Hafren, Land of the Summer Fallow

Event Overview#

Hafren, land of the summer fallow. is a 400K BRM starting from Tewkesbury. All controls are unstaffed (X-rated), meaning you need to validate your passage either with store receipts or via the eBrevet app.

‘Hafren’ is the Welsh name for the River Severn. Unlike English, which is rooted primarily in Germanic languages, Welsh has Brythonic Celtic origins — so every time I see a place name, my brain freezes up just trying to figure out how to pronounce it.

Rhanandras? No, it’s Llanandras. Jimru? No, it’s Cymru.

The most extreme example is probably Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It’s located very close to Anglesey, where I rode during my recent 1000K BRM (London - Anglesey - London). Anyway, even English people struggle to read Welsh. Fortunately, as it’s part of the UK, road signs always feature English alongside Welsh.

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain. It meanders through central Wales, flows past the west of Birmingham, passes Gloucester, and finally empties into the Bristol Channel. This route also includes crossing the Severn Bridge near the estuary.

As tough as it is, whenever I ride in Wales, I can’t help but marvel at the scenery. The rolling mountains, roads curving along their ridges, crystal-clear streams winding far below, and the ambient bleating of sheep as if they’re having a chat — it all lets you temporarily forget about saddle sores.

Typical Welsh scenery. No shade whatsoever on the hills. 😂

The event starts at 06:30 in the morning. Total elevation gain is around 4,700m, with a heavy 1,700m packed into the 100–180km section early in the route. The rest of the route is classic rolling terrain — guaranteed to trigger leg cramps.

I still find these British rolling hills really hard to get used to. In video games, you’d call it DoT (Damage over Time). You don’t feel like you’re climbing any major peak over 100m, yet the distance-to-elevation ratio easily exceeds 1:1, and before you know it, you’re bonking or cramping up. Not just in Southern England, but in Wales too, countless unnamed little hills sprout out of nowhere. Here are a few snaps taken along the way.

That diagonal line up ahead is the hill we’ll be climbing shortly. (1)

That diagonal line up ahead is the hill we’ll be climbing shortly. (2)

That diagonal line up ahead is the hill we’ll be climbing shortly. (3)

That diagonal line up ahead is the hill we’ll be climbing shortly. (4)

There’s really not much you can do except try to ease off the pedals and save power. Still, the nice thing about these hills is that because the roads hug the natural contours of the landscape, the views are absolutely breathtaking.

Motivation for Entering#

After finishing London-Anglesey-London a month ago (8th July), I focused entirely on recovery for over a week. I had numbness in my palms and toes, and a saddle sore took a few days to clear up. Then on 19th July, while driving to France to take part in L’Étape du Tour de France, I had a car incident that ended up taking three weeks to resolve. In short, I hadn’t been on the bike for almost a month.

When I can’t exercise for a while, I get a strong sense of needing to make up for lost time. That’s usually when present-me leaves a mountain of homework for future-me. I actually signed up for this BRM right after the car incident while I was stuck off the bike. 😂

Tewkesbury, where the BRM starts, is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from my house, so I drove down the night before and stayed at an inn nearby. It gave me a bit of peace of mind knowing that Tewkesbury was a town I had passed through during London-Anglesey-London. To be honest, I didn’t have any special memories of the town, but just the fact that I’d been there before gave a small sense of familiarity.

Started the ride in Tewkesbury. I kept leapfrogging with the randonneur in the pink jersey, and we ended up finishing together.

Strategy#

Feasibility? Target Time?: Non-stop, Sub-20 Hours#

They say a 400K brevet is in a bit of a tricky spot — too long to treat as a standard day ride, yet tight on cut-off times if you decide to sleep. A lot of experienced riders recommend taking a short power nap or booking a hotel for 3–4 hours.

As it was my first 400K and I planned to tackle it non-stop, I was naturally a bit nervous. Luckily, I had a few experiences under my belt this year (at least 300km+) to gauge whether I could handle an overnight 400K. On London-Anglesey-London, I did a 440km leg with 3,974m of elevation gain straight through the night. And on Day 2 of the Nordic Chase, I covered 387km with 3,900m of elevation.

	Distance (km)	Elevation Gain (m)	Elapsed Time	Avg Speed (km/h)
Nordic Chase Day 1	343	1801	14:36	23.5
Nordic Chase Day 2	387	3917	20:19	19.1
London-Anglesey-London Day 1	440	3974	22:46	19.3
London-Anglesey-London Day 2	326	4259	21:41	14.2
3DOWN - London New Forest Odyssey	312	3807	12:42	21.2
Dragon Ride: Dragon Devil Route	299	4537	13:02	22.9

I thought I might be able to target an average speed of 20 km/h for this ride. I set my sights on finishing under 20 hours. Maintaining an overall average of 20.5 km/h would make sub-20 hours doable.

