Strada 25 Sportive | Brutal Welsh Climbs & Fred Whitton Training Ride

Here’s my ride on the Strada 25 Sportive, hosted by Velo29, now starting from Wrexham and heading through some of the most scenic – and brutal – roads in North Wales, including epic climbs I won’t forget in a hurry!

I rode this event with  @CycletheNation  and we both went into it with zero taper, training right up to the event… and we paid the price! It was tough, but the weather, views, and atmosphere made it totally worth it.

I had to ride this on my Trek Domane winter bike as my S-Works Tarmac SL8 is in the shop with a faulty derailleur. Ironically, I had another derailleur issue here too – but thankfully a mechanic helped me bodge it just before the start.

This was also a perfect Fred Whitton Challenge training ride – the terrain and climbing are ideal prep for one of the UK’s toughest sportives.

Big thanks to Velo29 for organising a great event – and to the random mechanic hero!

Check out CycleTheNation’s video of the day too – link in comments when it’s live!

Enjoy the video? Please like, comment, and subscribe – more ride vlogs and Fred Whitton prep coming soon!

Follow me here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mike_on_2_wheels?igsh=MWNweWt4YWltcmNubQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Strava: https://strava.app.link/2s4pKSV6KPb

00:00 Introduction
00:24 Horseshoe Pass
04:01 LLangollen
05:04 Llangollen gwernant
05:29 Verdict on brutal climb
07:01 Top of Church Hill
08:07 Last Feed station
08:53 Finish Line
09:29 Outro

[Music] God [Music] is well, welcome back. Right. Um, today I’m on the Strrada Sport with Scott. Hello. Sure. We all know him, Cycle the Nation. Right, we’re about I think 15 miles in. Yeah. 2,000 ft. Found nowhere where I could start this vlog and I’m on the horseshoe pass now. Perfect time to start. Yeah, perfect time to start. So, 90 mile 9,200 ft. I forgot my grill mount and I forgot my chest strap. So, I’ll try and get as much footage as I can today. And I’m also on the winter slug. My bike is still with Specialized with uh an issue with the rear derailer. So, I’m gutted not having it, but still out still doing it. And this bike’s more than capable. All you pass Scott. Oh, that is epic. You still the job? Yeah. All the way up to the top. It’s very Welsh. Very Welsh. Better roads in England. Well, we’re near the top of Horseshoe Pass. How lovely is that? I’d like to know if I beat my PR on that from what I did. I think I did it in October, November on the SL8 Pro. But this animal has just dragged me up it. So, and there’s also a guy that said he’s not had a ride in 3 weeks. He’s been drinking every weekend, plowing ahead. So, had to keep up with him. Yeah. Look how gorgeous that is. Last time I was up here, as soon as I got to the top, started raining. So, I don’t think he’s going to do that today. Forecast is lovely. But yeah, we’ve done nearly 3,000 ft and I reckon we’re about 15 20 m in. So, great day ahead. I’m not used to this stocking. Yeah, sometimes you got to just take in the view. The weather is just getting better and better. Right, 37 mile in 4,200 ft. Already a clums list in 2 hour 28. This is supposed to be zone 2, but Scott’s really pushing me today. So far, this route fantastic. Um, it’s the first time they’ve ever done it this year. It used to be in Shshire, now it’s in Rexen. And I’ll tell you what, it’s spectacular. If you like your hills, you like your scenery, then so far this is the perfect sporty for anyone who’s after that. I mean, just look at it. Yeah, it’s a great day out, but could all could all could change. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] halfway in just coming back into I don’t know if you can hear me or not? Maybe, maybe not. Just coming back into Klang Golem. Sorry, Kangofflin. That’s how you say it in Wales. So, we’re five. Oh, we’re near 40 mile 5,000 ft. It’s been a belter so far. Trying to get to this feed station now. Got zero water left. Much needed. I’m not even half. Well, feed station done. Cheese sandwich, flapjack, refill the water. Off we go. Last loop now, which is around 40 mi. Apparently 5,000 ft still. So, we’re only halfway possibly. Um, yeah, loving it so far. Weather’s gorgeous. Look at them views. This is literally 2 minutes out of Clang Gofflin while she’s a steep one. Well, I completely underestimated today. We’ve just done a climb and I can only describe as probably the second worst climb I’ve ever done in my life. Even Scott was struggling and he’s a machine. Um I remember looking down the computer. It was 24% for ages and I think we’ve gained over 1,000 ft. What I’ll do, I’ll put a picture on of it now and come to the top of it. Dropped down again. I thought get the camera out. Hey, up there’s another one again. So, we’ve just come up this one, which I’ll put on now. And this one was a bad only because though we were uh lost some traction and I’ve had to push the bike into the sunlight to get back on it again, which is frustrating. But yeah, we’re doing quite well now. And look at it around here. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I mean the road could be a little bit better but you know in a very rural Oh yeah. Uh I love That’s the last climb done. I don’t know if you can see there, but right from the bottom of that valley, we’ve came up from a little village and I think it’s over 1,000 ft. And once again, it’s like I think it averages at 12 1/2%. But there was three sections that were all around 24%. I didn’t see it drop once. I don’t know how I got up that. I must admit I’ve really underestimated this um sporty. I think it’s the kind of one where you have a good rest for at least a week before you do this. You do a little bit of D training in the week before it. It’s nice and easy just to turn the legs cuz this is really tough. Really tough. I don’t know if you can see on the sign there. But it is 25%. There is it. Yeah. Stop. Thankfully, God, we’ve done some awful climbs today. Even that man, Scott, is knackered. Look at the state of the bikes. I am really glad I did it on this one today. and not me new one. And uh apology to my misses. I’ve borrowed a brand new wheels and tires today. Look at the state of them. But yeah, anyone who does this in the future, don’t underestimate it like we did have a bit of time off training few at least a few days before that were tough. And we still got about I think we got about 17 miles back to Rex near well near Rexim. Still the odd hill. Relatively flat mile. It’s relatively flat compared to what we’ve done though. But yeah, it’s been a great day. Right, get back to it. Never been so happy to get across this finish line. That was tough. Hit the line. Cheers, Scott, for coming down. Cheers, dude. Yeah, good day. It’s even ruined this man. He’s got no stamina apparently. That’s lies. He’s got loads. Right. Um, apologies for not getting much of the climbs or the descents today, but there’s no chance I could. Um, it’s been a tough one. That was a quick outro. I had a big rush to get back, but that was an extremely tough day. Uh, I’ve loved every minute of it, don’t get me wrong, but if anyone’s consider it next year, just make sure you’ve got a lot of training in place before you do the long one. I mean, the medium one’s tough and that’s one to consider and I will consider doing the medium next year. So, it’s probably around over 6,000 ft and 65 mile. Um, so it’s still a good day in the saddle. But yeah, I don’t know if you can see, but look at the state of the salt all over me. But yeah, it’s been a tough day. Anyway, thanks for watching. Apologies for only the small amount of footage of being on the bike. Um, and if you could like and subscribe, that would be fantastic. Thanks for watching.