Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Rides and Touring => Topic started by: Wowbagger on 01 August, 2013, 06:28:28 pm
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I'm looking at the calendar and realising that I've got what at the moment is a free week starting on Mon 12th Aug. I'm thinking about just going off with a bike and a tent. I have given no thought so far to a route, or even a starting point. I may be overtaken by events if something should happen regarding Mrs. Wow's mother, but as things stand I'm upfrit.
Anyone else interested in a bit of camping en velo at 50-ish miles per day (terrain dependent)?
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Next year I will be free to partake but unfortunately not this one.
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In principle I've been having similar thoughts, but alas I have plans that week.
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I could possibly do some of that as a shakedown for my French trip. Would not mind doing an easy coast to coast.
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I could possibly do some of that as a shakedown for my French trip. Would not mind doing an easy coast to coast.
Whereabouts are you? A coast-to-coast could work...
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50 miles from Southend is a long way from here.
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Whereabouts are you? A coast-to-coast could work..
Manchester.
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Threadwatching.
I'd like - and it may even be deemed *sensible* for me - to take part in this one. I might dip in for a few days if I'm able to.
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Mrs. Wow and I are toying with the idea of starting in Chepstow and then heading north-west - but Mrs. Wow isn't totally committed yet. We would be on solos (small train option from N. Wales not conducive to tandems) and the routes I have plotted so far involve a certain amount of COR and not a small number of chevrons.
Nikki, if you wanted to join us for all or part of the route, you would be very welcome. We go quite close to stations well served by trains from Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury. I see that there is a good service form Mordor Central to Chepstow for £not much.
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UNI to Chepstow is the cool kids' route. There's only one platform (with working lifts, space, and oxygen) at UNI.
On a related note, it should probably be said that last time I got off a train at Chepstow, I was confronted with that wonderful combination of a loaded tourer and a Mk 1 footbridge. Scratching my head at a dodgy looking barrow crossing, I turned to the wheelchair user I'd been sharing a space-opposite-the-toilet with, and asked how people of a wheeled persuasion were supposed to escape from the platform. She explained that her husband was approaching from the other side, and would carry her wheelchair over while she hobbled across. We exchanged words of encouragement at the halfway point when I went back for the panniers.
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Thanks Wow.
I'm working every day from tomorrow through until (and including) Sunday, so I definitely wouldn't be able to join you on the first day (and possibly not on the Monday either, depending on how grumpy/frazzled I'm feeling as a result of having to have been Cheerful and Enthusiastic at people for over a week!).
Thanks for the UNI tip too, Kim.
ETA Ah, just re-read the OP and realised you're talking in terms of starting on the Monday...
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Agree that Uni is much easier to use, but I still tend to go to MC. The train comes from Nottingham and tends to empty at MC making it easier to grab the bike space. By the time it gets to Uni there's always those muppets, already installed, who like to sit in the seats either end of the bike space, even though they have no bike, chair or whatever.
The downside of MC is that it tends to run from the mythical platform 12.
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Nikki and I had a run-in with platform 12 after the pie run...
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The in part wasn't a problem, but getting out took two attempts and we haven't seen Crumbling Nick since...
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GN: I'll be passing through Chepstow station on the 12th. :thumbsup:
BN: I'll be heading north. :(
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Thanks Wow.
I'm working every day from tomorrow through until (and including) Sunday, so I definitely wouldn't be able to join you on the first day (and possibly not on the Monday either, depending on how grumpy/frazzled I'm feeling as a result of having to have been Cheerful and Enthusiastic at people for over a week!).
Thanks for the UNI tip too, Kim.
ETA Ah, just re-read the OP and realised you're talking in terms of starting on the Monday...
We haven't bought tickets yet and Monday is the earliest we could start.
At the moment my thoughts are towards 5 days' cycling to get us to the Lleyn Peninsula, which is a lovely part of Wales and, the last time I went, better than Gower in that there were fewer people there. Then, a couple of days' dossing and beach-lounging prior to returning via Pwllheli station. It's all very flexible though: I was considering buying single walk-on tickets from Pwllheli to Shrewsbury (no advance discounts that I can see) and spending a night with my brother before getting on a train back to Southend. I am cognisant of the fact that at the end of the following week Mrs. Wow and I have a commitment to Mildenhall.
If you are limited by specific dates we would be quite happy to adjust either end by a day or so if it helps.
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We haven't bought tickets yet and Monday is the earliest we could start.
At the moment my thoughts are towards 5 days' cycling to get us to the Lleyn Peninsula, which is a lovely part of Wales and, the last time I went, better than Gower in that there were fewer people there. Then, a couple of days' dossing and beach-lounging prior to returning via Pwllheli station.
[...]
If you are limited by specific dates we would be quite happy to adjust either end by a day or so if it helps.
*wibble*
You've just tapped straight into my nostalgia circuits - my grandparents lived near Porthmadog. And, yes, a lovely part of the world. Black Rock Sands is/are calling...
No specific dates to work around at the moment, just a generic pile of deadlines. Work things out for you, and I'll figure out how many days I can free up and link up with wherever you guys will be.
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We haven't bought tickets yet and Monday is the earliest we could start.
At the moment my thoughts are towards 5 days' cycling to get us to the Lleyn Peninsula, which is a lovely part of Wales and, the last time I went, better than Gower in that there were fewer people there. Then, a couple of days' dossing and beach-lounging prior to returning via Pwllheli station.
[...]
If you are limited by specific dates we would be quite happy to adjust either end by a day or so if it helps.
*wibble*
You've just tapped straight into my nostalgia circuits - my grandparents lived near Porthmadog. And, yes, a lovely part of the world. Black Rock Sands is/are calling...
No specific dates to work around at the moment, just a generic pile of deadlines. Work things out for you, and I'll figure out how many days I can free up and link up with wherever you guys will be.
Sighs wistfully..... Aberdaron, Abersoch, Nefyn, the funfair at Pwllhelli, Tudweiliog, fishing at Dinas Dinlle ........ lots of childhood holidays.....
Pop into The Lion (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1761239-d2587301-Reviews-Lion_Hotel-Tudweiliog_Gwynedd_North_Wales_Wales.html) Wow and imagine a small AndrewC playing on the swings & slide.....
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OK - I have bought some tickets. Just me, Mrs. Wow has other plans.
Southend to Chepstow, 12/8/13, arrives 13.50
Shrewsbury to Southend, 19/8/13, leaves 12.47.
The route I have in mind (may be changed on a whim):-
Monday 12th, 35 miles, camp at Llanthony: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/llanthony.gpx
Tuesday 13th, 42 miles, camp at Rhaeadr: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/rhaeadr.gpx
Wednesday 14th, 38 miles, camp at the CAT, Machynlleth: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/machynlleth.gpx
Thursday 15th, 36 miles, camp at Maentwrog: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/maentwrog.gpx
This includes a fair few miles of COR, which may be rejected in favour of surfaces.[/nstn]
Friday 16th: 39 miles, camp at Colmon and have a swim: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/colmon.gpx
Sat 17th & Sun 18th: slog back to Shrewsbury. 54 and 50 miles.
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/bala.gpx
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/condover.gpx
These last two may well be replaced by an extra day pottering around Lleyn and a train from Pwllheli to Shrewsbury on the Sunday.
Adenough: you are very welcome to come along. This could be regarded as a coast-to-coast, given that the Wye is tidal at Chepstow and we end up at the seaside!
Nikki: every day's ride goes fairly close to a station (Chepstow, Abergavenny, Llandrindod Wells, Caersws, Machynlleth, Penrhyndeudraeth etc.) so there is plenty of opportunity to come for just a bit of the ride.
Anyone else? :D
Each day's route ends at a camp site.
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Wow (Wow), that's a lovely route. Unfortunately, I've already bagged more than my team's fair share of leave this summer or I'd be with you like a shot.
Maybe, I'll just time my passing through Chepstow to enable me to meet and wave you off. (I'll investigate whether I'm allowed to get off at Chepstow and then get on the next train)
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From Llanidloes to Staylittle, which route would you take, Basil? The lumpy but fairly straight B road or the meandering lanes south of Llyn Clywedog?
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No idea, Wowbagger.
I didn't mean to give the impression that I knew it was a nice route, I meant it sounded like a nice route. Anyway I have repaired to the pub after a bit cycle route gardening, and am not sure where you mean.
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These links won't load on my computer. They time out. [error response].
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These links won't load on my computer. They time out. [error response].
I have just been informed that our server is down for some reason. Dez is on the case.
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There should be a welsh national cycle route thereabouts. Poss NCR 8?
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These links won't load on my computer. They time out. [error response].
I have just been informed that our server is down for some reason. Dez is on the case.
Working for me now.
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There should be a welsh national cycle route thereabouts. Poss NCR 8?
I have just realised that much of the route I have plotted is the Lôn Las Cymru! I knew of the existence of this route but didn't know where it was until now.
What a happy chance!
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My best bet would probably be to try and join you at Machynlleth or Maentwrog, then pootle back to Porthmadog-ish and a station via a visit to Aunty Megan :)
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Do the campsites need booking in advance, btw?
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Re campsites, normally, no, but I shall be phoning them all to check that they are still open!
I have booked a night at my brother's place in Shrewsbury for the Sunday night, so I am pretty sure that I will be just pottering around Lleyn on the Saturday - unless the weather is crap.
Curiously enough, he has to go out fairly early on the Monday morning as he's taking his bike to the Lleyn peninsula for a few days.
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I've just looked at the trains from Mordor Central to Mach/Penrhyndeudraeth - it takes two extra hours to get to the latter from Mach! That's a train going at Wowbagger speed!
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Here are the campsite I have in mind:
Llanthony:
http://www.coolcamping.co.uk/campsites/uk/wales/monmouth/monmouthshire/135-llanthony-priory
Rhayader: choice of
http://www.wyesidecamping.co.uk/home.html
http://www.gigrin.co.uk/and/caravan_and_camping.html
Machynlleth:
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=5965
Maentwrog
http://llechrwd.co.uk/
Porth Colmon
There are two marked on the OS map but ukcampsite.co.uk doesn't seem to list them. This one, a couple of miles away, sounds pretty good.
http://www.penrallt.co.uk/
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OK - I have bought some tickets. Just me, Mrs. Wow has other plans.
Southend to Chepstow, 12/8/13, arrives 13.50
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Hmm, I'm usually pretty well endowed with free time on Mondays (unlike weekends :() so I might just pootle across the bridge and wave you off. Or even ride a mile or two (but no more, I'll have to get back soonish) with you. I don't think I've ever noticed any evidence of a railway station in Chepstow but obviously there is one.
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There was last time we got on/off a train there, and a little company towards the Devauden road would be very welcome!
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Humbug. This is all looking distinctly like the sort of thing I'm going to be annoyed to miss.
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No chance of changing your other plans, Kim? :demon:
I was nattering briefly to my brother last night. He know Wales better than anyone I know but was rather uncommunicative about the route. I also sneaked a look at Crazyguyonabike and there are some very toothsome photos of the sort of thing I can expect.
I am getting stupidly excited about this now.
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Ooh that should be a cracking week. I'll see what I cando about getting
The Monday off work to ride the first bit with you.
If you like I can knock together some GPx route suggestions.
Llanthony is lovely - I have toyed with idea of organising a forum camping weekend there in fact - the ride up from Chepstow is fantastic. The downside is that that campsite is likely to be packed in the school hols with disadvantaged youth groups from Brixton and Haringey. If you call at the farmhouse on the left as the lane goes off into the abbey they used to let you camp on their little field by the river.
You will of course need some pub recommendations :)
A day one lunch suggestion would be the Clytha Arms:
http://www.clytha-arms.com/
And when you hit the Llyn peninsula this is a very nice pub with good food:
http://www.tafarnyfic.com/index.htm
It's very friendly but you won't hear much, if any, English spoken so practising some absolute basic welsh would pay dividends.
Llany over to Mach is a grovel whichever way you go, but the B road via Staylitte is quiet and lovely with stunning views on the top. The A470 takes a massive detour for good reason! :)
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Current thinking is to get a silly o'clock train to Machynlleth for 9ish and then cycle up to the campsite near CAT for breakfast. Does that fit in with your general morning timings, Wow, or would you be wanting to hit the (comedy off) road earlier?
Humbug. This is all looking distinctly like the sort of thing I'm going to be annoyed to miss.
Aw. Might be able to sort you out with a near-live datastream, if that helps?
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There was last time we got on/off a train there, and a little company towards the Devauden road would be very welcome!
It would be worrying if there hadn't been. :D
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That sounds like a splendid plan, Nikki.. What is your preferred breakfast? Maybe the CAT will be open and we can get something there.
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No chance of changing your other plans, Kim? :demon:
The CrinklyClan are visiting. Sans bikes. Ironically, on the way to Wales...
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That sounds like a splendid plan, Nikki.. What is your preferred breakfast? Maybe the CAT will be open and we can get something there.
Health warning: The CAT don't serve anything that I would describe as 'food'. Bloody hippies...
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That sounds like a splendid plan, Nikki.. What is your preferred breakfast? Maybe the CAT will be open and we can get something there.
Health warning: The CAT don't serve anything that I would describe as 'food'. Bloody hippies...
Website says hot food not served until noon, so I'm guessing it's muesli before then?
I still don't own a stove, but I could bring supplies from Brum if that helps?
Will attempt to do something daring like book my train tickets, too...
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That sounds like a splendid plan, Nikki.. What is your preferred breakfast? Maybe the CAT will be open and we can get something there.
Health warning: The CAT don't serve anything that I would describe as 'food'. Bloody hippies...
Website says hot food not served until noon, so I'm guessing it's muesli before then?
It's hot muesli after then. :D
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That sounds like a splendid plan, Nikki.. What is your preferred breakfast? Maybe the CAT will be open and we can get something there.
Health warning: The CAT don't serve anything that I would describe as 'food'. Bloody hippies...
Website says hot food not served until noon, so I'm guessing it's muesli before then?
I still don't own a stove, but I could bring supplies from Brum if that helps?
Will attempt to do something daring like book my train tickets, too...
Rationalising stuff is good. I have a stove, pans and a bottle of paraffin so they will do for both of us. The paraffin will last us pretty well the whole trip (Jan and I had enough for the whole week in Guernsey). If it looks as though we are running low on paraffin then there are good hardware shop in Dolgellau. Some supplies are to be welcomed. What is your normal diet, Nikki? I eat pretty well anything but coleslaw, which is an abomination unto every deity that man has invented, and some he hasn't. I will take some porridge oats with me, teabags, squeezy honey, and I tend to buy milk as I go (Kim may well have told you about this). Lunch in pubs/cafés works for me, and evening meals as we see fit. I'm happy to cook stuff: rice with something, fresh pasta with stuff in it (spinach is OK), dried pasta with some sort of sauce. I'm just aware that we need to carry dried stuff around and it's good to consume it as we go. Rice is much more camping-friendly than pasta as it is much denser, but you tend to eat the same weight of either. It's useful to have some instant calories in the form of fig rolls, dates or geobar-alikes. If you like bacon for brekkie, that's fine, so do I, but the washing up is a pain. Oh, I will take washing up kit as well.
I'm still deciding on which tent to take. I'll probably go for the Hilleberg, for the space. The extra kg can be lost somewhere else.
I'm going to have to get my stuff together at the end of this week as we have a busy three days Fri, Sat and Sun doing family things on Fri and Sat and riding with Auntie Helen on Sun. I'll probably need to do a bit of laundry as we go as I don't think I've got enough cycling shorts for the whole trip and besides, they are about the bulkiest of the garments I'm likely to take, with the exception of warm tops, which I'm hoping will not really be needed and therefore can be reduced to Just The One.
