Key Facts:

Date: Sunday 1 June 2014

Distances: 81 or 100miles. (130.4km on my garmin for the 'short' course)

Elevation gain: 2562m (garmin - short course)

Entry fee: £25 or £35 on the day

Start: Bala Leisure Centre

Feed stops: Talsarnau primary school & the Red Lion pub at Dinas Mawddwy. About the right quantity and mix of savoury and sweet fillers.

Participants: c75

Timing: Electronic tags (My times: 6:21:15 total, 5:48:42 moving)

Signage: Pink arrows on black background. Generally good signage and no problems with missing signs. A bit of guesswork needed in Dolgellau where a few more would have been better, but the signs were quite small and we might have missed them.

Roads: Mostly country lanes, quiet mountain passes and a few stretches of main roads.

Photos: CAC Photography

Freebies: High5 bidon + gel, Red Kite events finishers T-shirt.

Having cleaned the blood off my frame, handlebars and axles, I'm ready to type up a brief review of the debut running of Red Kite Events' worthily named Bala Devil Sportive.

Although I was only about 30 minutes before the advertised start time, when I arrived at Bala leisure centre at about 7.45 the car park was nearly empty and there were very few riders about. I quickly realised this would be a niche event. Indeed it was, for most of the day we were riding alone. Nowhere to hide and share the work in a peleton huddled together round most of the mileage. In fact, I think we saw fewer than 10 other riders in total out on the road, plus a handful more at the two stops. So apart from the signage, timing, and feed stations, it had a training or audax ride feel to it more than a sportive. But that's no criticism. The roads and hills and stunning scenery on sunny summer's day in North Wales are what you've been longing for through the most of the year, and the organisation was pretty good overall.

Half an hour's faffing before hitting the start line is mandatory for many riders - me included, This time it was mostly about hunting for suncream, and choosing a between a one or two bottle strategy using the other cage to carry CO2 and spares and save the weight of a saddlebag. I opted for the latter, figuring that we were only riding the "short" 130km course and I could easily cover 25 miles between refills. I was so wrong.

Three of us domestiques from Marford & Gresford Velo had signed on at the deserted registration desk. Mark, who made it clear he was happy to suffer in private and ride alone, leaving Julian and myself to see what we could do as a pair.

After a short briefing, we bumped over the timing strip and rolled out along the awakening high street of Bala. Straight after the row of cafes and twee gift shops we turned left and immediately homed in on the nearest section of inclined tarmac. The Bala Devil route is all about the mountains almost from the get go, undulating gradually up past the flat expanse of Llyn Arenig and on into the high uplands. As the steady uphill sections are mostly not that steep and are punctuated by short swooping descents, you don't realise that most of the first 10 miles are uphill, and we gradually accumulated a sizeable altitude. The two routes split at the derelict café of Pont yr Afon Gam, which was once apparently the highest petrol station in Wales.

Figure 2 Julian and Stuart on the gradual climb to Pont yr Afon Gam

The B4391 descent into Ffestiniog is thrilling, especially at the top where the road hugs the contours of the mountainside, just a stone parapet keeping you away from a near vertical drop to the ravine and waterfalls hundreds of feet below. The descending just keeps on coming, as we paid out all of the 460m/~1500ft in our accounts down to sea level. With wide grins after the fairground ride down, we coasted along the estuary into the village of Talsarnau and the first feed stop.

Two apologetic chaps had done all they could to set up, but as the caretaker hadn't appeared to open up the school, there was nothing to drink, and no loos. Being male I wasn't too bothered by the latter, but with just one empty bottle the former was a big issue for my ride plan. On the plus side there was a nice selection of snacks laid on by the caterers, and friendly staff. Lucky for me the caretaker's car pulled up as we were polishing off a couple of new potatoes and welsh cakes, and I was able to fill up with water in the school kitchen.

Rather than continuing along the coast road past Harlech, the route dived off to the left and straight up a nasty minx of a climb, the Moel Goedog. It was unfamiliar to me and one of those where you come out of the trees thinking that you are nearly there, only to see a long ribbon of asphalt draped up the steep hillside ahead. Four of us ground slowly up the gradient averaging 15% to a gate at the top where I stopped to be the attendant for the others. To be fair, the sea views were great and a glass-half-full sort of rider might have said it was well worth the detour, but we were too bothered with catching our breath back to stop and stare.

