A weeks touring from Beacon, over the Élan Valley to west Wales and down to Saunderfoot and Tenby.DAY 1 CARDIFF TO BEACON 37 MILES My word what a day to start, the heavens’ opened up for us, I actually tried to back out of today’s ride, it was wet, cold wet, windy and wet. Before we even loaded up the bikes we where soaked though, and we had a good 45 miles to go! Thankfully the ride to Beacon is quite hilly, nothing to steep, just a nice gradual slop for 25 miles to keep us warm, until we hit the steps, by the lakes where it kicks in. Short steep steps, funny enough, with beautifully views over the reservoirs, up to Story Arms outdoor centre.We took the old road via Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil past the Price of Wales hospital then joining the main road at the bottom of the climb. At story Arms we have what is normally a really good descent, with great views of the valley down toward Beacon, today it was nasty to say the least. hands where really cold, found it hard to pull the brakes with numb figures, could not sea because of the hail storm, following tail light at 30mph is OK, just knowing that if they stop I wont, and that the cars behind are unlikely to see us.DAY 2 BRECON TO LLANDRINDOD WELLS VIA BUILTH WELLSThe plan here was to cycle to Builth, and spend the afternoon but as the weather was still taking the p''s we decided to be hard and push on and hopefully then have a full day in llanwrtyd during a circular tour or some mountain biking. This then turned into a really hard long day, as the route was quite hard, there’s some steep hills, but really enjoyable. We took the lanes up and around, but think there’s probe a better route. It was well worth it as we spent a long time up the top of the valleys enjoying the great views, without worrying about the traffic.DAY 3 LLANDRINDOD WELLS TO ABERSTWYTH VIA DEVELS BRIDGEAnother cold wet day on the bike, it was actually sunny when we eat breakfast in the hostel this morning, and as we stepped outside it rains. Today was a great ride, along the world famous Élan Valley, (see photo. This was a nice gentle breathtaking ride along the flooded valley, with its 4 reservoirs. Because of the rain, the waterfalls where showing off, see its all good, then some hills up and down to the devils bridge for lunch. Amazing bridge made the devil himself no less! It’s actually 3 bridge built on top of each other. 12 further miles took us into Aber via a beautiful descend looking down onto the coast.DAY 4 ABERSTWTH TO ABERPORTHMost of today was spent looking for digs, after getting to New Quay and finding the place fully booked, lucky we got there by lunchtime, and we had to keep pedalling onto the next place then on again. This worked out in a way as we come across some really nice places such as langranog and Tresaith, small coastal villages, before hitting the sack in Aberporth.DAY 5 ABERPORTH TO SAUNDERFOOTThis is quite possibly the hilliest ride I have ever had to do. we cut the corner here and travelled inland for a while, crossing what seemed like valley after valley, we knew it was going to be hard, and we had a time limited to get to Newcastle as Liverpool where playing, but talk about leg burning. Did not help only having rear panniers on as this meant the front wheel kept lifting of the ground and the technetium descend where had work, with the bike unbalanced. We got to the pub soaked and as we ordered the beer the sun comes out. Had some good pub burgers in here next the wood burner-nice. As we get back on the bikes it rains again. Anyway after finally finding somewhere to put our heads down we went around town, looking for food, found some place which look good sat down, and as we are about to order, overhear two table complaining about their dinner, so we move on.Oh my god what a decision that turned out to be. Went to some place called Below deck I think, for the best damm Lamb shank ever! Top marks and just what the doctor ordered after 5 days in the rain! Looking forward to heading back May bank holiday to visit again.DAY 6 SAUNDERSFOOT TO TENBYHad a day off the bike to do the coast walk to tenby which is a couple of hours. Great walk, hard but well worth the trip. Tenby is quite an amazing town, with a great beach and is famous for is multi coloured building, a very poplar holiday resort for the Welsh.More photos can be found athttp://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4905&l=04456&id=599802129http://www.cycling.visitwales.com/server.php?show=nav.2265
Hi Strider. What sort of bike do you tour on? Looks like a moutain bike rather than a road bike? Cheers, Rich
Yeah mate its an orange P7, which is a hard tail mountain bike with V-brakes, as they are easier to fix on the run then disc brakes. I also swap the tyres over to slicks, to cut down on resistance. I only had rear panniers for this tour although you should balance out the weight with front and rear.
Hi Strider. Great blog! I spent 3 years in Aberystwyth whilst at University, so did plenty of cycling around the Devils Bridge area - funnily enough it rained most of the time I was there as well! I fancy some of the lamb shank! Chat soon, Colin.