It is possible that, if the weather looks decidedly unbeachy, I might decide to head up to Holyhead, just to say I'd done the Welsh End-to-End, to add to my collection of such things, but if there's a chance of Fri pm & Sat on a beach, then that's my preference. Did you say that you planned to visit an aunt somewhere, Nikki? There are only three trains out of Pwllheli on Sunday 18th so I think I'm going to buy a ticket and reserve a place for the 1348 but try to catch the 1128, for which I would want to be away from the campsite at around 9 - it's 15 miles. The ticket is valid on both trains, it's just that I can reserve a bike space on the later in case I can't get on/miss the earlier. I will delay buying this until we reach Pwllheli on the way through. Then I will have a good idea what the weather is going to be like. If I end up in Holyhead there is a far greater choice of trains.
I'll PM you my mobile no. and email address.
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Outward ticket bought! :thumbsup:
My normal diet is along the bacon - hot muesli1 spectrum. Though the former could well be what's needed after a 5am start and a journey from Mordor!
Not doing alcohol or tea are probably the main things that will throw you :)
I'll need to keep a bit of an eye on budget re cafes and pubs etc, but can chip in for paraffin etc for any campsite meals.
I don't remember there being much around Maentwrog (other than the lovely-looking campsites, glimpsed from the car!), so perhaps I should bring bacon and also rice-y stuff for 2 for supper?
There's a big Tesco on the Tremadog side of Porthmadog, not too far from your planned route, that could be a good place to stock up for the last couple of days. LL49 9NU. It's open 'til midnight according to their website. IIRC a big camping store around the corner on the A497 too, if needed.
My Westwards local knowledge fizzles out pretty soon after that.
[1] My usual breakfast nowadays! I seem to have settled here en route to trying to like porridge!
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Excellent about the ticket!
Bacon is fine. If you prefer your muesli cold, no problem. We could always go down the bacon butty/muesli route.
Do you drink coffee? If so, I'm perfectly happy to do so too. I will probably shove a few teabags in because they weigh next to nothing and take little space. I tend to be a creature of tea-for-breakfast-coffee-at-11ses habit but there's no reason for me to do that.
Alcohol is easy. I don't mind not drinking it. I might get the odd bottle of ale to keep me company in the evening. We can steer clear of pub meals all together if you like: bread/salad/ham/cheese for lunch from a local shop and a drink of your preference. Don't worry about the cost of the paraffin. If we use £1.50's worth I'll be surprised. Since we might be doing a little more cooking than Jan and I did, then it's worth sticking a bit more in if I have the space. My stove can burn petrol, diesel, paraffin, white spirit, meths and barbecue fluid. I have only tried paraffin though and I'm not that keen to play with petrol without a responsible adult present.
I reckon that we will have to buy our dinner in Dolgellau on the way through for our Maentwrog night. I don't think there is a single shop in the place. There is a pub. Oh, apparently there are shops in Trawfynnydd village - http://www.walesdirectory.co.uk/Towns_in_Wales/Trawsfynydd_Town.htm refers.
Blink and you might just miss Trawsfynydd village centre. The village is to be found via a short detour from the main highway, ensuring Trawsfynydd is a peaceful backwater. With two grocery stores, a butcher, baker, post office and a newsagent the shopping is adequate for restocking the larder on a self catering holiday but its not exactly Oxford Street. Then you don't visit North Wales for the shopping. And hey! …there are two friendly public houses from which to choose.
Having just strolled through the village on Streetview, I don't think I'd like to bet my evening meal on it being open!
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Bacon is fine. If you prefer your muesli cold, no problem. We could always go down the bacon butty/muesli route.
I'll do the washing up duty :)
Do you drink coffee?
Nope, not that neither!
Alcohol is easy. I don't mind not drinking it.
Oh, don't feel you shouldn't on my account, just a) don't put any extra in the hip flask for me and b) you're navigating :)
I have only tried paraffin though and I'm not that keen to play with petrol without a responsible adult present.
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I reckon that we will have to buy our dinner in Dolgellau on the way through for our Maentwrog night. I don't think there is a single shop in the place. There is a pub. Oh, apparently there are shops in Trawfynnydd village -
[...]
Having just strolled through the village on Streetview, I don't think I'd like to bet my evening meal on it being open!
*nods*
I've only ever been to the nuclear power station there...
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Do you have any hot drinks? We might not need so much paraffin after all!
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Not really. Nothing that needs catering for, anyway. Just do what you'd normally do.
I may force a hot chocolate down in a windswept cafe somewhere ;)
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It will probably turn really autumnal and we will be surviving on tinned soup!
Edit: http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Wales/Machynlleth~2643251/long.html
*blows raspberry in the general direction of the weather forecast*
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Well, I have called all the campsites and they all still exist.
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Your routes for Hay - Rhayader and Rhayader - CAT are ambitious. I'd stick to closer to the Wye and NCN 8 from Hay through Glasbury, Erwood, Builth and Newbridge to Rhayader and head round the west side of Clywedog after Llanidloes. Wyeside campsite in Rhayader is nicer than the Gigrin (next to the river - good swimming!) but could be busy.
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I'd already decided on the Wyeside campsite based on the reviews I'd read.
I'm undecided at this stage whether to choose the easier roads or the up & over options. I did the river valley route from Hay to Builth last year. I suspect I will decide on the day which to do, and it could well depend on the weather.
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Fair enough, but I would very much advise against the B4518 from Llanidloes to Staylittle. It's a soul destroying succession of monstrously steep climbs. The minor roads along the Hafren and to the west of Llyn Clywedog are much, much nicer.
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Fair enough, but I would very much advise against the B4518 from Llanidloes to Staylittle. It's a soul destroying succession of monstrously steep climbs. The minor roads along the Hafren and to the west of Llyn Clywedog are much, much nicer.
Thanks. That sounds like the sort of advice I need!
I remember driving over that road, W to E, a few years ago and I found it hard to believe how much up there was. I suppose my considering riding it could be described as the triumph of youth over experience.
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No chance of changing your other plans, Kim? :demon:
The CrinklyClan are visiting. Sans bikes. Ironically, on the way to Wales...
Kim, we'll be out of your hair by a time-I-can't-remember-but-I-think-it's-around-lunchtime on Wednesday though....
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No chance of changing your other plans, Kim? :demon:
The CrinklyClan are visiting. Sans bikes. Ironically, on the way to Wales...
Kim, we'll be out of your hair by a time-I-can't-remember-but-I-think-it's-around-lunchtime on Wednesday though....
Ah. Hmm. Off-by-one error in my calendar... *ponders*
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Another Mordor Central ticket to Mach for stupidoclock on Thursday, is it? :D
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I was thinking sensible o'clock on Wednesday.
And then back from Penrhyndeudraeth or somewhere on Friday morning. Which gives me enough time to dry off and get some proper sleep before the Exmouth Exodus. Probably.
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I was thinking sensible o'clock on Wednesday.
And then back from Penrhyndeudraeth or somewhere on Friday morning. Which gives me enough time to dry off and get some proper sleep before the Exmouth Exodus. Probably.
That would be good.
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I'd already decided on the Wyeside campsite based on the reviews I'd read.
I'm undecided at this stage whether to choose the easier roads or the up & over options. I did the river valley route from Hay to Builth last year. I suspect I will decide on the day which to do, and it could well depend on the weather.
The riverside option on the quiet roads on the eastern side is fantastic, and has the bonus of going past the top notch cafe at the old Erwood station.
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Oh yes, I went there last year. It was very good.
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I was thinking sensible o'clock on Wednesday.
And then back from Penrhyndeudraeth or somewhere on Friday morning. Which gives me enough time to dry off and get some proper sleep before the Exmouth Exodus. Probably.
*checks tickets*
12:36 from departure from UNI on Wednesday for us. That make sense?
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I was thinking sensible o'clock on Wednesday.
And then back from Penrhyndeudraeth or somewhere on Friday morning. Which gives me enough time to dry off and get some proper sleep before the Exmouth Exodus. Probably.
*checks tickets*
12:36 from departure from UNI on Wednesday for us. That make sense?
Yep, as you said in PM. Barakta had typoed the date when adding it to our shared calendar, with hilarious consequences. Will have a maps and trains session in a bit.
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I have tracked down the camp site at Porth Colmon that is mentioned on the OS map.
http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/siteseekerlite/aspx/details.aspx?id=123114&returnPage=search.aspx%7cradius%3d20%7clocation%3dLlangwnnadl+-+Llecyn%2c+++Llangwnnadl%2c+++Pwllheli%2c+++LL53+8NT%7cunitType%3dtent%7csiteTypes%3d1%2c++2%2c++3%2c++5&clearSearch=N
I spoke to Mrs. Jones and she has reserved a pitch for us on Fri and Sat nights. Pretty cheap as well - £4 each per night, which is a lot cheaper than the other one further up the coast.
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Okay, I'm in. :thumbsup:
I've booked a train that leaves Mordor well after Crinkly o'clock on the afternoon of Wednesday 14th and arrives at Machynlleth at 16:46. Return from Criccieth[1] on the Friday at 13:52, which means I should be able to tag along for the first third or so of Friday's ride (and then spend the rest of the day on a train). Hopefully that should fit with your plans...
As with last time I visited that part of the world, I will endeavour to bring some decent weather.
[1] Any tips on pronouncing Welsh place names appreciated. I already know 'mycuntluv'.
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Splendid news!
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Yay! Croeso aboard, Kim! :thumbsup:
This morning I have mostly been thinking about bridges - 2 of my abiding memories are of driving across the rickety wooden toll bridge to Penrhyndeudraeth ("Pen-rin-doi-dreth") and squeeeeeezing the car along next to the cob wall to Porthmadog ("Port").
I've only ever done both of these in a car and rather suspect doing them by bike might be rather jolly good. I did a bit of searching to see if this was possible and discovered that they're rebuilding Pont Briwet! With a cycle path (http://www.cyclingnorthwales.co.uk/pages/new_pont.htm)!
Apparently a temporary bridge is open at the moment, but I'm not sure how much of a construction site it'll all be around there. Perhaps best to wait before the Bridges for CrinklyLion photo...
The Sustrans map shows a traffic-free bit along the cob, so I assume that's up the top where I'm vaguely aware there's a path for pedestrians too. *adds to list of things to do one day*
In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to next week's jaunt ;D
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Okay, I'm in. :thumbsup:
I've booked a train that leaves Mordor well after Crinkly o'clock on the afternoon of Wednesday 14th and arrives at Machynlleth at 16:46. Return from Criccieth[1] on the Friday at 13:52, which means I should be able to tag along for the first third or so of Friday's ride (and then spend the rest of the day on a train). Hopefully that should fit with your plans...
As with last time I visited that part of the world, I will endeavour to bring some decent weather.
[1] Any tips on pronouncing Welsh place names appreciated. I already know 'mycuntluv'.
My sister lived in Criccieth for ten years.
Crick-ee-eth.
Or not, as my grandmother ALWAYS called it (which drove us barmy), Crick-eth.
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We were wandering around Criccieth Castle some years age when my youger son announced that his tooth has come out. For the sake of posterity we posted it down a hole in the castle wall. Said son will be 29 next month so I would guess that happened in about 1990.
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It will probably turn really autumnal and we will be surviving on tinned soup!
Edit: http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Wales/Machynlleth~2643251/long.html
*blows raspberry in the general direction of the weather forecast*
It's been feeling quite autumnal here the last day or two. Still warm but with bursts of heavy rain. Berries coming out...
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Ooh that should be a cracking week. I'll see what I cando about getting
The Monday off work to ride the first bit with you.
If you like I can knock together some GPx route suggestions.
Llanthony is lovely - I have toyed with idea of organising a forum camping weekend there in fact - the ride up from Chepstow is fantastic. The downside is that that campsite is likely to be packed in the school hols with disadvantaged youth groups from Brixton and Haringey. If you call at the farmhouse on the left as the lane goes off into the abbey they used to let you camp on their little field by the river.
You will of course need some pub recommendations :)
A day one lunch suggestion would be the Clytha Arms:
http://www.clytha-arms.com/
And when you hit the Llyn peninsula this is a very nice pub with good food:
http://www.tafarnyfic.com/index.htm
It's very friendly but you won't hear much, if any, English spoken so practising some absolute basic welsh would pay dividends.
Llany over to Mach is a grovel whichever way you go, but the B road via Staylitte is quiet and lovely with stunning views on the top. The A470 takes a massive detour for good reason! :)
It would be good to see you, Tewdric. I think you are somewhat optimistic about getting to Raglan in time for lunch - I don't arrive in Chepstow until nearly 2 o'clock so I will be pleased to have got that far by 4.30! I will be up against it time-wise on Monday so I think I will eat some butties on the train and plough on as steadily as i can.
You may have seen my .gpx files - I think I will probably stick to my planned route for Mon unless you know a reasonable way of flattening out some of the hills! I am aware of the big climb out of Abergavenny. The Chris N suggestions for the later days seem eminently sensible and I may well use them.
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I have plotted the alternative route as suggested by Chris N, south and west of Llyn Clywedog and compared it to the B road route.
B-road (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/machynlleth.gpx), 3567' ascent
Minor roads (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/mach1.gpx), 3872' ascent
There is a third option:
Severn Way (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/mach2.gpx), 3501' ascent
That is a couple of miles further and it avoids going into Llanidloes, where there is the Great Oaks café. This is very well thought of by its customers, and does take-aways in biodegradable containers. It seems to be a big mistake to miss out on this. Of course, I could divert and go into Llanidloes, but that adds another couple of miles.
I suppose that, given that I have opted to cycle over the mountains where, within a mile or two of each other, the Severn, the Wye and the Rheidol all rise, I can hardly complain about climbing hills!
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The Great Oak cafe is very nice, as is the Quarry Cafe in Mach (if it's still open). There's a little shop/post office in Staylittle too that's quite handy.
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Ah.
http://blog.cat.org.uk/2013/01/18/statement-about-closure-of-quarry-shop-and-cafe/
Also:
http://blog.cat.org.uk/2013/06/27/statement-from-the-centre-for-alternative-technology-on-the-recent-announcement-regarding-the-cat-plc/
However, that's the PLC, not the CAT charity. The Centre of Alternative Technology remains open, or so it appears.
So, Kim, there appears to be no danger of meeting any hostile bowls of muesli searching for bowels to purge at unearthly hours of the morning.
Edit: the campsite is completely independent of CAT itself. I spoke to the owner who was almost pleading with me to turn up.
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It seems that that Nikki has nabbed the last remaining bike reservation on the 3 trains from Pwllheli to Mordor Central for the whole of Sunday 18th! >:( :-*
The question is, do I try for the same train as she's on, without a reservation (my experience, which is limited, of Arriva Trains Wales is that they try to get all the bikes on, reservations or not) or should I cycle to Bangor where there is a much better service. 15 miles ride to Pwllheli, 35ish to Bangor, from our camp site.
This site http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/taking-bikes-on-arriva-wales-train gives the impression that there will be no problem.
Advice, please, panel!
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Lack of bike reservations suggests other cyclists may be an issue, though ATW staff do tend to be reasonable in my experience. Main issue is the limited amount of actual space on the trains.
Personally, I'd go for Bangor, on the basis that the net travel time is going to be about the same.
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http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/bangor1.gpx
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/bangor2-1.gpx
Those are the two potential routes back to Bangor, Nikki. There's a third, shorter, option which just bashed the A499 all the way along and saves a couple of miles. Where it hasn't been upgraded it would tend to be unpleasant, I think. That's why I diverted at Clynnog Fawr and headed to Penygroes.
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IME Arriva Trains in English are very accomodating and you should be fine, but the reality is you're likely at the mercy of the staff on duty that day..
Sadly I haven't been able to reschedule the big meeting I have on the Monday but I'll see what time I can get away for a scream up to Llanthony for a pint.
You've chosen an interesting route to Abergavenny from Chep - those lanes north of the A40 are lovely but will add at least half an hour compared to going along the old A40. The most knee- friendly option is the 4235 to Usk then go up to the old A40 via the Chainbridge - the start of the Bryan Chapman route. A alternative is go up through de aiden and turn left at Cobblers Plain and track across to Llangwm- e views from this lane are fantastic.
