Has anyone actually seen him 
?
A bit late to this party … not unusual of course 
Ed passed within 1/2 mile of my house along the cyclepath through Chester but we’re on holiday sadly - it actually looks like they routed through Chester to do the cyclepath as the route kicks up just for that bit … surprisingly they missed the Dukes Drive into Chester.
Coincidentally, I went up the Blwch last week, have a very similar photo. Noted that they also went up Church Hill in Glyn Ceiriog which I have studiously avoided but will have to go up on Wild Wales in a couple of weeks 
… had to be rescued once when a carbon rim broke on the way down!
Definitely looks flatter now, just over 100km to go to CP2 
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For those not on Instagram, Ed seemed in better spirits having left Wales 
. He’s doing his best to look after his feet & keep them dry. Buying new socks, germolene & using plastic bags…
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Easy for you to say 
we could just call it Hellfire and do away with the Welsh stuff!
It’s a tough climb and I was frazzled after nearly 2500m of climbing and a wasp sting on my lip so I’m not claiming a pure ascent, was just pleased to get up and roll into Bala.
Looks like they’ve greyed out all the people who didn’t make it into CP1 in time … most still continuing by the look of things.
Doesn’t look too tough over the Dales, one tough climb right at the end of the stage
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Well i wouldn’t have put old Doon as a 'gram user. Especially after his admission over on the ST thread!! 
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I’m really late to this party, but massive respect to @ed_m, I think I have some idea what he is currently going through. Personally, think he is carrying too much, would be interested to hear how much of the kit he actually uses.
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Pretty sure I’m a strong influencer looking at the hordes of followers I have kiddo 
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Where is his kit list explained? If it’s on Instagoon, I can’t see it.
I’m guessing that it’s only self-sufficient in so far as need to remember your own credit/bank card for supplies en route. Can you stay in B&Bs if you want? Pretty sure Lachlan Morton did that one night.
He has 2 separate videos in Instagram, one going through all his kit (there’s a lot!) And the other for his bike.
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Think you can you anything as long as it’s open to anyone, b&b or hotel is fine but you can’t be put up at a mates.
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I was going based on pictures of his bike, and my own experience on a similar scale event. I think that the Ultra Riding rules are pretty similar.
I carried: tracker, pack away down jacket, survival bag, waterproof trousers, waterproof jacket, gloves, base layer, warm outer layer windproof gillet, arm warmers, leg warmers, 20,000m/a hour charger, spare tube, multitool with chain breaker, quick link, chain oil, 3 front and 3 rear lights, charge cables, bike computer.
It all fitted into a 7L saddle pack, a 1L top tube bag and an 0.7L top tube bag.
Were you bivvying out at night though? Doesn’t look like it from that kit list and obviously bivvy kit is going to make up a fair chunk of his gear
Plan was to stop in bus stops, train stations or churches… however, due to the utterly shit weather we stopped in hotels each night. Rules state that accomodation cannot be pre-booked, so just winged it. With Corona impacting tourism, hotels were really empty so never had an issue.
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I would not fancy sleeping out on a moor somewhere in just a survival bag and a down jacket. A lightweight sleep system shouldn’t be much more than 1kg anyway.
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Whereas in the UK this summer getting any accommodation on the spot would be …interesting!
Nowhere to get food for a while either 
I know what you mean, those pesky werewolfs on the moors
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The problem I see with a tent is your committing yourself to a lengthy stop by the time you’ve camped, decamped and probably a tent drying session too during the day too. A dry roof can always be found somewhere for a bivvi & it’s quite rewarding to do an F1 pit stop style sleep during a race. I suppose it depends on the manor your doing the event, as an experience or a race.
I’ve got a Hubba NX1 that I think is about a kilo but for anything I’ve considered a race I’ve just gone with a bivvi bag.
Also bear in mind with the GBduro, the quicker you get to the end of the stage the longer rest you get before the start of the next.
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