a 10K race. The race I entered was the Bristol Race For Chocolate 10K. It sounded like a fun race and was on 27th January, which would give me plenty of time to train for my main race in September. I wanted a 10K as it is just under half the distance of my target middle distance and if my knees cope with that then I have plenty of time to increase the distance...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wales 500 Post 2

Day -1 (of the rally) So, tomorrow, Patrick and I will be riding up to set up our campsite ready for two days of (not quite off) roading. I've got my camping gear packed, but I've been getting confused about how to pack things that I will want whilst riding vs stuff to leave at camp. Then I realised that I've never done that before. whenever we've gone on a trip we've always stayed a night and then moved on to the next place. Only once have we set up and stayed in the same place for more than one night, and that was at Assen to watch the MotoGP. Guess I'll get it sorted today. I think I've got everything I need, except a way to pump up my tyres if I have a puncture. I have a puncture repair kit, but no pump. hmmm, will have to think on that. I think I will be taking a rucksack so that I can carry stuff out on the rides with me, but I may try to attach it to the back of the bike instead of wearing it as it might get too hot. Today is wet and rainy...
Post a Comment
Read more