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I agree with Kim that ATW staff don't usually bother about how many bikes are on their trains (although this is based on my observations in the south of the Country), but the important point is this
Main issue is the limited amount of actual space on the trains.
The train is likely to be crowded with serious amounts of luggage during the holiday period. Actually getting the bike on board may be problematic. If there are more passengers than seats, the staff attitude may become more rule based.
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http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/bangor1.gpx
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/bangor2-1.gpx
Those are the two potential routes back to Bangor, Nikki. There's a third, shorter, option which just bashed the A499 all the way along and saves a couple of miles. Where it hasn't been upgraded it would tend to be unpleasant, I think. That's why I diverted at Clynnog Fawr and headed to Penygroes.
The first route follows the old railway line to Caernavon. It's a nice easy ride. You may even see steam trains! Just before Llanllyfni if you look down you will see our old holiday cottage, Coed Cae Du. The Welsh office bought it off us when they built the A487 and we thought it was going to be demolished, but someone is living there now.
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I've bought a ticket from Bangor now - £24 through to Shrewsbury on the 1508, changing at Chester & Crewe.
It was possible to get cheaper tickets, but not with bike reservations. Quite a few were sold out. Nikki, dear heart that she is, has offered to get a refund on her Pwllheli ticket and keep me company but I've said "Don't". It would cost her more from Bangor and there is still no guarantee of a bike reservation.
Although I'd planned two nights at Porth Colmon we could easly find another camp site a bit closer to the station(s) to reduce bike riding when there are trains to catch, which is never a bad idea.
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Nikki, dear heart that she is, has offered to get a refund on her Pwllheli ticket and keep me company but I've said "Don't".
Too right. Friends Don't Let Friends Change At Crewe.
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I agree with Kim that ATW staff don't usually bother about how many bikes are on their trains (although this is based on my observations in the south of the Country), but the important point is this
Main issue is the limited amount of actual space on the trains.
The train is likely to be crowded with serious amounts of luggage during the holiday period. Actually getting the bike on board may be problematic. If there are more passengers than seats, the staff attitude may become more rule based.
http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/Bicycles/
Carriage of bicycles is always at the discretion of train staff, even if you have a reservation.
So even a reservation might not get you on.
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Nikki, dear heart that she is, has offered to get a refund on her Pwllheli ticket and keep me company but I've said "Don't".
Too right. Friends Don't Let Friends Change At Crewe.
I'm not sure that I have ever had the pleasure of changing trains at Crewe... I probably have but just cannot remember.
What is so abominable about the place - apart, of course, from the rotting prototype tilting train whose name escapes me at the moment?
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I'm not sure that I have ever had the pleasure of changing trains at Crewe... I probably have but just cannot remember.
What is so abominable about the place - apart, of course, from the rotting prototype tilting train whose name escapes me at the moment?
It's a heady mixture of the dingy architecture of Northampton, the facilities of Bristol Partway, the freezing wind of Doncaster, the lighting and lift reliability of Mordor Central and the delays and cancellations of Reading. With added miserable looking northerners trying to get to places like Wigan.
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I'm not sure that I have ever had the pleasure of changing trains at Crewe... I probably have but just cannot remember.
What is so abominable about the place - apart, of course, from the rotting prototype tilting train whose name escapes me at the moment?
It's a heady mixture of the dingy architecture of Northampton, the facilities of Bristol Partway, the freezing wind of Doncaster, the lighting and lift reliability of Mordor Central and the delays and cancellations of Reading. With added miserable looking northerners trying to get to places like Wigan.
Can't wait... :D
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Oh, and it's very often raining, but that shouldn't be an issue when returning from Wales.
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Because of Things Happening this weekend, I have already started to gather stuff for next week. The dog won't leave me alone but keeps getting in the way.
He hates it when I bugger off on a tour.
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Bristol Partway,
;D :thumbsup:
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Bristol Partway,
;D :thumbsup:
I first heard that one from Clarion, who regularly misheard it so on journeys from Sheffield to Exeter (or thereabouts). It's a great name for it, except that Bristol has grown lopsidedly to the north since it was built, and Partway is now in danger of being in a useful place. Its car park also makes a great route to the lanes running north. But if you're waiting for a train there, you need to take a windproof, even on a balmy summer's day. A perverse liking for corrugated metal walls painted various shades of grey would also be an advantage. Crewe, from what little I remember of one childhood train-change there, is far pleasanter.
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There is of course a Halfway on the tram route in Sheffield. That's always entertaining for visitors.
Here in Brummingham we have Five Ways, all different.
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In Bristol (Keynesham, actually) we used to have Five Boys, all the same but in different ways.
(http://www.amdigital.co.uk/images/amdigital/content/rogc_chocolate_02224.jpg)
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Here in Brummingham we have Five Ways,
Which of course has six roads radiating from it. ???
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In Bristol (Keynesham, actually) we used to have Five Boys, all the same but in different ways.
(http://www.amdigital.co.uk/images/amdigital/content/rogc_chocolate_02224.jpg)
I think they're still in the charts...
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Here in Brummingham we have Five Ways,
Which of course has six roads radiating from it. ???
Well, they say the two hardest problems in computer science are cache invalidation, naming things and off-by-one errors. I assume the same sort of principles apply to town planning.
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In Bristol (Keynesham, actually) we used to have Five Boys, all the same but in different ways.
(http://www.amdigital.co.uk/images/amdigital/content/rogc_chocolate_02224.jpg)
I think they're still in the charts...
Why did I have to look that up? Well, you don't deserve to be spared now:
http://youtu.be/J6y1ZRE82kU
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That actually makes sense though. Wherever you are in Birmingham you wouldn't want to go back where you came from, so there are 5 other ways.
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It's worse than that: So far, I've encountered five Five Wayses in the local area:
The canonical one: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=405637&Y=286105&A=Y&Z=120
On the Stourbridge Road: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=387066&Y=280377&A=Y&Z=120&ax=387066&ay=280377
Near the amusingly named Haseley Knob: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=422822&Y=270230&A=Y&Z=120
Somewhere the Black Country (not labelled as such on the OS map, but the Church is named after it, and Google prefers it to the Birmingham one): http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=391722&Y=291465&A=Y&Z=120
Cradley Heath (Again, not marked as such on the map, but reflected in names of businesses): http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=394316&Y=285890&A=Y&Z=120&ax=394316&ay=285890
I'm fairly sure I discovered a Six Ways at one point, but I can't find that on the map.
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Six Ways is in Erdington.
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Haseley Knob - a knob with nuts. :D
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Here's a rural one with 5 A-roads, in deepest Brass Band country.
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I'm now travelling back from Bangor on the Monday - no change at Crewe! ;D :thumbsup:
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I have just taken delivery of http://shop.sustrans.org.uk/products/5079-ln-las-cymru-pack, which could be useful. Damned expensive, those Sustrans maps, £6 or a little bit of paper.
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And as a result I have plotted the route from Chepstow to Llanthony again, using the "official" route, here:-
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/llanthony2.gpx
which just happens to have something like 700' more climbing than my original proposal, as well as being 2 miles further!
Edit: not it doesn't. For some reason I started my original route somwhere in the middle of the racecourse rather than at the station, and that accounts for at least 250' of the difference.
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I recall the racecourse being on top of a hill!
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I seem to be in possession of all my bits of orange-bordered cardboard now. They add a not negligible amount to my total mass.
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I recalled this afternoon that I had invested in a 42 tooth chain ring and a KMC Rohloff-specific chain (this may be SJS bullshit but the KMC box recommended it for hub gears. Why, I don't know. It still had enough spare links to be used with a derailleur). I fitted these and reversed the Rohloff sprocket, which had become quite badly worn in a fairly short time.
I recall the Noble Charlotte, on our tour three years ago, commenting on the size of my ring as we were mounting a monster somewhere near Tregaron. She opined that if I made my ring smaller we may have got up rather more quickly.
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Good advice, that.
(I'll be bringing a chainring described by the Noble Charlotte as "basically a 10p coin with some notches filed in it", for the same effect.)
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I have almost everything packed. This is incredible.
Things to look for:
camping knife
extra fleece
I probably won't be using the bike again until Monday as we are using the tandem on Saturday and, probably, Sunday.
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I've been having a think about the route after Machynlleth. There are options.
1. The route I included in the post about all the routes.
2. A trip directly to the coast and following it.
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/barmouth.gpx shows an option with COR. I don't know what the state of NCN 82 is where it leaves the road after.
3. Into Dolgellau and along the Mawddach estuary to Barmouth and the famous railway/footbridge, camping somewhere north of Barmouth. There are plenty of sites there, but Charlotte and I happened upon a rip-off merchant who wanted to charge us £17 each. We camped in the dunes, just outside the site's fence, and used their facilities anyway (there's a public footpath going through the site to the beach), so they got nothing. There are camp sites in the area that seem not to be rip-off merchants but, as ever, they don't have the greatest web presence.
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I've only driven through Barmouth a few times, but I do remember liking the look of that bridge!
My grandparents lived in Talsarnau, so the Harlech - Ynys - Talsarnau stretch would be a blast from the past. https://www.barcdy.co.uk/ being the campsite nearby whose sign I must have gone past approximately a bazillion times, and I think that would make it The Ship Aground for dinner and rehydration :)
So Barmouth - Barcdy gets my highly self-indulgent vote :thumbsup:
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I'm perfectly happy with that.
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/talsarnau.gpx seems to be a more sensible route. The Mawddach estuary path, along the old railway, joins the wooden bridge from the south.
I have mapped along the main road after Barmouth, but it's worth nipping into Harlech by the B road and getting some supplies. We could even try out the alleged 40% hill by the castle! The NCN route 8 along that stretch, which actually misses Harlech, is riddled with chevrons.
As I say, there are oodles of camp sites along that stretch but I have ended the day ride at Ty-Gwyn, which sounds good and according to their website they charge £6 a night for a one-person tent.
http://ty-gwyn-camping.com/price-list.php refers. This would be instead of staying at Maentwrog.
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Harlech, that's the one with the hill, isn't it? Granny ring competition anyone? ;D
ETA: crosspost with Wowbagger
I'm happy to go along with that plan, if only for the bridgepr0n...
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Harlech, that's the one with the hill, isn't it? Granny ring competition anyone? ;D
ETA: crosspost with Wowbagger
I'm happy to go along with that plan, if only for the bridgepr0n...
From memory, the hill is one-way downwards.
http://goo.gl/maps/mMFl3
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Well, I *do* have three brakes on my bike... ::-)
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With the soles of your shoes that makes 5!
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http://goo.gl/maps/mMFl3
Hee! Chap behind the car letting his feelings about Google be known...
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Right, I'm still intending to meet you off the train in Chepstow at 13:50. But who will be there? I know Tewdric's got to be at work, Wow will be there - will Kim and Nikki or are they arriving at different points on different trains? And what is the first day's itinerary (I'm wondering if there will be a convenient tea/cake/etc stop to mark a turning-round point!)?
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I'm arriving at Machynlleth on Wednesday evening, with nikki joining us on Thursday morning, so I think it's just you and Wow.
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Not me I'm afraid.
I had planned to break my journey to B'ham at Chepstow, or even surprise Wow by taking the same train as him from Cardiff/Newport, but I now have an appointment in the early afternoon, so I'll have to get a much earlier train.
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I know nothing at all of tea stops. There might be something in Usk.
Edit: there are two or three pubs in Shirenewton.
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What time are you planning to get to Usk? Big tea cakes to be had in either the place with the red umbrellas or the one next to it with the horse sign - can't remember which. Usk (https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=chepstow&ll=51.703124,-2.901936&spn=0.007274,0.021136&hnear=Chepstow,+Monmouthshire,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.703402,-2.901992&panoid=w-Mic-VYl8PC7jrJGak7kg&cbp=12,309.33,,0,0)
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It's about 12 miles form Chepstow. It would be good to be there around 3.30.
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Only 12 miles? We must have gone a very roundabout way when I went there (it was a CTC ride so this goes without saying really!)
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Correction. More like 15 miles. Say 4pm.
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Route revisions:
Monday.
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/llanthony2.gpx
Tuesday
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/rhayader2.gpx
Wednesday - meet Kim in Machynlleth.
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/mach2.gpx
Thursday
Nikki joins us for breakfast
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/talsarnau.gpx
Friday
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/colmon2.gpx
Kim leaves us at Criccieth. We may well be visiting Auntie Megan en route.
Saturday
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/bangor2-1.gpx
Sunday
I leave Nikki on a train.
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The re-route via Barmouth has got my mum from 'worried' to 'a bit jealous'!
Enjoy the first half of the tour and I'll see you for breakfast on Thursday.
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The dog has spent the entire night lying half under my desk. He was there when I went to bed and he's there again now. I have never known him to do this before. He Just Knows. :-\
Everything is packed. My ticket is for the 11.15 out of Paddington, change at Newport. I'll be catching the 9.12 from Prittlewell.
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Have a great trip!
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Looks great - your route for Wednesday and Thursday is lovely.
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Have a lovely week everyone :thumbsup:
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First red kite seen at Taplow.
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Still on schedule for 1.50 in Chepstow, Cudz.
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On your last day (Porth Colmon to Bangor), your track shows avoiding main roads until Penygroes, where it picks up the A487 into Bangor. Given that you've deliberately avoided the A499, taking the A487 isn't a good idea. The traffic is much much heavier on the A487 than the A499 and there is a traffic free cycle path alternative. When you get to Penygroes, follow signs for NCN route 8, which is the old railway line into Caernarfon. You can pick it up from the Inigo Jones slateworks if you wish (by the roundabout North of Penygroes*).
In Caernarfon, to join the off orad routes together, you need to go around the castle, then into a car park next to the Victoria Dock (by the Morrisons) to rejoin the path. This will take you all the way to Y Felinheli; I would really really advise against the A487 from Caernarfon to Bangor. I'm a fan of main roads, but that one isn't worth the time saving, unless you intend to ride over 20mph, or you fell your right arm is surplus to requirements.
I wouldn't go up the hill toward the hospital in Bangor either - there's roadworks by the hospital this week and next week. There's a traffic free path from Y Felinheli to Bangor Tesco alongside the A487 which totally avoids the hill anyway. From the shopping park, the road into Bangor is quite tame.
* As a total alternative, I'd actually suggest continuing on the A499 past Clynnog Fawr, and turning left toward Llandwrog about 3 miles further on. From there, take a right in Llandwrog and follow the road through Saron and over a bridge before turning left towards Y Foryd nature reserve. It's a lovely ride alongside the coast to Caernarfon castle.
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Thanks for the bon voyages everyone, and for the local knowledge Jasmine.
I've had a go at re-doing the Porth Colmon - Bangor route accordingly:
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://gpx.npugh.co.uk/routes/Machynlleth-Colmon-Bangor/Colmon-Bangor.gpx
Does that look about right?
I think Wow mentioned fancying the railway path in his emails, but I'll add the total alternative to the possibilities. I suspect there'll be a certain amount of deciding as we go along!
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Met Wow at Chepstow station yesterday. He was in merry mood, fine fettle and happy hat. Chepstow is a hilly place, from the banks of the Wye upwards, but Wow had planned a route that found bigger, steeper hills than I knew about! We then rode down into Mounton, round the world's most oddly placed roundabout, up out of Mounton, and carried on upping and downing along delightfully little lanes, beside streams and through woods. At one point we had magnificent views over the Bristol Channel, including two islands which we decided must be Steepholm and Flatholm. Eventually our ways parted a few miles before Usk, where Mr Bagger was heading down what looked like some even steeper hills, and I returned the way we'd come, cunningly avoiding having to climb those same hills.