Minimalist Packing#

One thing I paid special attention to was keeping my luggage as lean as possible. Having been confident on the 300K that a saddlebag wasn’t necessary, I was slightly hesitant about going saddlebag-less for a non-stop 400K. In the end, believing that an experiment should push boundaries, I ditched the saddlebag and brought only a tiny fist-sized top tube bag.

My setup was once again the most minimalist among all the randonneurs.

I usually use one bottle cage to carry a tool keg, but since it was a hot day, I carried two water bottles instead. The essential tools for a flat tire (1 inner tube, tyre levers, a mini electric pump, multi-tool), Chamois Cream, suncream, and 2 energy bars went into my jersey pockets. My windproof jacket was tightly folded and stuffed in as well. In the top tube bag, I packed a 10,000mAh power bank with a 2m Type-C cable, 2x 400mg Ibuprofen tablets, 3x 200mg Caffeine pills, 5 effervescent electrolyte tablets, and 5 energy gels.

Compared to past ultra-distance rides where I either overpacked or accidentally left something behind, this setup was perfectly streamlined.

Result: Finished in 20 Hours and 28 Minutes#

I missed the sub-20 hour goal, going over by 28 minutes. Between Llanidloes (132km) and Cwmann (202km), where most of the heavy climbing was concentrated, I fell up to 40 minutes behind my ETA. I managed to claw back about 10 minutes in the final section. Here are a few key takeaways from this ride.

Hydration Mistake & Muscle Cramps#

On the first leg to Shobdon (70km), chasing the lead pack caught up with me early on. Shobdon was pretty interesting as it’s an airfield — we rode right alongside the runway and even gave way to a light aircraft.

As a courteous cyclist, I always give way to aircraft.

Unfortunately, the climbs started right from the second leg. My quadriceps cramped up badly, forcing an unscheduled rest at Bwlch-y-Sarnau (120km). I usually need to drink around 500ml of water every hour to prevent cramps, so failing to refill my bottles at Shobdon was the main culprit. I had to survive for 3.5 hours on just a bottle and a half until reaching Llanidloes (132km). I made a similar hydration mistake on a previous 300K ride and suffered for it — human beings really do repeat the same mistakes. 😅

To be fair, there’s usually a reason when water stops get missed like this. On that previous 300K, I rushed off without refilling because I was eager to latch onto a group of riders matching my pace. This time, after grabbing coffee and a pastry at the airfield cafe, the queue to get water from the front counter was packed with randonneurs. It looked like a 5-minute wait, and I didn’t want to waste the time. I should have just asked for water when ordering my coffee.

Grabbing a quick coffee at Shobdon (70km) and setting off without refilling water bottles.

Finishing as the Ultimate Motivation#

Naturally, during the night section, that familiar question popped up: “What on earth am I doing on a bike at this hour?” They say having a solid answer ready for that moment is crucial. At 2:00 AM, in pitch-black darkness with zero visibility, surrounded by cold air and isolation, it’s tough to convince yourself that “I really love cycling.”

These thoughts almost always hit during the dead of night. The solitude, darkness, chill, and fatigue hormones all seem to conspire against you. From midnight onwards, my mind started wandering. Luckily, knowing I was only 2–3 hours away from finishing kept me going. Although sub-20 was out of reach, it gave me the push I needed to stay under 21 hours.

When a friend asked me later if I slept, I told him I flipped the mindset — using the thought that “I can sleep once I arrive” as my primary motivation. Well, it wasn’t intentionally planned that way, but it worked!

After endless darkness, reaching the Severn Bridge across the estuary. Once across, it’s back to darkness.

The Compulsion to Rest Only at Controls#

Across my three previous Audax rides, controls were usually spaced 40km to 100km apart. I always struggle with these gaps. No one forces me to, but I used to have this rigid mindset that I should only rest at official controls. When the next control is over 70km away, it feels mentally daunting.

St Caron Church in the village of Tregaron.

Riding 3.5 hours until the next rest stop is brutal. Although I try to plan extra rest spots between controls to keep gaps under 60km, early in the ride I tend to push through without stopping, or take only very brief pauses. Going forward, I’ll stop whenever needed regardless of whether it’s an official control or not — all for a more enjoyable brevet! 😂

At the Finish…#

I rolled back into Tewkesbury at 3:00 AM. I loaded the bike onto the car parked at the finish, changed clothes, and grabbed a quick catnap in the car until sunrise. By 5:00 AM, the temperature dropped to 12°C. A short nap wasn’t enough to shake off the fatigue, so the drive back home felt like crawling at a snail’s pace. With this 400K done, having completed a 1000K, 400K, and 300K this year, one more 200K would make me a Super Randonneur. Then again, I’ve already signed up for a 600K in a fortnight. 🥲 Still debating whether to go or not.