Figure 3 Upper slopes of Moel Goedog

On the descent down the other side to Llanbedr I noticed my left thumb was stinging a bit in the wind. Looking down I was shocked to see a congealing mess of blood over my fingers, and drops up my arm. It looked like a scene from A&E. I had somehow sliced open the end of my thumb when opening/closing the gate at the top, but I didn't even notice at the time. Such is the power of the endorphins pumping through you just after a climb like that.

It was one of those spectacular but superficial wounds, so I was good to go, and trailed behind Julian on the way back down to the coast road to share my news. We pushed ahead quite hard in a two-up formation down the rolling coast road to Barmouth, where we looked in vain for an open pharmacy to get some wipes and steri-strips.

With the sea finally behind us, we slackened off the pace for a short rest going up the Mawdach estuary - memorable to me for family bike rides along the trail across the water when the kids were young. At Penmaenpool, we clattered across the boards of the wooden toll bridge, waving at the collector at the toll booth - sportive riders' tolls were prepaid.

The flat Sunday spin along the coastlands came to an abrupt end as soon as we'd gone through the cute stone holiday town of Dolgellau (also with no open pharmacy). Heading east, the climb of Bwlch Oerddrws came in two clear halves. A quiet back lane etched a fearless direct line up the hill, past tranquil meadows and trees, teasing as each corner reached seemed to reveal yet another ramp up. Eventually though it did give way, and gave a tiny scrap of downhill for relief before we joined the A470 for the second half. Not much fun this bit, a long slog up to a classic saddle-shaped col. Water bottle having long run out, I was starting to cramp up and not for the first time regretted the choice made back at the start. But the Oerddrws pass did give us the quickest descent of the day down to Dinas Mawddwy - over 50mph for the quickest riders. (I was a shade under - [shy face]).

Figure 4 Bwlch Oerddrws Summit

Being at an open pub, the second feed stop had no problems with access to water and loos. They even had a kettle ready for a most welcome coffee. But my #1 need was for the first aid kit, and I headed into the pub to clean myself up and patch some running repairs. Like the first station, it was well-supplied with sweet and savoury bits, and several more riders trickled in while we refuelled. Knowing that next up was Bwlch-y -Groes "Hellfire Pass", I was in a bit less hurry than Julian to get back onto the road.

As we followed the lane see-sawing its way up the valley, I was scanning the horizon for a first glimpse of this climb. It finally comes into view when you are nearly upon it, taking in a first bitingly-steep right hand wooded hairpin before settling into a relentless tough angle all way up the open mountainside to the top. It's a fearsome climb by any standards. The only strategy seems to be forget your pace, just try and find a cadence and a breathing rhythm that you can sustain. Bwlch-y-Groes is infamously hard because it gives absolutely no respite. This is almost true. There is one short section about halfway where the grade eases to c10%, and this felt blissful. But after about ¾ of the way up the voices in my legs finally outshouted the yelling to carry on coming from inside my head. A foot went down, and the big Game Over sign flashed up in lights before my eyes. Looking around me, everyone else was walking too, so it didn't feel too bad. I've done it before once, and I'll try again another day. Hats off to all those who rode it all the way up.

Figure 5 Mark battling with the Bwlch y Groes

Julian had pressed on over the top before me, so going down I had the mountainside all to myself. I was feeling a distinct electrolyte deficit. Three bottles worth over a six hour hilly ride simply isn't enough. There was a bit of time for a final gel riding round the horns of Lake Vyrnwy, mentally regrouping before the final climb over Hirnant Pass.

This is one of my favourite cols between the Arans and the Berwyns. It rises through deciduous woods and pine plantations, with a chocolate-box clearing in the middle where the road crosses a stone packhorse bridge over a tumbling stream. But the cramps were coming more and more regularly, and I was most glad to finally break out of the trees into the moorlands at the top.

A calm inner voice interrupted my thoughts. "Ladies and gentlemen we shall shortly begin our descent into Bala. Please return to your saddle, return your jersey zip to the upright position, and fasten your mitts onto the drops for descending." Going down the Hirnant Pass is a thriller. The road is narrow and steep, but in good condition with open sightlines, so you can go as fast as you dare. Further down, the glide path flattens out giving a few miles of flowing downhill action following the lovely Aber Hirnant valley. Then a final sprint across the flat top end of Bala Lake and back through the town to base, about 8 minutes behind Julian.

The sun was out and the organisers welcoming. The weather was ideal for a bike ride in the hills and overall the route was certainly tough, as Red Kite events are deliberately setting out to raise the bar for sportive difficulty. But they had chosen some fantastic roads. Would I recommend it? Absolutely, as long as you really like climbing.