The weather deserves a mention: fairly sunny this side of the Severn, dark clouds in Wales. The temperature was 16.7 when I said goodbye to Wow, 20.2 directly over the Wye and a balmy 20.6 over the middle of the Severn. I wonder if Kim and Nikki might be advised to pack for autumn.
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I wonder if Kim and Nikki might be advised to pack for autumn.
*sigh* And I'd optimistically put some sun block on the packing pile this morning.
There's only one thing that can save us now...
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Well it's weather, which means anything can happen, and it's Welsh Weather, which means everything probably will. Wow was comfortable in sandals and short-sleeved shirt yesterday.
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Wet and windy over Gospel Pass this am. Lens fell out of my glasses on the descent. Luckily an optician fixed it in Hay. Now at Erwood.
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Lens fell out of my glasses on the descent.
Sorry Wow, this is such an amusing image. ;D Rather crucial that you managed to get it sorted!
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I thought about using the A470 from Builth but was put off by some heavy lorries. Mistake! I became embroiled in some COR which rivalled some of the stuff around Skipton. No joke with a fully laden tourer. Met a couple of trice riders in Builth who were heading for the Devil's Staircase. :o
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Oh, and you can't eat rump steak with a plastic spork.
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Titanium is the only true spork material! Did you get a lock in Usk?
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Yes. It cost me £1.99 and is good enough to stop someone just wheeling the bike away. Solo cycle camping depends on not worrying that stuff might be at risk.
Oh, and a message to Charlotte if she's reading this. I climbed Gospel Pass in the company of an Aussie penny farthing enthusiast who natters to Hoff Summerfield via faceache. Hi name is Hamish and his job is as an apiculture specialist in the Aus Min of Ag.
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My bar bag has become a bungeed rack bag after the cables snapped. It is actually much nicer without the damned thing bouncing around in front of me.
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I'll be setting off for Mordor Central shortly. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, but there should be plenty of weather in Wales, so I might as well be under that.
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Kim here now. It wad wonderful to see her riding to meet me.
Warm damp day. Chucking it down now.
My deity that is one hell of a descent to Forge! I'Ve never experienced anything like it.
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It's no less rainy in the adjacent tent. Only got a little bit rained on doing some last minute peg adjustment. Expect the 3am loo trip will be unpleasant. I expect we'll be seeking a campsite with a nearby pub tomorrow if it carries on like this.
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Having seen Grahams vid of our last AH Ride I must start producing vids of our antics including rain and stuff........
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For me, bowel o'clock occurred at 5.50. Satisfactory outcome in terms of dampness and comfort. I just heard Kim trudge bogeards as I type.
I have had a recurrence of the sandal/little toe interface problem that gave me so much grief in Guernsey. It would appear to occur when my sandals are wet and my feet slide about in them. Plaster and trainers for me today.
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That was well timed trudging, coinciding as it did with a brief gap in the rain.
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Thanks for the bon voyages everyone, and for the local knowledge Jasmine.
I've had a go at re-doing the Porth Colmon - Bangor route accordingly:
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://gpx.npugh.co.uk/routes/Machynlleth-Colmon-Bangor/Colmon-Bangor.gpx
Does that look about right?
I think Wow mentioned fancying the railway path in his emails, but I'll add the total alternative to the possibilities. I suspect there'll be a certain amount of deciding as we go along!
Yes, that's the one. I hope the weather improves for you.
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We're in Dolgellau, after playing leapfrog with a post van and a fair bit of pushing. It's stopped raining for a bit.
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Hope you continue to have fun and Wow's toes don't get bitten by any watery creatures. I think quite a bit of your rain has come over here today.
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We're in Dolgellau, after playing leapfrog with a post van and a fair bit of pushing. It's stopped raining for a bit.
That makes me remember the reasons I don't tour in Wales so often, despite living a days ride from the place....
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We're in a campsite north of Harlech that I can't spell. having to get creative to achieve an Internet connection. the metaphorical string is the only dry thing here.
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Barcdy campsite, Talsarnau.
It has been pissing down all evening. We arrived at the campsite like three drowned rats and when I wait about special rates for cycling campers the nice lady in reception recorded us as an adult and two children. We are still arguing about whosoever turn it is to be the adult.
I don't think I have ever heard such heavy rain from inside s tent.
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It was practically screaming with rain about 5 minutes ago.
My tent has a small leak from the top vent zip (not the seam which I previously sealed). I have placed sacrificial soggy clothing under it.
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I've just found a slug slugging it's way up my inner tent. Make sure you seal anything you don't want snotted up in the gastropod apocalypse...
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It is still raining very heavily. Kim's description "screaming" is about right. If tha wE a 10 it's 7 or 8 now.I am thinking about the lavatory but it is not urgent enough yet.
Is there a severe weather warning about this? The rain, I mean, not my bowels.
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Bladder o'clock and there was a convenient gap in the rain. I can hear an owl owling noisily. No more obvious slugs yet.
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Some interesting typoes above. I need a phone with a bigger screen .
Rain clearing by dawn a.d a warm sunny day ahead.
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Good morning Campers. Your "screaming rain" has just reached Brum. Just in time for the commute.
Looks like your weather will be much better today. Maybe you'll be able to dry some stuff out in time for it to get wet again on Saturday.
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So who's being the adult today? Children can ride bikes, camp, sing silly songs and eat cake. The only bonus to being the adult would be drinking beer, which Kim and Nikki don't do (?) so clearly it has to be Wowbagger the adult. Which means the beard is a joke one - which of you is going to pull it off?
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I think I found today the toughest, which is a bit odd as I rode less than 40 miles and had less climbing to do. It was quite sunny, we were on busier roads and for most of the day there was a headwind. The weather had closed in as well,so I didn't feel like a swim.
At least the tent is dry and I have some clean cycling shorts.
I have been rudely and wetly interrupted by Millie, a 4 month old Labrador pup, who came and leapt on me a few minutes ago.
Now, shower time.
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Meanwhile, after the best part of 5 hours on a train, I'm back in the land of megabit bandwidth, PM10s and car alarms. My smelly kit has been washed, and we've checked the tent for slugs and frogs.
Some photos:
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/wales-aug-13/Photo0534.jpg)
While I was failing to tweet that one due to lack of 3G reception, a man came up and said "It's wales luv".
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/wales-aug-13/Photo0537.sized.jpg)
Campsite opposite the CAT at Llwyngwern Farm
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/wales-aug-13/Photo0540.sized.jpg)
Rain at Bryn Bwbach (it got *much* heavier, but after dark).
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/wales-aug-13/Photo0550.sized.jpg)
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/wales-aug-13/Photo0551.sized.jpg)
From the causeway at Porthmadog.
The first couple of hours of the train journey were actually quite nice, as it re-traced a lot of the route in better weather conditions:
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/wales-aug-13/Photo0574.sized.jpg)
Bryn Bwbach in the sun.
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/wales-aug-13/Photo0586.sized.jpg)
Barmouth.
(http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/wales-aug-13/Photo0582.sized.jpg)
A little taste of home...
(The rest are here (http://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=wales-aug-13), and doubtless more to follow when those with better cameras return to civilisation.)
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Excellent picture of Wowbagger, dramatically pointing at the scenery.
(I'm less keen on the one of his builders crack, but whatever turns you on... ;))
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Because of the slope of the pitch we had he allocated, I had to pitch head-into-the-wind, which has now risen quite a bit. It hssn't started raining though, so I took advantage and had an early bowel o'clock. There is neither light nor hot water in the bogs.
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After 30 miles of torrential rain we have abandoned camping and have booked into a b and b around the corner from Caernarfon castle. We are showered, are wearing warm, dry clothes and have eaten cyri. Nikki has two broken spoke and my rear tyre is a little saggy.
A mere 10 miles tomorrow and I will be on the train.
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It is still drop dead gorgeous though but.....
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I was impressed by the A499 cycle path. It continued far beyond Clynnog Fawr but at the point at which it ended, there were no signs inviting cyclists to use the minor roads to the west of the A499.
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Just 9 miles to do to Bangor tomorrow and then the ride is over, apart from visiting my brother in Shrewsbury tomorrow night. I think the final mileage will be a over 270. Total climbing = lots.
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On the appointed train. There will be a detailed report when I get home and sufficient time to do it justice.
All in all a great ride made all the better by the company of Kim and Nikki. Drumbeg road next year?
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I have gained an hour at no cost, which is excellent. My reservation from Crewe was valid on the 1813 but I arrived in plenty of time for the 1713. Enquiries revealed that the worst that would happen would be an extrs £10.60, well worth it to avoid having to spend an extra hour at Crewe. As it happened the was a change of crew at Crewe and I had already been chatting Iup the new guard on the platform. When she checked my ticket she smile sweetly and asked for no more money.
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Packed up and ready to go home. Currently in my brother's back garden looking east towards the Wrekin.
It's a lovely day to go cycle touring...
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It appears that nikki has replaced her broken spokes, and consumed some well-travelled milk. No response to my question of whether she still likes touring, as yet.
http://t.co/YFiXD3uULG
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She seemed perfectly happy with the concept when we parted company yesterday.
I am now on a train heading for Mordor Central and contemplating the 4.30 bike embargo on trains to Southend. I should have plenty of time as I am scheduled to arrive in Euston at 3.32. I have a bit of a wait at MC so I will probably buy my ticket there and aim for the 4.28 from Fenchurch Street.
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Now at MC watching virtual trains on the departure board. Is there another station in the country with direct trains to as many stations, I wonder?
A few minutes ago I was accosted by a person wearing a track suit in pale blue and claret and singing a song about there only being one villa. I assume he had never heard of the Romans. He looked at me, pointed and asked "Are you a geography teacher?" Before I could reply he changed tack."Do you know who you remind me of? Father Christmas!" Then, to another bloke sitting nearby, "Doesn't he look like Father Christmas?"
Once more he failed to wait for a reply but went off singing "There's only one Father Christmas!"
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this little cameo was that the main player appeared to be about 70 years old.
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<snip>me of? Father Christmas!" Then, to another bookshop sitting nearby, "Doesn't he look like Father Christmas?" <snip>
Predictive text fail? :D If so, it's a good 'un
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That's pretty normal for Mordor Central, apart from the talking bookshop bit.
In other MC related news, I had to carry my recumbent up[1] the shiny new escalators for the first time yesterday, on account of one of the shiny new lifts being actually out of order rather than inexplicably switched off. When I reached the top, I discovered that one of the people further up the escalator was the owner of the walking frame that had been stowed awkwardly in the vestibule of my train, and was having trouble hobbling away from the top at sufficient speed. I opted to point my bike towards the handful of more agile people approaching the down escalator instead, who sensibly realised what was going on and formed a gap at the last minute. Useless!
[1] Up is reasonably doable, with appropriate use of brakes. Down is decidedly dodgy, and tends to result in knee injury and ungraceful disembarking.
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<snip>me of? Father Christmas!" Then, to another bookshop sitting nearby, "Doesn't he look like Father Christmas?" <snip>
Predictive text fail? :D If so, it's a good 'un
You need more work to do. I'd edited that within about 20 seconds of posting it!
Mind you, I have no idea how it turned "bloke" into "bookshop". I can't make it do it again.
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Now at MC watching virtual trains on the departure board. Is there another station in the country with direct trains to as many stations, I wonder?
Is there another station in the country so many people want to escape from?
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Now at MC watching virtual trains on the departure board. Is there another station in the country with direct trains to as many stations, I wonder?
Is there another station in the country so many people want to escape from?
Mordor Central probably wins on sheer numbers. The Didcot Parkways of this world would otherwise be strong competitors.
At least Mordor has trains to useful places after 9pm on a Saturday...
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I was teaching my sister the fine art of bikes on escalators at the weekend. Easier on an upright.
Nikki has since had a puncture & lost the valve core from one of her tyres. I think she's still rolling ..... :D
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Nikki has since had a puncture & lost the valve core from one of her tyres. I think she's still rolling ..... :D
I'm thinking she's actually lost the little tube that connects her pump to the tyre valve (for it is such a pump). The tyre is holding air, but she's effectively pumpless. She made it to the train though, which is the important bit.
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Yay! Today Bangor, tomorrow the world!
Take a bow Kim, you've trained her well. :-)
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I am now on a Branson train that smells of poo. The WiFi doesn't work.
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Off a train in Euston and on another in Fenchurch Street in under half an hour!
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Small child waiting with rest of family to use lift at Mordor Central:
Why has she got a bike?
Me:
Because I've just been on a cycling holiday and, if I didn't have a bike, it would have just been a holiday - and where's the fun in that?
So, yes, still looking forward to the next touring experience :) :thumbsup:
I finally got back home at about 4:30. The last phase of the tour easily being the most stressful.
Having replaced my spokes, allowed myself a moment of smugness and packed away my stuff at a leisurely pace, I then set off in the direction of the station only to discover that I had not noticed my front tyre was as flat as something very flat.
Gnyrghghghrgh! Still, not to worry: I still had an hour or two to play with, let's get the tube swapped over...
~#"%**~! <- blue words
As Kim correctly interpreted, I'd lost the connecting tube for between the pump and tyre.
At the time of fixing my pump to my bike I'd observed the probability of this happening, however it seems I completely failed to do anything about it. So my fault entirely. :facepalm:
There was a couple of bikes parked up by one of the other tents in the field, their owners off in a car somewhere. I went to investigate, but no sign of a convenient frame pump and they were presta-valved tyres anyway.
Next plan: I'd seen lots of kids' bikes by the caravans in the other area of the campsite - let's see if anyone's got a pump I can borrow.
No joy there, either.
I was just starting to put the tyre back on - and resigning myself to having to push my bike to the station - when the couple-of-bike-owners drove back. Fortunately one of them had a mini pump thing that I was able to borrow!
I did what I could to check the tyre for lingering sharps and put in a fresh tube. I didn't do very well with the pump, but managed to get enough air in that I could now cycle to the station. Time was such that it was now that or miss the train.
Various navigation devices seemed intent on sending me up a tiny muddy footpath as the shortest route to the station. I gave it a go, but rapidly thought better of it and headed back to the road. The next attempt was a steep up-hill (I had to deploy the 24" gear), so I knew that was the right way ;D
Made it to the station in time, but without enough leeway to grab some food from one of the local supermarkets. It felt like a very l o o o o o o o n g journey back.
Once in Brum I found a bike shop and they let me use their track pump to get me rolling properly again, so I was able to manage the few miles back home without too much drama. Phew!
I'll sort out photos shortly (i.e. after food), but here are a couple of visuals for you.
Both link through to larger versions if you click on them.
The bit wot I did:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5550/9546188221_d0b1f1d0d5.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5550/9546188221_77920832b7_o.jpg)
Wow surveying his kingdom from the cob at Porthmadog:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/9549152148_01c9d1cf01.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/9549152148_7e673507b3_o.jpg)
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Not that helpful as you're running on Schrader valves, but I keep a screw on adaptor (that Schraderifies a Presta tyre valve) in my tool kit to open up some more options in pump-borrowing emergencies. Most bike pumps that can do Presta can do both (with varying degrees of mucking about[1]), but Schrader-only pumps aren't uncommon amongst mountain bikers, BSOists and motorists. The downside is that such pumps can't always achieve a decent pressure.
[1] My pump has a head of the unscrew-and-rotate-the-pingfuckit variety. After a particularly frustrating experience in a dark, soggy Essex bus shelter, I immediately vowed to standardise my bikes on Presta[2] valves.
[2] You can put a Presta tube in a Schrader rim (there's a little collar thing, if you want to be posh), but the reverse isn't always possible.
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[1] My pump has a head of the unscrew-and-rotate-the-pingfuckit variety. After a particularly frustrating experience in a dark, soggy Essex bus shelter, I immediately vowed to standardise my bikes on Presta[2] valves.
Yes, there was pingfuckit rotation at the campsite.
