Another big day of climbing through fantastic Welsh mountains and winding through beautiful valleys.
I had breakfast with Graham and Neil again. They’re having a full day of fishing followed by a five hour drive back to Glasgow. They’ll be as tired as me.
I had my usual lazy morning – spoke to my brother, Paul, packed up and spoke to a bunch of motorcyclists who were staying at the Red Lion too.
At breakfast there were other bikers complaining about how hard motorbiking is on their bodies – my fingers get sore, my arms get tired… I love that. I’d like to see them ride a bicycle 😁
So, I set off and was out of town immediately. Today was basically two large climbs but as usual, the maps don’t show all of the short sharp, energy sapping uphills that are littered through the Welsh countryside. If the place wasn’t so amazingly beautiful at every turn, then I’d be angry about them. But the fact is, after each small climb, there’s something to see. I love it, but the uphills are insane compared to everywhere else I’ve ridden – except for Laos. I find myself looking around so much, I don’t notice, then I look at the computer and it’s 13% – twenty times a day !
The first town today was only after 40kms – and it was the ancient capital of Wales, Machynlleth.
The first big climb went up through some amazing valleys, then up through treeless farming land. It was stark and beautiful and after the effort, the downhill was amazing. For the first time in Wales, there were no hedges and I had full visibility of traffic and sheep, and could let the bike run. I hit 72, looked down at the computer, then looked up, and a delivery van came around the corner. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. I descended into Machynlleth and looked for some lunch.
The town looks like there’s a significant hippy influence which usually means interesting food. So I had a big bowl of soup and it warmed me up. It was a cold day as the weather has now changed.
Out of Machynlleth, came the next climb and it was the usual – brutal and beautiful (more brutal than the latter though).
I had to get off and push up three sections of 18%. It was even difficult pushing. Near the top, an old guy in his Land Rover stopped for a chat. I understood most of what he said I guess. Soon after, the downhill began, but this time there were sheep on the road. A little frustrating but fun nonetheless.
I still hadn’t decided where to stop and I took the opportunity of a good phone signal to check out my options. I decided on Barmouth which is where the Lon Los Cymru bike trail hits the coast. I booked a hotel as there’s lots of rain predicted overnight.
I was intending to go over the train and pedestrian bridge into Barmouth but the old guy in the Land Rover told me it’s being refurbished. I later checked this with others and sure enough, the bridge is closed and I had to take the A road for the last 10 KMs into Barmouth. I’m so glad that he told me. If I had continued, it would have meant an extra 20kms of backtracking to finish. The day was difficult enough without that.
