Pauline Porter Populaire 600

This esteemed ride has been on my bucket list since discovering audax. I have to say, so far, it is the best route I have ever done in the UK. Wales.is.fucking.awesome. In addition to the scenery, the people are just as awesome. In 600km only a single honk / shout of us being wankers from a welsh person (a white van). Everyone else was super patient and law-abiding. Always gave us 1.5m of room. Never overtook on a solid line. As we neared England ironically we had 3 motorcyclists (with English accents and union jack plates) honk at a patient welsh driver waiting to safely overtake a rider ahead of us. They then proceeded to box us in and slow down, not letting us pass, with one claiming “you could kill one of us by undertaking”. People are awesome. Well, forget that, the Welsh are awesome. It gives me hope that there is a place not too far away that I would feel very welcome if I ever decided to leave the hustle, bustle, and general self-obsessed in the southeast.

Will is an amazing Organiser and it is my understanding this was his first time taking over as Organiser of the BCM. It went down without a hitch … but for the one unfortunate uncontrollable hitch … which the volunteers were ALL OVER and I could not believe how well they sorted everything out to keep the event moving forward.

Superbly run and organised event. Loved the route and the helpers were just brilliant at every checkpoint, with hearty food on offer. Even the weather was well organised. A brilliant way to see Wales end to end in all it’s guises, with some stunning vistas and a decent amount of climbing.

A very fine weekend on two wheels. Helped out by some stunning weather, this was a truly excellent event – a great route, buttery smooth organisation and relentlessly cheery volunteers who couldn’t do enough. Thank you Will and team.

A truly epic weekend’s cycling – epic distance, epic climbing, epic scenery and an epic effort from everyone involved in putting on such a great event. This one felt much more than just another long bike ride – it felt like a proper cycling adventure. Love the changes Will and ACB have introduced – particularly the delightful coastal section on the way home from Kings.

A stunning route in beautiful scenery, seeing Wales at its finest. Really well organised by Will and his band of helpers and volunteers who helped shepard weary riders at the stops, helping people find a spot to sleep. Nice to have Fergus the photographer popping up at random spots along the route as well.

It was my firsts audax over 300k and (most of) the climbs were pretty steady affairs. A couple were a bit #willshills, but that was to be expected. Some of the A roads got a bit busy, but that came with travelling that length of Wales and also the weather had all the drivers out.

Nice to spin down the Wye Valley in May as a run in to the finish, although the Llancloudy climb after 575km was a bit unfair!

Looking forward to more of the same.