[2] You can put a Presta tube in a Schrader rim (there's a little collar thing, if you want to be posh), but the reverse isn't always possible.[/sub]
Oh, I hadn't realised the rims are different for Presta too. Is it just a smaller size of valve hole, or is there more to it?
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Oh, I hadn't realised the rims are different for Presta too. Is it just a smaller size of valve hole, or is there more to it?
It's just the size of the hole, in as much that some rims are simply too narrow to have a Schrader-sized hole in them. Narrow rims correlate with higher-pressure tyres, though, for which Presta is (or was historically) considered desirable.
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Monday 12th August
My bike was already packed before I went to bed, but still there was a little last minute faffing to be done before I set off to the station. The train arrived and off I went. I had allowed an hour to get from Lpoo St to Paddington but must make a mental note to allow more time in future: it took me 45 minutes and my train's platform was announced the moment I pushed my bike onto the station concourse. That was cutting it a bit fine, I felt. I stowed my bike, and most of my luggage, in the bike compartment and settled down for a short journey to Newport.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18748-1/DSC09715.JPG)
On arrival I took the de rigueur photo of my bike on a platform and it was not long afterwards that the Chepstow train, bound for Gloucester, arrived. An annoying no-good boyo was listening to some monotonous rubbish that seemed to pass for music, but fortunately Chepstow was only a couple of stops away and I only had to put up with him for a few minutes.
Cudzoziemic met me at the station and offered me some of his chips, which made a very welcome repast after the marmite sandwiches I had consumed only a few minutes earlier, and we went off in search of the river and the castle. They were where they were last time I was in Chepstow so we found them, took a few essential photographs, and then we were off.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18755-2/DSC09717.JPG)
Immediately we got stuck into an enormous hill and, as is ever the case when I go on tour, I was questioning the wisdom of my decision. I'm 59 and fat and I shouldn't be forcing myself up these huge hills. I ought to be sitting in front of the telly getting older and fatter. When I thought about it, that prospect didn't appeal at all so I attacked the hill with renewed vigour, finally reaching the top somewhere after Shirenewton. We were rewarded with some good views over the Bristol Channel, with Flat Holm and Steep Holm in the distance.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18770-1/DSC09722.JPG)
After about 8 miles, and at the top of the last climb for a while, Cudzo had to return to Bristol and left me to the Usk Valley. Now I was alone I started to go through things in my mind and it dawned on me that I had forgotten to bring a lock with me. For most of the trip I felt that this wouldn't matter at all as I would either be in some really remote village, where I would be able to keep my eye on my bike, or in a camp site somewhere, but there were also some rather larger towns, in the first instance Abergavenny, where I would be most uncomfortable leaving my bike outside a supermarket without any kind of lock on it. The fact that I would be leaving several hundred pounds' worth of camping kit just bungeed to the bike made no difference at all. If only for psychological reasons I needed a bike lock.
I wondered whether Usk would have a bike shop. I calculated that I would not be in Abergavenny, a much larger town, until after any bike shop (and I was sure that there would be one) was closed. A few minutes later, a roadie of a certain vintage went past and greeted me with what sounded like a local accent.
"Excuse me, is there a bike shop in Usk?" I enquired, "I've come on a week's tour and forgotten to bring a lock."
"No," came the reply, "but there is a hardware shop and I'm sure he'll have something."
I noted that the B-road towards Usk, which was not especially busy, cut out a significant hill which the Sustrans route included, so I stayed on it all the way into Usk. It was a very smelly place as the local farmer had evidently been spreading slurry over the upwind fields. I found the hardware shop, bought the world's least effective bike lock for £1.99, found a Spar supermarket, bought some jelly babies, fig rolls, chocolate and Welsh cakes and then carried on towards Abergavenny and my bed for the night in Llanthony. I thought that shopping for my evening meal could wait until Abergavenny.
I crossed the A40, left the B-road and then zig-zagged my way through small lanes back towards my planned route. There was a great deal of climbing before Abergavenny and I was relieved at last to be descending quickly into the town. I found some Ainsley Harriot rice, a lovely piece of rump steak, a small onion and a pint of milk, paid for them and was on my way. I knew that my planned stop at Llanthony might involve a pub, but I also knew that they may well have stopped serving food before I arrived, so it was as well to have some backup.
Once again I grimped up the familiar hill northwards from the town: we had stayed at an excellent B & B a couple of years ago in Llanfihangel Crucorny and it was definitely a low-gear job for the next half-mile and more. Eventually the road flattened out, at least to some extent, and I was able to make bretter progress, but 8 pm came and went and still I had some way to go before I could pitch my tent ad settle down for the night.
Finally I turned right into the Llanthony Priory and was met by a young chap with an Australian accent. "Another cyclist!" he declared and this accusation I found hard to deny, standing, as I was, astride my bike. I asked him whether the pub was still serving, he confirmed that it was, so in I went to the most amazing pub interior I have ever seen. The bar was effectively part of the vaults of the priory with buttresses set in the angles of a gothic arch. I marched straight to the bar, confirmed that food was still being served, ordered the soup followed by the beef stew and told the barman that I would go and pitch my tent while my meal was being prepared.
Fifteen minutes later my tent was up and my bed was made, so I sat down in the gentle company of the Rev. James to tackle the job in hand. THe soup was absolutely superb and the stew was even better. After my second pint of the Rev. I was ready for the fruit crumble with ice cream and that, followed by coffee, was sufficient for one evening's eating. I had found that there were no showers on site but just a public bog on the far side of the public car park. I marched over there, armed with my flannel and soap, determined to have what my sister-in-law describes so delicately as an "under-arm-under-leg wash" and hoped that no-one would barge in on me when so occupied. They didn't, and, devoid as I was of any sort of signal with which to let my dear wife know of my progress, I settled down to sleep, with a pair of tawny owls singing a lullaby.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18776-2/DSC09724.JPG)
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Tuesday 13th August
It was quite a long walk to the bogs at 5 am, but a necessary one. It enabled me, once I returned to my sleeping bag, to stay there until almost 8 am. In fact, the night was particularly warm, so much so that I spent a good deal of it outside my sleeping bag. There had been some rain and I put away a wet tent. That, though, is an inevitability of camping: what I found more irksome were the wasps.
I have a packing technique which is a bit faffy, but works for me. I like to empty the tent onto an old groundsheet and then pack the bags in the same way each time. The problem was that I had left some sweet things open. There was a packet of fig rolls, my breakfast stuff (porridge oats with milk and honey)m some Welshcakes and some chocolate, all of it giving off lovely sweet aromas for the wasps to home in on. Gradually I managed to isolate each source of sweetness and pack stuff away, but it was fraught with difficulty.
Before leaving I took some photos of the Priory.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18794-1/DSC09730.JPG)
A pub
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18797-1/DSC09731.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18800-2/DSC09732.JPG)
Eventually I left the camp site and turned right towards Hay on Wye and the Gospel Pass. Jan and I had ridden this road a few years ago on our tandem and I knew that there were no terrors in it, even though it is the highest road in Wales. For the most part it is a long, steady grind and only in a couple of places does the gradient increase sufficiently to make it necessary to push a fully-laden tourer.
There was some rain in the air and from habit I had put my waterproof on. However, it wasn't long before I realised its boil-in-the-bag properties made it pointless wearing it. The weather was warm, I was generating a lot of heat and the rain wasn't that heavy, so I stopped to remove it and cycle in just one layer. it was at that point that my Australian acquaintance from the previous evening arrived.
We rode together and, as you do when you are touring alone, struck up a partnership for the morning. Hamish, for that was his name, is a penny-farthing enthusiast, although for this particular ride he had selected the more practical solution of a Surly Long-haul Trucker. He is acquainted with our own Joff Summerfield, OTP, and has been touring in Britain since late June. He has been doing JoGLE but with offshoots and he had taken two or three days out from his schedule to ride over the Severn bridge and enjoy a loop up NCN42 as far as Hay, and then take to NCN 8 for his return to Cardiff via the Taff Trail, thence back to Bristol by train to continue his journey to Land's End. He was very pleased when I told him that his selected route for the day was indeed Wales's highest road.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18806-1/DSC09734.JPG)
We also discussed bees. Hamish is a specialist in bee diseases working for the Australian Min. of Ag. I told him of my 9 years' beekeeping experience, brought to a sad end by the dreaded varroasis jacobsoni. Hamish told me that bee scientists now considered that v. jacobsoni was actually a separate sub-species and the real nasty is known as v. destructor. Australia is the only continent from which varroa is absent, although Hamish feels certain that it will turn up one day.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18812-2/DSC09736.JPG)
Intrepid cyclists on the Gospel Pass. I'm trying to beat the self-timer and failing: after pressing the button I had to cross a cattle grid.
Back to the matter in hand, that of climbing the highest mountain pass in Wales. I'm pretty sure that Hamish was not accustomed to riding as slowly as I do (well, very few people are!), and a couple of times his front wheel hit the bank at the side of the road. I mentioned that it was worth being aware of the "false flat" at the top of the Gospel pass and that when Jan and I rode it on the tandem I suddenly realised, with no effort, that we were travelling in excess of 30 mph. We stopped on the way up for a few photos, but once over the summit we both gathered speed quite quickly. At one point Hamish was riding so close to the edge o the road that his wheels were precariously balanced between grass and tarmac. I asked him why he rode so close to the edge and apparently he started doing this on some of the narrow Scottish roads. I encouraged him to ride closer to the middle.
The descent into Hay is quite a treacherous one as the road has a tendency to have loose gravel on its surface, it is narrow and also quite winding. I kept feathering my brakes as I find that the rims and the Swiss-stop Blue blocks take a while after heavy rain to generate any friction. Accordingly, the point at which I became aware that I had a problem with my glasses I was able to brake to almost nothing when the right lens fell out.
I retrieved it from the road surface and tried to ride with just the one lens, but it was impossible: darkened varifocals need both lenses or none. I took my glasses off and rode with them in my pocket, which was strange. My distance vision is not too bad but even so, with the wind battering my eyeballs it was an uncomfortable experience. We wandered through the town looking or an optician's and eventually one of the cafés told me where there was one. I took my glasses there, was invited to leave them and went for lunch with Hamish. I had to ask the waitress to read the menu to me.
An hour or so later Hamish and I parted company as he was intending to have an easy day looking around bookshops and was intending to camp in or near Hay that night. I couldn't tell him of any camp sites, but I did point him in the direction of a camping shop I had visited last year when cycling in the area. My glasses now mended, I pottered off along the B-road towards Glasbury, the Black Mountains now behind me.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18818-2/DSC09738.JPG)
From the bridge at Glasbury.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18830-1/DSC09742.JPG)
Is that Fan y Big in this?
This was a repeat of my ride last year when I visited Llandovery and Rhandirmwin. The Wye to my left, the ride is just a long and gentle climb. I stopped at the tea room in Erwood for tea and Welshcakes, and had a conversation with a couple of other customers. I passed "Boatside", the excellent small camp site where the owners had treated me to breakfast on the first morning, and climbed the hill into Builth Wells. I suddenly remembered, which I don't think I did when I was here last year, that we had ridden through Builth on a ride organised by Chris N, of this very parish.
I was just in the process of trying to find my route out of the town when I happend upon a prostration of Trice riders whom I briefly engaged in conversation. They were heading out towards the Devil's Staircase, up which they intended to ride. I rode down this particular feature last year and it's a succession of twists, all around the 1 in 4 mark. Quite frightening and if they made it, mucho respecto!
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18833-2/DSC09743.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18836-1/DSC09744.JPG[/img
Soon I climbed out of the town and had that sinking feeling: my front tyre was flattening rapidly. I pushed the bike until I came to a field gate so I spread my groundsheet out and started the puncture repair process. It only took about half an hour and was in beautiful scenery so I didn't mind too much. However, there was a fair bit of climbing still to do and as I approached Newbridge-on-Wye I thought about taking to the A470 through to Rhayader. A couple of large timber lorries rumbling past put me off and I, rather unwisely as it turned out, stuck to NCN 8.
[img]http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18845-1/DSC09747.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18863-1/DSC09753.JPG)
A red kite in a glowering mid-Wales landscape.
The road climbed an climbed and as it did so it became narrower. It was undoubtedly very pretty but eventually I met a closed gate behind which was the stony surface of a track. it was time for the dreaded Comedy Off-Road.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18869-1/DSC09755.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18875-1/DSC09757.JPG)
Cyclist have been this way!
Initially it wasn't the track's stony surface which was a problem. It was the overhanging brambles. I had to find my way through them without lacerating my legs. However, the stones became looser, and inconsistently so, so I had to pay more and more attention to the surface I was riding on and less of my attention went on admiring the view. Clearly cycles had ben along this path as there were plenty of tyre tracks, but the lack of road surface, indeed, some rather nasty pot-holes, seemed to go on for a very long time. Then there was the climbing: the sort of gradient that would have presented no problem with a decent surface became nigh-on unrideable with the loose stuff under my tyres. Include the occasional muddy puddle and that gave you about 4 miles of slow, arduous progress when I really wanted to get on with it. It had been 8.30 before I had reached the camp site the previous evening and I wanted at least some daylight by which to eat my dinner.
Eventually the road returned just before Llanwrthwl, at which point I decided I had had enough of the oficial Sustrans route for one day and took to the now almost deserted A470 for the final 4 miles or so into Rhayader. I bought milk and one or two other bits and pieces in the Spar shop and then found the campsite where I had a brief conversation with a tandemist, pitched my tent and prepared my dinner - rump steak fried with onions and rice followed by Welshcakes. Marvellous stuff!
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18890-1/DSC09762.JPG)
The showers were good, the washing up facilities excellent, there were a couple of other cyclists around the place but the biggest group was a bunch of off-road 4*4 enthusiasts, whose monster vehicles took up a great deal of the camp site. There was a discussion between a couple of these blokes and someone I took to be one of the site wardens about night-time noise - it appeared that the group had gone out for some night-time environmental damage the previous day and had returned at some most unsocial hour, waking people with their roaring engines.
One life - bugger it up for everyone else!
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Wednesday 14th August
The sun shone briefly first thing and I was beginning to think that the forecast for a damp week was going to prove to be incorrect. However, by the time I had eaten, abluted and packed up, a fine Welsh drizzle was falling. I returned my gate card to the warden and asked about the weather forecast. He checked. "This has set in for the day. Sorry!"
It wasn't unpleasant cycling. I just didn't bother with my waterproof as I was warm. A bit of damp didn't matter.
My first stop for the day was the waterfall from which Rhayader gets its name. Rhaeadr is the Welsh ford for "waterfall" and the name of the town is "Rhaeadr Gwy", or "Waterfall on the River Wye". I had been sending my grand-daughter daily messages with pictures, mostly about the rivers on which my trip was based, and a photo of the waterfall was a must. It wasn't that spectacular as there hadn't been a great deal of rain in the area, but there it was.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18893-1/DSC09763.JPG)
My first village of the day was Llangurig, also on the river Wye. The A470 follows the east bank, but I was on the west, following the minor road I had ridden a couple of times previously.
I had just started along this road when I spotted two cyclists ahead of me. I suffered from the delusion that I would catch them up, but even though I could see them a few hundred yards ahead each time I started a long climb, by the time I reached the flat or a downhill they were out of sight again. I thought that they were probably the two cyclists I had seen at the camp site, but I wasn't sure.
The mist and drizzle intensified, but I had no need for my waterproof. The weather was perfectly warm enough and I was working quite hard, one or twice having to get off and push. On one descent my bar bag suddenly headed south and rested against the stem: the supporting cable had snapped as a result of the bag bouncing around over several thouhsand miles' use. I simply removed the bag and stuck it under the bungees at the back and carried on, it suddenly dawning on me what an annoying source of noise a bar bag is. The ride was much more peaceful and pleasant without it there.
Eventually, I found Llangurig, just as wet as the last time I went there. However, there was a tea room, of a sort, in a gift shop right by the junction. In I went and there were the two cyclists I had seen ahead of me. We conversed, although the chap was a bit taciturn. It turned out that he was an audaxer in remission. They lived in Llanberis and were heading home, basically along the Lon Las Cymru. He explained that he had discovered girls (his friend interjected "Somewhat belatedly!") and had given up audaxing. His decision had been helped by a falling-asleep-at-the-wheel-after-a-200 incident on the M56. I deliberately didn't mention any of the names I felt sure he would know as I could see signs of a 500-yard stare returning. I talked about cake instead.
They left a little before I did, and again he warned of the hills ahead, as though anyone would cycle the long diagonal of Wales unaware that they were in for a bit of climbing. Knowing these things, I was also acutely aware that the next 5 miles or so, over the top to Llanidloes, would see me traverse the Wye-Severn watershed, and watersheds tend to be high. (Incidentally, some while ago one of our London-based brethren once remarked how rivers didn't matter to cyclists any more. I won't embarrass him by mentioning his name but if he seriously believes that he should try touring in Wales, where every pair of rivers is separated by an enormous mountain, or Norfolk, where there just aren't any bridges over them because the economic activity has never been sufficiently great to warrant the expense of building one).
The moment I left the main road I started climbing, and it was too steep to ride. As I trudged up the hill a cheery local hailed me.
"Don't get off - you aren't half way yet!"
"Actually," I replied, "given that I started on Monday in Chepstow I think I probably am!"
He was suitably impressed.
The climb towards Llanidloes was actually not that long. The Wye and the Severn are quite odd in some respects. They rise within a mile or two of each other in the Pumlumon Fawr range, the highest bit of the Cambrians. The Wye then meanders gently southwards through Wales whilst the Severn heads eastwards on a slumming expedition in a great arc through England, visiting Shrewsbury, Worcester, Tewkesbury and Gloucester on the way to meet the Wye again where the old M48 Severn Bridge crosses them both, in two spans. Once I was about 1100' up I stopped climbing and had a gentle meander through the drizzle to Llanidloes for lunch. I had read of the Great Oak café and found it fairly easily, in Great Oak Street. It was rated as a very good whole food café so in I went.
Everything was veggie. I opted for a rather good vegetable madras and some tea. There was quite a lot of salad to go with the madras and rice and I felt that any flatulence experienced during the afternoon would be useful as a form of rudimentary jet propulsion to help me climb the much bigger watershed between the Severn and the Dyfi. It occurred to me that they shouldn't really be allowed to call it "whole food" because they always miss the best bits (meat) out.
After my calories I was ready for the afternoon's climb. I had done my best to keep my speed up during the day as Kim was due to meet me in Machynlleth and her train arrived at 4.46pm. I sent her a text message to say that I thought I would be more likely to arrive around 5.45, and then I set off.
The Severn was on my left but, magnificent though it is when it is more mature, at this stage it is a mere infant, tumbling merrily from pool to pool, sometimes almost narrow enough to jump across. The weather was doing its best to increase the flow, but again it was mostly fairly easy cycling. I did get back up to 1000' in the Hafren forest, and descended ust below that figure by the time I reached Staylittle. I turned left onto the B4518, which had very little traffic on it, and was diverted briefly by a large bird of prey on a post. I'm pretty sure it was a buzzard, but it had the palest colouring of any I had ever seen. It flew off when I stopped to get a better look.
Soon came the left turn towards Dylife, and the major climb of the day. The rain was still falling and very shortly I was going steeply up to meet it. I thought about stopping at the Star pub but in the end didn't bother. I knew I would drink beer if I went in there and the alcohol would affect my already substandard ability to climb. I didn't want to keep Kim waiting in poor weather.
Given that I was already 1000' feet above sea level, and that the top of this mountain was about 1650' and the highest point of NCN8 (the Gospel Pass is on NCN 42) I calculated that all I had to do was, in effect, two Mighty North Hills (Essex residents will know what I mean). Thinking about it in those terms actually made it quite manageable psychologically, although it was rather steeper than the approach to Little Baddow from Paper Mill Lock. However, there were no chevrons, at least, not on my side, so I was able to ride almost all of it.
I had read that the late Wynford Vaughan Thomas, the renowned Welsh broadcaster, considered that the view from this mountain was the finest in the whole of Wales.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18905-1/DSC09767.JPG)
Something told me that it wasn't going to be my day in that respect. However, I finally did reach the rather odd waymarker at the top
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18908-1/DSC09768.JPG)
and put my waterproof on for what was going to be a long and speedy descent - about 1600' of it.
I was still in the cloud to begin with, but after a couple of hundred feet of descending the view opened up.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18914-1/DSC09770.JPG)
The photo doesn't do it justice, but I could see the roads snaking away for about 6 miles, seemingly leaping from ridge to ridge. It was pretty windy on the top so I kept my speed down initially, but then temptation became too great and I allowed the bike to go a bit more. Down, down, down I went, back into the trees, past a few houses, and then, on a straight bit a mile or two before I reached Machynlleth, there was a recumbent rider coming up the hill towards me. It was Kim.
I felt quite emotional when we greeted one another as I hadn't seen another human for quite a few hours and it was such a great feeling to be in the company of friends again. "How absolutely bloody marvellous to see you!" said I. Then practical considerations needed to be addressed.
"What are we doing about food tonight?" I asked.
"I have already got enough for me," Kim replied.
Right on cue, a Co-op appeared and I went and bought some fresh pasta with chilli, milk, Welshcakes, that sort of thing, and then we trundled through the town, over the Dyfi and up towards the Centre for Alternative Technology where we camped for the night. There were the two cyclists with whom I had been conversing earlier, as well as a couple of Italians with a Bob Yak and a rather older New Zealander who had a bike with a Y-frame trailer. He was heading south.
We pitched our tents, Kim experimented with the ladies' shower, the rain stopped for long enough for me to wash and try to dry some clothes, I found that the men's shower was rather more effective than Kim's description of the ladies', and with lots of rain forecast we retired to our tents and slept.
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Thursday 15th August
There was rain again in the night and the drizzle persisted to one intensity or another until breakfast. The river, a little below the tent, was considerably more swollen than it had been the night before. Knowing that Nikki would be joining us, I delayed lighting the stove until I saw her on the road above the camp site. Then the bacon went on.
I found it quite hard to get going this morning. Nikki, of course, was all packed up, having got off an early train, and Kim is a much more efficient packer than I am. Then I lost a tent peg, one of my lovely gold-coloured Hilleberg ones, so we searched for that for a while. Eventually I found it it a patch of longer grass.
We set off towards Corris, knowing that there was more - considerably more - climbing to do. We turned right at the crossroads, I was forced to push my bike and the others waited patiently at suitable intervals for me to catch up. We passed some slate quarries and Kim suggested that we filmed an episode of Doctor Who while we were up here. I had to have the joke explained to me.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18920-1/DSC09772.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18923-1/DSC09773.JPG)
Corris is only about 300' above sea level (it feels a lot more) but soon the road became unrideable. Even Kim, who rarely gets off to push, found progress difficult and sent her pulse skywards as she tried to spin up the near-vertical road surface.
We left the "road" through a gate and joined a track. Its surface wasn't too bad, but it was immensely steep. After a huge effort we reached the top, at about 1350', but not before we had greeted a whole group of cyclists coming the other way. Then came teh descent, which was not nearly so steep. Another gate introduced us to the A470, which was not busy and Kim had ridden it before, so we took it. Eventually we arrived at the Cross Foxes and took a left turn towards Dolgellau.
Now came another easy descent. There were road works and the traffic was being controlled in single lanes, so I just let the bike go and sat up, allowing the breadth of my chest to act as a wind break. Even so, I think I topped 35 mph.
I had remembered that there was a hardware shop in Dolgellau and set about looking for it. It didn't take me long to find the old Parliament House with the name T. H. Roberts above the door, but, incredibly, it was now an up-market coffee shop. All the old shelves and cubby holes were still in place, but here we bought lunch rather than paraffin. It had taken us about 3 hours to cover 13 miles.
Something has to be said about the chocolate fudge cake in a glass cabinet on the counter. Even though we had all had a perfectly adequate first course, I felt that we owed it to medical science to find out what such a cake was capable of doing to three touring cyclists. I bought us half a slice each and it didn't take long for it to disappear. I believe Kim and Nikki spent some time photographing it.
When we emerged, the sun was shining and we felt quite optimistic for the afternoon. I found the hardware shop and, since the paraffin was sold in gallon containers, I went for a litre of barbecue lighting fuel. That would keep us going for the rest of the trip. We then pottered off towards the Mawddach Estuary path and the Barmouth Bridge.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18932-1/DSC09776.JPG)
After Barmouth we got onto the A road and, with the wind behind us, we cracked on at a fair old pace. We had seen the weather forecast and there had been some discussion about our accommodation for the night. I had found a particular camp site but Nikki, whose grandparents had lived in Talsarnau, knew of Barcdy, which was further north and would therefore put less pressure on us the following morning when we might well be pressed for time: Kim had a train to catch at Criccieth. I also suggested the possibility of spending the night at the youth hostel in Llanbedr, but that too was more southerly, so Barcdy it was.
Just before we arrived, we passed through Talsarnau and Nikki pointed out her grandparents' house. We also noted the Ship pub, as the rain was becoming more and more intense. Eventually we turned right into the camp site and found the reception area.
"Do you do special rates for cycle campers?" I enquired.
The woman at the desk looked at me, then at Kim and Nikki. She took pity on us.
"I can sign you in as an adult and two children," she suggested. "That will be £9 per adult and £3 per child."
I was very pleased with my bargaining skills.
Then came the time to erect the tents. The wind was howling off the sea, the rain was sheeting down horizontally and we were trying to put tents up. I did a bit of calculation. Fortunately the grass was perfectly level, so I didn't have to account for my feet being higher than my head, and I pointed the foot-end of my tent's footprint directly into the wind and pegged it out. It instantly became a lake. Then I stretched the tent over it, inserted the poles and pegged everything out, double-pegging the ropes at the windward end. It was up, but it was undergoing a pretty severe test of its Hillebergness. I checked all round. At the windward end, the fly sheet reached the ground. All around the tent, water was draining away onto grass. Nowhere did the footprint stick out to collect any rain. I felt that was the best I was going to manage, pumped up my downmat, spread my sleeping bag and silk liner and then thought about food.
"I'm certainly not going to cook in this!" I declared, knowing that the pub was not a great distance away. Nikki, who was relying on me for a stove and fuel, had little choice. Kim, who has a meths Trangia, which is better suited to porch cooking than is my paraffin monstrosity, and who was in any case running out of dry clothes to change into, decided to stay put and cook for herself. Nikki and I mounted our steeds once more and headed back along the road towards Talsarnau.
The pub had recently been refurbished and after an initial difficulty because they restaurant door was not unlocked, we went in by the front entrance, were seated at a table, and then ordered a drink and perused the menu. Again I plumped for the most calorific items I could find: soup, a curry and sticky toffee pudding. Nikki selected scampi and we did a bit of filthy food-swapping along the way. The beer was Marston's Pedigree, not my favourite real ale, but a perfectly decent pint nonetheless, and slowly but surely some of the moisture was driven off by our body heat. There was some discussion of the merits of different food types and at the end there remaineth these three: cacen, cyri and cwrw; but the greatest of these is cwrw.
A couple of hours later we emerged to find that the rain had almost stopped but the wind was still blustering and buffeting us as we cycled back towards the campsite.
I found some clean, dry clothes, ensconced myself in the disabled shower, where there was a good-sized table for spreading stuff out, dried, dressed, washed through some garments and headed back towards my tent. I hadn't been there very long when the rain started again, and I've never heard such rain on a flysheet. It hammered down for hours, but I was now sufficiently exhausted that I slept for some considerable time. At 3 am the rain was still at it. I was thinking about visiting the lavatory but it was not nearly so desperate that I was prepared to venture out in that. I checked the Met Office website (there was a reasonable signal at Talsarnau) and the forecast was for the rain to blow itself out overnight and for Friday to be warm and sunny. My bowels, I thought, could wait a little longer and, indeed, by 5 am the rain had stopped and the wind had dropped. Waterproof on, sandals on, and off I trotted, arriving back just in time to hear Kim stirring within her tent. I settled down again and slept for another couple of hours and when I awoke for the last time the camp site was bathed in sunshine. It was a beautiful morning.
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Excellent stuff
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Friday 16th August
Dawn could scarcely have been more different from the hours of darkness that preceded it. We awoke to bright sunshine peeping over the hills behind the campsite and quickly went into action. Nikki, nurturing a fine addiction to hot muesli, needed milk to be boiled. I used the surplus, topped up with cold, on my porridge oats. We had some bacon rolls. Kim ate whatever Kim eats or breakfast.
We had a schedule to keep to, based upon Kim's train which let Criccieth a few minutes before 2 pm. There had been an issue as to whether the bridge would be open, and once we discovered that it would, we were much happier as otherwise a long, hilly diversion towards Maentwrog would have been in order.
As we were dismantling the tents, Nikki found that she had shared hers with a small friend.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18938-1/DSC09778.JPG)
Shortly we were off and waiting for the lights so that we could cross the bridge.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18941-1/DSC09779.JPG)
The day was warming up nicely as we pottered towards Nikki's Auntie Megan's house near Minfordd. When we arrived we received a very Welsh welcome, and the offer of drinks and sustenance. I had coffee and as much home-made bara brith as Auntie Megan could throw at me. Nikki and Kim had cold drinks and rather fewer calories. Soon we left, with this view.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18944-1/DSC09780.JPG)
Some time later we had another estuary to cross, by The Cob.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18947-2/DSC09781.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18950-2/DSC09782.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18956-1/DSC09784.JPG)
and eventually after some climbing, we arrived in Criccieth. There was a bakery open just around the corner from the station and we bought ham salad rolls for lunch. Kim's train arrived at the appointed time and there were just the two of us. We headed along the A road for a while, but when the turning or Llanystumdwy appeared, we took it. I had a recollection that there was a statue o David Lloyd George there, but although there was a museum and a bust, we couldn't find a statue. We took a few minutes to pay our respects at his graveside.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18974-1/DSC09790.JPG)
From that point on, the afternoon became a bit of a route march as we were heading due west and the headwind was hard work. Also, we were on a B road, probably the busiest road we had used, ad the constant stream of overtaking cars was beginning to become wearing. Finally we reached Morfa Nefyn and I declared my intention that I needed an ice cream.
We belted down the hill into Edern, but the only shop visible was the butcher's. We climbed a hill towards a post office, but when we arrived we found that it closed at noon each day. A conversation with some locals indicated that the butcher also sold ice cream, so, much to Nikki's amusement, I descended again, scoffed a Solero and rejoined her at the top of the hill.
This coast road was also irritating so, just before Tudweiliog, we turned off onto a tiny lane. This was mostly traffic free, but in one or two places there were large numbers of cars where their owners had been to the beach. We arrived just as they were thinking of packing up for the night and we had to negotiate the occasional 4*4.
After a lot of effort we arrived at the Porth Colmon campsite, and, disappointingly, we could see the weather on the turn. The wind had risen and there was obvious heavy rain out to sea, from clouds that, for the moment, were travelling parallel to the coast. We agreed that our priorities were pitch the tents, cook some food and then have a look at the sea.
This time I had to point my porch into the wind because of the slope to the camp site. Again I double-pegged the windward end and made my bed. Nikki had carried two pouches of quick rice and two tins of chilli with her from Birmingham, so we ate those and followed up with Welsh cakes and some chocolate. I had a bottle of beer and was part-way through drinking it whilst Nikki went for her shower when a labrador pup named Millie came and threw herself at me. She was an absolute delight if you don't mind being slapped by about 20lb of wet dog, and I didn't. Millie's owners wer quite embarrassed.
I thought about a shower but there was no light in the loos. I washed up after our meal, mistakingly putting olive oil into the (cold) washing up water instead of detergent, got it right second time and returned to the tents. We then strolled down to the beach where the place was deserted. Never one to give up easily, I walked to the water's edge and put my hand in to test the temperature. I'd had worse and was just contemplating taking all my clothes off when my phone rang. It was my younger daughter asking for some advice on hiring men-with-ven for her move to Oxford for her MA next month. I told her that she had just saved Nikki from witnessing me gallumphing into the sea naked, Nikki called out her thanks to my daughter and my daughter appreciated the joke.
The sun had gone and after a little more small talk we retired to our tents. I made the tactical error of leaving the remaining Welsh cakes, jelly babies and chocolate within reach of my bed and by morning they had all gone. At some stage during the night I had disappeared off to the loo and, after returning to my bed, to my complete amazement the next thing I knew was that it was 8.15.
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I love reading your ride reports! Great pictures too, and this is the land of Mr M's fathers....we should go there.
I feel I should apologise for the rain. If I'd been paying attention beforehand I could have told you that it always rains this week. The reason I know this is that we got married on August 13th (in the rain) and have had seven anniversaries since, and it's rained on every single one. Especially in Chester. Just to make absolutely sure of it, Mr M had ticket for cricket on the 17th. So, any incidences of trench foot or stray frogs are our fault. Sorry about that.
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Saturday 17th August
Nikki had already packed most of her stuff up before I emerged. After a loo trip I got on with it and was fairly pleased with my lack of faffage. The wind was so strong that I had to keep my tent roped down as I rolled it up from the leeward end, but at least it was dry. We were away around 10.30.
To our considerable surprise it was not raining. The sky was thick with leaden clouds and there was a very strong south-westerly, which meant that our progress was rapid. However, after about 6 miles it was time to reach for the waterproofs.
This was no mountain drizzle but a full-blown Atlantic depression in all its nastiness. Wave after wave of rain hit us, soaking everything, but mostly we progressed pretty well. We reached Nefyn around 11.45 and there was a tea room. We went in to find that it was of the "greasy spoon" variety rather than a refined one with cake. I decided that I needed beans on toast, which I ordered, but never before have I seen so few beans on a slice of toast which is meant to be swimming in them. After half-an-hour or so we carried on with our trudge towards Bangor.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18983-1/DSC09793.JPG)
I knew there was a hill, as we had to round Yr Eifl, three peaks, the tallest of which is nigh on 2000', which stand guard over the northern portal to the Lleyn peninsula. However, I had forgotten how high the road went. The hills disturbed the wind and sometimes it was most unhelpful. We ground our way up to about 850', including climbing a chevron just after Llithfaen and we had to examine Nikki's bike which was making some unpleasant noises.
She had two broken spokes in the rear wheel. I took the broken ones out so that they shouldn't flap about, but it was clear that that rear wheel just was not designed for the sort of load that she was carrying. I suggested, since she is a faster rider than I am, that she go on ahead to try to find a bike shop in Caernarfon, which was still about 18 miles away, get her wheel fixed and wait for me in a tea shop. She agreed to this and soon after we parted company we reached the summit and began to descend towards the A499.
Years ago my sister lived along this road, in Clynnog Fawr. I remembered how busy it was then, being the main road between Caernarfon and Pwllheli. At the height of the holiday season it could become non-stop traffic and that was how it was today. However, a recent engineering project had put a cycle lane in on the east side, and it was an excellent facility. Some of it was smooth, purpose-build tarmac, bits of it were the old road where the new one took a different route, and this cycle path carried on all the way to the village of Ffrwd, only a little more than a mile form the cycle path alongside the Welsh Highland Railway. The point at which the sign warned that the cycle path ended there was no indication of any alternative to the A499, which was still pretty unpleasant, but across the road was a minor road towards Llandwrog ad this made a very pleasant alternative to the A499. I followed this for a couple of miles and then joined the path alongside the railway, knowing that I was almost in Caernarfon and really not feeling like pitching a tent in the appalling conditions we had had to endure.
Eventually I was met by a welcome sight.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/18986-1/DSC09794.JPG)
The first task was to find Nikki so I made my way to the town centre and looked or a bike shop. There was no sign of one, although I had spotted a bike hire place near the castle. I tried a shop at random and asked the proprietor whether she knew of a bike shop. She was just getting to the interesting bit when I received a text message from Nikki, who was in the car park by the castle with two spokes, two tyre levers and a Park spoke key that had been lent to her by the bike hire people, who had now closed in disgust because no-one wants ot hire bikes in weather like this.
After a phone call we saw each other so I made my way down the hill to the castle.
"I've got a very good plan B," I said to her.
"Does it involve being warm and dry?" she replied.
"Yes, it does. We find a B & B for the night."
With remarkably little protest from my companion we hied us to the Tourist Information office and asked about B & Bs. Every one they had on their books was full. However, they gave us a map and showed us a couple of roads where B & Bs hung out and we found one almost straight away with a vacancy.
We knocked at the door, which was answered by a youngish man with a slight foreign accent and the dirtiest feet I had seen in a long time.
"Do you have a twin room for the night?" I asked.
"It's a double."
"Is there room for an airbed on the floor? We're not attached."
"Probably. Come and see."
So we did.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/19019-1/DSC09805.JPG)
It wasn't just a double bed, it was a 4-poster, so ideal for hanging wet sleeping bags on. My sleeping bag was wet, my downmat was wet, my silk liner was wet and so was my polyester blanket. I don't think Nikki had fared a lot better. We showered, found some dry clothes and an electric heater and whilst I was in the shower Nikki went beyond the call of duty and turned my cotton shorts, which were very wet indeed, several times on top of the heater. By the time I was out of the shower they were dry. What was more, the rain had stopped and we were ready to hit the town, it now being about 5 pm and neither of us having had a proper lunch.
There was a curry house and we were the only customers. We ordered food in the form of poppadoms, starters and mains, and I had some Cobra lager. Nikki had a lassi. My balti arrived in a bucket. We were to find later that the curry house had only just reopened after a refurbishment and I think we were its first customers.
There was still some daylight after we had finished eating we wandered around Caernarfon, looking at the castle and the water.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/19010-2/DSC09802.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/19001-2/DSC09799.JPG)
Then, knackered as we were, we went to bed.
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Sunday 18th August.
Today was meant just to be a pottering day around Bangor, but one bonus was that we had had an evening in Caernarfon, which is a much more interesting town. Also we had avoided 10 more miles of the wettest sort of rain and a miserable camp site.
After a breakfast which was far tastier than a man with such dirty feet should have been capable of delivering, we packed up, I mended the rear wheel puncture which I noticed on arriving in Caernarfon the previous afternoon, and we began the leisurely ride along the Lon Las Menai to Nikki's campsite for the night and my train to Shrewsbury.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/19022-2/DSC09806.JPG)
Despite its broken spokes, Nikki's bike was still behaving pretty well. We were "Bore da"'d to by numerous roadies out on bikes, including one large club who surprised us a little in that they were prepared to slum it on a dual use cycle way rather than bash up and down an A road. Near Felinheli we say a family whose youngest member was not enjoying herself as much as her parents wanted her to.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/19025-1/DSC09807.JPG)
Soon we arrived at the camp site where Charlotte and I stayed three years ago. Nikki was stung £12 for her pitch, which was by a long way the most expensive camping that any of us had paid for all week. Not far away there were some seriously big mountains.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/19031-1/DSC09809.JPG)
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/19037-1/DSC09811.JPG)
Nikki blew up her pillow.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/19040-2/DSC09812.JPG)
We crossed the bridge onto Anglesey so that we could visit Waitrose.
We had lunch at Morrison's, which did a very good value cooked meal for about £5 a head, and Nikki demolished half a pretty large chicken. I had salmon. Eventually it was time to go for my train so we had a big hug and off I went.
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We interrupt this serialisation to bring you Supplementary Photographs and Marginalia from a Touring Newbie. Normal service will be resumed shortly...
ETA Ah, too slow! Appendix then :)
Thursday
Zooming along the lanes, progress fuelled by bacon, light drizzle dripping from the leaves:
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2819/9549842816_dc4d72f2aa.jpg)
Wow has an impressive ability to always be alert to avian activity occurring in the near and not-so-near vicinity of the route. Here he is about to ask me if I can hear a something-or-other:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7387/9549857214_88e7c8b7b8.jpg)
Perygl! Lots of 'up' ahead!
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/9547072935_b3046d8f82.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3695/9547074873_20dfe0ec14.jpg)
I tried several times to take photos to convey how steep the trail is, but nothing really did it justice.
I think these two come closest:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5476/9549874782_b9827f8340.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3760/9547082535_be77d10a48.jpg)
I had to stop frequently when pushing my bike up the hill; not because my legs were tired, but because of failing circulation in my arms! You can see in that photo of Wow how the gradient meant we were holding our arms relatively high in relation to our bodies.
Do you remember that The World's Strongest Man TV programme that was on at something like 6pm on a Sunday and one of the things Geoff Capes et al had to do was hold a mahoosive stone out right in front of them for as long as possible? It was like that. Only rainier.
The cake at the hardware store:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7327/9546480975_d61dd81d24.jpg)
I wasn't quick enough to photograph the cake in its whole state in the display counter (it only just fitted between the shelves!) as it disappeared very rapidly to various slavering customers. Very nice it was too.
The railway path along the estuary to Barmouth:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5340/9547100239_188e89b513.jpg)
Candidate for a comedy Sustrans gate:
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2828/9547112737_81bf32dce3.jpg)
The Bridge:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5501/9549913028_16663ea3db.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/9549924084_2711581145.jpg)
I nearly lost my sleeping bag on the wooden section of the bridge when it slipped free of its bungees. Fortunately a bag with my sandals in saved the day. Also a nice woman who stopped to help. Kim and I ended up having a bit of a natter with her as she asked us where we'd been and we got onto the subject of attempts at pronouncing place names.
Calories being administered at The Ship Aground in Talsarnau:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3683/9549270524_e22476b3e5.jpg)
Despite the rain it was blissful to ride an unladen bike the mile or so up the road to the pub, and once there the recent refurb was a very pleasant surprise.
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That's OK, Nikki. I had just about finished. Just the geekery to go. Better photos than mine anyway.
The Route. (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://peter.chesspod.com/routes/chepstow/lonlascymru.gpx)
That claims 19151 feet of ascent over 251.25 miles. Maximum height 1791'. The Garmin claimed a maximum height of 1795'. Its total height gain was wrong because I forgot to set it until I had already left Chepstow.
According to the Cateye, the total distance from home to home was 281.76 miles. That includes crossing London twice and a return trip from Shrewsbury to Condover.
Thanks for the nice comments, Morrisette. And, mostly, thanks to Kim and Nikki for keeping me company on the toughest sections. Apologies to Nikki for my snoring.
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I don't think I have anything much left to add to all that, except that:
a) I *really* hate slugs (I assume Morrisette is responsible for those, too).
b) The YACF gilet finally got a field (and indeed, mountain) test, and passed with flying colours[1].
c) Preliminary in-tent experiments into constructing a emergency Pantenna™ for my phone using a Trangia, my remaining dry pair of socks and a HRM strap showed promising improvements in GPRS[2] stability (I assume by preventing it from switching between two equally naff cells).
d) The OS don't put chevrons on off-road tracks, even tarmac ones.
e) Charlotte was right about the condoms.
[1] Any colour you like, as long as it's red.
[2] For it was Wales, and the UTMS doesn't start until you get to Shrewsbury.
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I tried several times to take photos to convey how steep the trail is, but nothing really did it justice.
I think these two come closest:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5476/9549874782_b9827f8340.jpg)
Using a combination of Inkscape, a reference photo of my bike showing boom and wheels, and Maths, I make that a ~18degree slope. That's almost but not quite exactly 1:3!
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Excellent read.
Thanks chaps.
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Nicely done. Are you dried out now? Did you work out why the B&B man's feet were dirty?
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Did you work out why the B&B man's feet were dirty?
I think it was because he'd been unable to get into the bathroom for some time - when I tried to use it it was full of dripping wet cycling gear...
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I dried my trangia out this morning. I think that's the last of it.
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Nicely done. Are you dried out now? Did you work out why the B&B man's feet were dirty?
I think pretty well everything is dry, just in time to get it all wet again in Mildenhall at the weekend.
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The only things I had that got problematically wet were my walking shoes (they filled up on the way to Caernarfon) and my bar bag.
Panniers and strategic dry bags kept everything except for what I wore and washed dry, so that was okay. Bar bag's a bit spongy though, so when that got wet there was a lot of things inside that needed drying and also the bag itself took a lot of heater rotations to have any effect at all.
I'm poised to molish a replacement elasticated shower cap out of a sacrificial dry bag...
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I have just been visiting the Field and Trek webstie.
I bought 2 40 litre stuffsacks and 2 lightweight towels.
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Topeak do a bar-bag cover, in YELLOW. Think mine was about 4 quid!
Ah the slugs. Yes, those are mine, from our old house where they used to come sliming into the kitchen. We trained them, taught them Welsh (slugio? that's a guess) and sent them on their way, the Attack Slugs of Doom!
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Friday
Torrential downpour when we started pitching the tents not withstanding, I really liked the Barcdy camp site at Talsarnau.
This is an opinion largely formed on the basis of the top-notch showers which were free, warm, clean, in good repair and had a sensible amount of hooks and shelves for keeping your stuff dry.
The camping area was in good nick, and there was an indoor food prep and laundry area with hot water, spinner/drier (we were up and about a bit to early to seek out tokens and use these), and spare sockets available for topping-up batteries up with more electrons.
Also the tent-ingressing wildlife was of a very high quality. I was totally impressed with my toad. (Spork for scale.)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/9547152219_4370a90e6a.jpg)
The lovely sunny morning that greeted us came in very useful after getting soaked the previous day. Through cunning use of all of the surfaces, we were mostly dry by the time stuff got packed up and away.
Here's how much space we appropriated in order to do this (all this is us, even the picnic table at the far right!):
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7345/9549945400_a751b37b3d.jpg)
The estuary at the Pont Briwet crossing was as I had left it about 13 years ago:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/9549951260_aa13a09cb8.jpg)
I was more than a tad nostalgic at seeing all the familiar sights from my childhood again, especially Aunty Megan's inexhaustible supplies of cake (Wow gave it a good attempt, though.)
Time marches on, however, so we couldn't linger in the Penrhyndeudraeth area too long.
I finally got to cross the Cob at Porthmadog in something other than a car. One of my highlights of the tour was cycling along that section of path with the warm sun on my skin, the mountains being all distant and majestic and the smell of buddleia bushes hanging in the air. Just perfect.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7331/9547174967_69de474e26.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3765/9549961546_b1cd5c0e0d.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3729/9546482351_9a841dd2c4.jpg)
*sigh*
We got a bonus steam train, too:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5503/9547176861_343d2361fd.jpg)
The other side of Porthmadog was new territory for me. Once we'd climbed up out of the valley it all felt very top-of-the-worldy:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7412/9549981580_e53808acec.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7340/9547197313_836466b6b2.jpg)
Wow and I waved goodbye to Kim at Criccieth and then continued on our way, very aware of the absence. 3 felt like a good number for a touring posse, and being just two took a bit of getting used to.
With, it seemed to me, the prospect of a swim in the offing, Wow put on a bit of a turn of speed. This enthusiasm was renewed at the promise of icecream from the butcher's (this kept us giggling for the rest of the tour!), but energy levels were low on the approach to Porth Colmon with additional headwind and traffic to contend with.
We finally managed to escort Wow to the coast, though, squeezing in a quick dabble before light and weather deteriorated. Success! :thumbsup:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3696/9547210471_8a43382d2f.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3758/9550006134_aea0bd241a.jpg)
We didn't quite have the viewpoint to make the most of the sunset, but we lingered to watch a large flock of swallows on the way back to the camp site:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3818/9550010398_2898fb79b9.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7351/9550018402_d153ecec6d.jpg)
I judged Wow to be comfortable and set off for shower adventures in a washblock with no light-switches...
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2822/9547231953_d5ba04a706.jpg)
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Topeak do a bar-bag cover, in YELLOW. Think mine was about 4 quid!
*nods*
(It was in place, but no match for the Welsh weather!)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3672/9547236381_88e3024791.jpg)
Upgrade required :)
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I think an appraisal of the campsites is in order.
Llanthony: wonderful setting, bogs a long way away, no shower, only £3, marvellous pub.
PS there's another camp site across the road which I believe has better facilities.
Rhayader: picturesque riverside site, close to town and pubs, flat, excellent facilities (shower had its own thermometer display which you could adjust), good value at £7.50
Llwyngwern Farm: another riverside site. Showers and washing up facilities were more basic and somewhat tatty, but worked. £8, which I thought was a bit steep. No pub within easy reach. Edit: Kim has pointed out two, one, the Dwynant Arms, less than a mile away and another, the Slater's Arms, a little further, in Corris. Turn left out of the camp site.
Barcdy: Top-notch facilities all round. The published price of £9 per person was at the very top of what I think is acceptable, but far too many of these camp sites just charge a flat rate, whether you are in a 4*4 towing a caravan or you are on a bike with a one-person tent. The fact that the proprietor was open to haggling was good, and at what turned out to be £5 each was superb value. Ship pub less than a mile away.
Porth Colmon: very reasonable at £4, although there was no hot water for washing up or in the wash basins. The showers were quite good, but the bog lights were on a timer which had not kicked in around dusk, and had gone off again by midnight. Be sure to take your torch. Quite a lot of the field was sloping so careful pitching was required. There's a shop across the road, a beach nearby, but no pub for quite a few miles.
Treborth: Charlotte and I camped here 3 years ago and, from memory, because of Charlotte's injured leg, we arrived late and paid the following day, which always puts you in a strong position. I think we paid £4.50 per head, but said we shared a tent or something. It would have been more. Within a short ride of Bangor and all its facilities. Well placed for A & E in Bangor.
Nikki paid £12 up front, which would have been the same by whichever means of transport she had arrived. Extortionate.
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Monday 12th August
Immediately we got stuck into an enormous hill and, as is ever the case when I go on tour, I was questioning the wisdom of my decision. I'm 59 and fat and I shouldn't be forcing myself up these huge hills.
Despite being younger and slimmer, and not having four laden panniers, I was thinking exactly the same. But I was also thinking that you're really rather good at forcing yourself up these huge hills in a way which I'm not.
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Nikki paid £12 up front, which would have been the same by whichever means of transport she had arrived. Extortionate.
I'm in two minds on that sort of thing. Yes, lightweight campers take up nominally less room, but they're relatively rare and their use of the facilities that actually cost money (shower and washing up water and the like) tends to be equal or greater than the 4x4 and caravan brigade. The exception is electric hookups, but those are usually charged separately anyway.
I'd rather pay a flat rate per person (which seems like a more realistic reflection of the true costs) than a flat rate per pitch, anyway. All things being equal, a campsite that's able to stay in business is better than one that didn't.
As for pubs, you can't count the pub a mile away at Barcdy as a feature and then claim that Llwyngwern Farm didn't have a pub within easy reach, it also being about a mile away. It was a hillier mile, but a more walkable one. I can't vouch for the quality of either pub, thobut.
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You are right. I have found two, the Tafarn Dwynant, in Esgairgeiliog, and the Slater's Arms, in Corris. I didn't notice either when we went through on Thursday morning.
I couldn't tell whether the Tafarn Dwynant did food. It isn't open on a Monday. The Slater's Arms seems to.
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I couldn't tell whether the Tafarn Dwynant did food.
The notice board by the bogs at the campsite[1] gave its approximate location, opening times and details of food-serving (they did, possibly with restricted times). I can't remember any of it, though.
The Slater's Arms serves decent food, real ale and Haribo, and is a short bastard hill from the youth hostel in Corris. What's not to like?
[1] It's always worth looking at notice boards on campsites. They can have all manner of useful or comedy factoids.
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You were on our old stomping grounds there Wow. Tony was living in Corris when I met him and he has had many a pint in the Slaters. We lived the other side of Mach after we got married and the lumpy roads around there are where I really got into cycling. I miss them now we are on the Fylde believe it or not! ::-)
Seems like you had a good time despite the weather. Corris has a reputation for being wet! One of the first times I went there when the boys were younger we ended up taking them puddle splashing rather than sitting indoors just looking at the rain. :)
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http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=276005&Y=312724&A=Y&Z=115
That's the steepest section of COR just north of Corris, just after we went through the first gate. The path climbs from the 265 metre mark to 390 metres in something like 700 metres of road.
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http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=276005&Y=312724&A=Y&Z=115
That's the steepest section of COR just north of Corris, just after we went through the first gate. The path climbs from the 265 metre mark to 390 metres in something like 700 metres of road.
None of that was mentioned on the notice board at the campsite.
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If my arithmetic is right ( :-[) that's about 20%. Off-road, albeit I can't see the quality of off-road and it's a term that covers a huge variety. Anyway, I'm not at all sure I could do that!
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If my arithmetic is right ( :-[) that's about 20%. Off-road, albeit I can't see the quality of off-road and it's a term that covers a huge variety. Anyway, I'm not at all sure I could do that!
Surprisingly decent coarse tarmac maybe 3m wide with a liberal coating of fresh sheep poo and some strategic loose gravel on the steeper bits. Which is to say, assuming you have mudguards, a better surface than half the roads in Birmingham City Centre.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/9547072935_b3046d8f82.jpg)
I'm not one for pushing the recumbent - it's just not a very practical proposition - but after stop-start riding most of the way, I was eventually defeated by the gravel at around the point of Wowbagger's arrow: You can't get going again when the rear wheel slips, and I decided that was a silly place to sustain a clipless moment related injury, and pushed for the final hundred metres or so.
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I'm mentally leafing through hills I have ridden and the only one I can think of which comes close to that in terms of steepness is the Devil's Staircase. The ascent to that was pretty steep, but the descent, into the Irfon valley (the lump is the watershed between the Tywi and the Wye systems), was probably the most alarming I have experienced, and this was on a metalled road.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=283147&Y=255870&A=Y&Z=120
Of course, I didn't ride this.
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I'm mentally leafing through hills I have ridden and the only one I can think of which comes close to that in terms of steepness is the Devil's Staircase. The ascent to that was pretty steep, but the descent, into the Irfon valley (the lump is the watershed between the Tywi and the Wye systems), was probably the most alarming I have experienced, and this was on a metalled road.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=283147&Y=255870&A=Y&Z=120
Of course, I didn't ride this.
I've just had a play with this on ye mighty View of Google Street.t It is bloody steep, and to add to that, a liberal coating of running water and dead leaves - the leaves must be seasonal, but the water? It is Wales! On the plus-minus side, what are marked on the map as fords appear to be bridges (probably liable to flooding).
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Those bridges are flat with no sides to them. If the river rises above them, you have to guess where they are.
The proprietor of Boatside camp site in Aberedw told me he drove along the road once when the bridges were submerged and worked out where they ought to be, and got away with it. He mentioned that he had no way of knowing whether or not they had been washed away.
Where that valley flattens out you are still more than 1000 feet above sea level.
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Streetview shows the lower of the two having sides and the higher with poles to mark the sides*. But they are flat and must frequently get flooded - and when they do, the river will presumably be flowing pretty fast. Could be a bit scary cycling across them that.
*Of course I don't know how old the streetview photos are - or whether the sides have been swept away in a raging torrent since then!
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Streetview shows the lower of the two having sides and the higher with poles to mark the sides*. But they are flat and must frequently get flooded - and when they do, the river will presumably be flowing pretty fast. Could be a bit scary cycling across them that.
*Of course I don't know how old the streetview photos are - or whether the sides have been swept away in a raging torrent since then!
I'm not sure those posts are always there...
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I just did a free cycle maintenance workshop training thigummybobber. Whilst I was doing the paperwork, someone got busy with giving my bike a safety check.
When I got back to it, my bike had this prognosis checklist tucked into my Garmin mount. Made me larf! ;D
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3769/9566042482_5cb3bd5d60.jpg)
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Well I wish I had a well kept bike certificate.
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Cor!
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Well I wish I had a well kept bike certificate.
I washed it very thoroughly only the other day, in fact. *cough*
So, my spokes are officially a bit slack. *adds spares and a spoke tool to the post-tour shopping list*
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Cor!
Or, even, COR!!
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Cor!
Or, even, COR!!
Comedy Official Receipt?
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Cor!
Or, even, COR!!
Comedy Official Receipt?
Cymru Occurrences Registered.
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Cycle Of Repute
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Crikey O'Reilly!
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Saturday
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7340/9549272408_b4c4605bef.jpg)
Saturday started in the approved manner, although this time hunkered down to leeward of Wow's tent because of the strong wind. Wow assured me this would be a tail wind once we got moving, but I wasn't prepared to believe this until it actually happened!
I took this photo shortly after we left the camp site:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5493/9547240409_30298b7142.jpg)
Unfortunately we weren't to get a repeat of Friday's glorious weather and it wasn't very long before the rain set in. My camera mostly stayed under the YELLOW shower cap for most of the rest of the ride.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7446/9566599438_e729f96645.jpg) (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7446/9566599438_91c73a7efc_o.jpg)
It was whilst climbing this little lot that I began to hear/feel a narsty grindy noise coming from my bike. Wow started getting sympathetic noises too, but when we stopped to inspect my cycle we spotted the two broken spokes in my rear wheel.
I've not had any spoke-related adventures before, so to find my bike disintegrating beneath me as I travelled through crappy weather in what I reckoned to be the most remote and desolate part of the tour un-nerved me quite a bit lot.
It was fairly obvious that there was zero chance of a butcher's bike shop before Caernarfon, and after doing some rudimentary Sums based on speed and distance I was also worried that we wouldn't get there in time to find one and get things fixed before close of business. The next day being Sunday, I didn't rate my chances of finding somewhere open the next day (remembering the Post Office at Nefyn that closes at midday on week days).
We briefly speculated on the option of getting a taxi, but after riding a little longer we took the decision for me to ride on ahead and for Wow to catch me up in Caernarfon. Unfortunately, as part of this we also had to agree to both take the busy A-road as it was much more direct and so Wow would be able to find me if I came a cropper en route.
The descent to the main road was a bit hairy in the rain with what were by now quite worn brake pads, but after that and apart from a few stretches where I had to ride on the A-road itself, the route was a lot kinder than it could have been. The cycle path next to the main carriageway was an absolute godsend and for the most part in very good condition too. My main memory of it is of being up in the hills, in the rain, low clouds around me, feeling very isolated and vulnerable.
I must have zenned it out though, because apparently Wow quizzed a cyclist who had passed us both in the opposite direction and he reported me as looking 'very serene'. ;D
On a separate note: There were a few stretches of the cycle path that were covered with herds of gastropods stampeding majestically across the tarmac. I took out a few of them, citing revenge for Kim's tent marauders a few nights earlier.
By the time I got to the A499 / A487 roundabout I'd had enough of the main road and traffic and opted to take the slightly longer but tamer railway path route into Caernarfon. That was a very welcome change in atmosphere and I had the path all to myself thanks to rubbish weather.
Emerging into Caernarfon I headed over to the signpost near the entrance to a carpark at the base of the castle hoping to find a pointer to a tourist information office (it was too rainy to want to get my phone out). There wasn't one marked on the sign, but the man in the hut for the carpark pointed me to Beics Menai (http://www.beicsmenai.co.uk/) tucked in at the side of the quayside.
A woman in the doorway informed me I was just in time - the man was about to shut up shop in a minute's time! eep!
The man turned out not to be The Man, but someone who was just looking after the place in The Man's absence, so he didn't know repairs but was dealing with the cashing up. I squeezed the water out of my mits, and he lent me use of a towel and allowed me to drip in a corner whilst trying to use internet and phone to locate an alternative bike shop.
No luck there.
We chatted a bit as he finished the cashing up and waited for his wife to come and collect him. He thought we were barking for cycling in this weather. Fair enough! He took the news that we were camping too quite well...
Anyway, at some point he produced a box full of spokes!
That'll do! Wow had mentioned earlier that he'd done a spot of wheel-building, so I figured we'd probably be able to work with that.
After much rummaging and side-by-siding we found a couple of spokes of the right length and then chap said he regrettably had to kick me out so he could lock up. Before doing so though, he produced a spoke tool of some description (I was totally clueless about all of this) and a pair of tyre levers, saying he'd lend them to me if I'd give my word that I'd post them back through the letterbox once I was done. He didn't charge me for the spokes, either.
Thank you Looking After The Shop Man! :thumbsup:
Once outside again, naturally the rain cranked itself up to 11 as I huddled into a doorway at the side of the shop and tried to contact Wow to let him know where I was.
I found a photo on the internets [source (http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/625171)]:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/9568995780_d25828df15.jpg)
my bike, my luggage and I were squidged as close as possible to the wall just past the shop, trying to work out what to do next. No reply from Wow, so I'd left a message.
Cold, wet, bike repair to molish with limited tool kit in adverse conditions. What's a gal to do?
Phone Kim, of course.
Kim had just finished some major fettling of her own and managed to sort out the frog noises her brakes had started making after the rain at Talsarnau. She was able to talk me through general strategy and gotchas to look out for.
Thank you Kim! :thumbsup:
Wow arrived in town whilst I was talking to Kim, so I returned his missed call and then went to stand in the car park to wave him in to where my stuff was.
He immediately declared he would not be camping tonight and I sensed this was not the time to try and persuade him otherwise. We loaded up my bike again, stashed the new spokes and set off to find accommodation as described upthread.
The sun and the camera both came out again...
Drying all of the things:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7434/9549272964_09251e3d3e.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/9549273198_f78102ff21.jpg)
Trying to fix a somewhat broken Wow via the medium of curry:
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/9546484135_933551d838.jpg)
Bucketfuls of the stuff:
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5500/9549274052_e03c4fb18f.jpg)
Circling Nazgûl:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7392/9546485047_c4cacf89b1.jpg)
A stroll over the bridge, with Wow now back on form and sussing out access routes to the water for a quick skinny dip:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7443/9550051464_3899f03624.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5536/9550053744_8e7ccefe19.jpg)
A warning of the dangers of too much cake, ale and curry:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7459/9550055512_9d46d575f5.jpg)
Strangely concave cloud cover:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3702/9547268299_9c6782f9bf.jpg)
A really rather nice evening:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/9549275232_96a5dbd841.jpg)
Once back at the B'n'B the drying endeavours continued for another hour or two and then sleeeeeep.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/9547276493_9d9f418c7e.jpg)
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Very impressed by the 'Do not walk your bike' sign. Is that a common Welsh road sign?
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"Dim cerdded beic"?
(I think I'm starting to get the hang of Welsh signs...)
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Sunday
Ate cake for breakfast, escorted Wow off the premises and went on a bike ride to some mud.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3758/9546486627_4336456193.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5335/9550083680_28f0e19480.jpg)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5470/9547297715_7962e24431.jpg)
If you'd care to see the rest of my photos - of full size versions of the ones you've already seen - they're in this 'ere Flickr set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikki_pugh/sets/72157635144683512/).
Many thanks to Wowbagger for initiating the tour and for sorting out routes and campsites etc.
Thanks to Kim (OTP) and Wendy (not OTP) for being a part of the adventure.
Thanks to Aunty Megan for being just the same as she ever was.
Thanks to the man at Beics Menai Cycles for his help and the black-footed B'n'B proprietor for his bemused tolerance of all our stinky wet cycling and camping gear everywhere!
Looking forward to the next one :) :thumbsup: