North Wales Trip, Day Three – A Long Soggy Slog!

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Saturday night was another warm night, possibly warmer than Friday but that was where the similarity ended. I think it started to rain around 23:30 and apart from a brief moment in the early hours when I got up for a pee, it didn’t really stop although it did get heavier at times!

Given the rain we decided to pack up as quickly as possible and get on the road to hunt down a decent breakfast. I’d managed to fire up my stove – an MSR WindBurner inside the vestibule so had had a coffee at least. The main challenge was getting my bike gear on inside the tent! After a while I managed it and crawled out with a a few bits and pieces I wanted to keep dry – sleeping bag, sleep mat, chair etc. – all stuffed into my Kriega US-40 drypack. This was strapped onto Kenton across the pillion seat and lashed down around the soft luggage frame. I’ve used this on a couple of trips now and it really is a good piece of kit.

For saddle bags I was using an ancient pair of Givi soft panniers that I hadn’t used in anger for about 11 years. They weren’t waterproof so the wet tent and groundsheet, dirty laundry, stove and anything else that was left went into those. All my electrical bits and bobs went into a carrier bag inside the tank bag. For daily use I have a little 2 litre Oxford M2R that is big enough for the essentials and this is what I had with me. For longer trips I’ve got a bigger 15 litre one but that would probably dwarf Kenton.

After faffing around for far longer than was necessary I was finally finished a few minutes behind Mark. I was absolutely boiling and could feel the sweat running down my back. When I tried to get on the bike I realised that I had my shorts on under my waterproofs and they weren’t done up. As a result they’d dropped down and were now preventing me from lifting my leg high enough to get on the bike! So in the rain I had to take my coat off because of the braces on trousers, drop the trousers, pull my shorts up, do my shorts up, pull my trousers up and then put my coat back on. How annoying!

Not however as annoying as getting on the bike after all that and then finding out that I’d left the disc lock on! After a few choice swear words I was on my way and caught up with Mark who was waiting at the campsite exit.

We had decided to stick with the planned route despite the weather. This would take us down to Tywyn on the coast, before heading cross-country to the cafe at Crossgates and then on to Leominster where we would spilt.

 


Leaving Beddgelert we eventually picked up the A470 and followed that south before briefly joining the A496 at Llanelltyd. I say briefly as we should have turned off after about two miles to cross the Penmaenpool Bridge. Mark who was leading however, decided to ignore the turning before realising his mistake. Whereas I stopped and turned round in a layby almost immediately, he sailed on and after about five minutes reappeared. Only to perform the same trick when going in the opposite direction! I sat at the junction waiting for him to reappear which he finally did before leading the way down towards and across the bridge. Only then did we realise we had committed ourselves to a toll of 50p each without knowing if we had any cash. The bridge was amazing – wooden and slippery! Well worth 50p though and luckily Mark had found a pound coin and so treated me to the crossing. They do take card payments too, however!

On the other side of the river we headed along the A493 that eventually climbed steeply along a cliff edge on the coast. Needless the say the views were less than impressive, just very grey and foggy. At the top of the climb the road turned inland where I had the misfortune of being tailgated by what looked and sounded like a boy racer who was obviously wanting to be my new best mate. Annoyingly when the road opened up and we entered a national speed limit they showed no desire to overtake and stayed with me all the way to Tywyn where they thankfully disappeared.

Riding along the front in Tywyn we found Cafe Ar Y Traeth that looked closed but was in fact open. We parked up outside and squelched our way into the warm embrace of the greasy spoon. We each had a cooked breakfast with a cup of tea. It would be remiss of me not to mention that Mark had a double breakfast whilst I chose a single. Then again I also had a slice of carrot cake, so swings and roundabouts…

By this time it was about 13:30 and I was feeling quite chilly. My boots were absolutely soaked. I’d worm my old TCX GTX boots which although are leather and Gore-Tex lined are quite short and now very old so the lining is all torn. My gloves were sodden. They were actually freebie gloves I had got with a pair of Roadskin jeans. Despite the wet gloves my hands weren’t too cold, which I put down to the Barkbusters I had fitted to Kenton. They really kept the wind off.

 


Suitably fed, watered and warmed we set off again but not before I’d taken a photo of the sea which was eerily calm. We contined the A493 through Aberdovey and towards Machynlleth. I was in front this time and managed to leave Mark behind. As our distance grew, our comms got weaker and I ended up somehow receiving Radio 4 until he caught up again.

After Machynlleth we turned off the main road onto what for me was possibly the highlight of the trip. The lane was narrow, steep (both up and down), had scree, twigs, mud and grass in the middle of it and had water cascading down either side. Forward visibility was often minimal due to the twists and turns and the high hedgerows. It was utterly fantastic and Kenton coped admirably. Only after I got home and reviewed the GPS data did I realise that we had hit the highest point of the trip on that short section.

Next was another climb but this time on a less challenging surface. Whilst the road was more straightforward we could see the cloud that we would be riding into and visibility was pretty poor. The ride was fun though – plenty of twists and after a decent ascent, there followed a decent descent. The next stop and photo opportunity was a viewpoint over Llyn Clywedog on the B4518.

 


Our pace had picked up a bit now and there was a sense of nearing our target destination of a hot cuppa at Crossgates Cafe. At Llanidloes we rejoined our friend the A470 to Rhayader and from there the A44. We arrived at Crossgates to an empty car park. It was 14:50 and it transpired the cafe shut at 15:00, so literally just had time for a hot drink. As we were sat inside a large group of riders from London turned up. They were on their way home from Anglesey and still had hours of riding ahead of them which I didn’t envy. The cafe staff were great and waited patiently whilst everyone recuperated sufficiently to continue their rides.

In the cafe I noticed that my phone that I was using for navigation and as a speedo was unable to charge as water had got into the lightning port, according to the message on screen. There was hardly any charge left either so I put the phone in my jacket pocket and relied on the less than accurate speedo on the Himalayan for the rest of the journey.

Mark led the way to Leominster from Crossgates and from there we took our separate routes home. I headed to Bromyard where I filled up again (9.4 litres), and had a hot chocolate. I then retraced my route through Malvern. As I hit the Malvern Hills the rain stopped and there was blue sky! Typical. As I rode through Malvern, people were sat outside pubs enjoying a pint in the sunshine. There was even a bike meet on at the The Three Horseshoes Inn. You’d never know it had been raining!

When I got home, before doing anything else I hosed Kenton down to get the worst of the muck off and then set about hanging up the tent to dry. My gorgeous wife had made a cottage pie for dinner which went down an absolute treat and made for a brilliant end to a brilliant trip.

Route Map

Follow up

The only downside was that on Sunday night my phone started playing up and the screen kept flashing green. A quick search suggested water damage. Luckily my AppleCare+ coverage was still valid (just) so I ended up sending the phone to be repaired. After sending it away it came back after just four days with a new screen, completely free of charge. The policy obviously costs money but in this case it more than paid for itself.

North Wales Trip, Day Two – Llanberis, Criccieth and another Scone!

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Despite a few pints the previous night I only needed to get up once and fortunately the weather was holding. So much so that it was pretty warm inside the tent. My newest tent is a Terra Nova Southern Cross 2 that I bought in 2023. I had wanted a 4-season tent as my others are 3-season and wouldn’t be much fun in winter or very wet weather. I actually slept with the outer doors partly open and the inner door liners down. My EXPED Synmat UL 7 mat was warm and I used my Vango 1-2 season sleeping bag as a quilt. The only issue really was the lack of a decent pillow which stopped me from sleeping like a baby, oh that and Mark’s snoring from the tent next door…

I was up and out by about 07:30 and had a decent coffee thanks to the trusty AeroPress and some Lavazza Qualità Rossa Ground Coffee. I sat watching the high up clouds roll slowly in. The air in the campsite was completely still – it was a really peaceful start to the day. Since we weren’t in a rush to get going I had agreed to ride into town to pick up a few essentials for breakfast from Emerys House, including some lard, bacon, bread rolls, eggs and mushrooms. A couple of breakfast baps later and another coffee we started to make tracks.

Following Mark’s planned route we would basically head east towards Llanberis over the pass that runs alongside Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa. We’d then head back to base via Rhyd-Ddu Pen-y-Groes, Criccieth and Porthmadog. It wasn’t a massive route which meant a day of easy riding with plenty of stops.

We connected our headsets and set off. The weather was promising to be warm again and it was comfortable riding. As we ascended the A498 on the way to the Llanberis Pass we were slowed by a number of triathletes cycling up the hills along with a number of cars stuck behind them. No wanting to be stuck i a queue all the way we pulled in at a view point where we could see the Pass ahead of us, along with some more bloody cyclists going up it. Sure enough the race route took them into Llanberis.

 


Annoyingly up to this point I had been having trouble with the Ride with GPS app not tracking the route and my phone turning itself off. I fixed that and attached the cameras. Mark rode off with his camera mounted on a selfie stick looking like he was in a jousting tournament. I followed with my X3 placed on the back again but this time sticking out slightly. I do think his is a preferable position compared with the one from the previous day.

On the Pass I eventually caught up with Mark as he was being held up by a car, in turn being held up by a cyclist, just as we reached the cafe where the Miners Track and Pyg Track begin (or end). He then managed to overtake the cyclist, narrowly avoiding a lancing and left me to dawdle all the way down into the town where there were far too many people. The roads we had just ridden have the potential to be great, but they were just too busy on this particular day. We tried unsuccessfully to find somewhere to stop so just rode on through the town, turning left just before Llanrug.

By now the sun was out again and eventually we stopped so Mark could reposition his camera. I carried on, taking a left onto the A4085 at Waunfawr. This was a nice twisty road with some fast bits and not much traffic at all. Now as much fun as the road was, my attention had been grabbed by the words ‘Brewpub’ and ‘campsite’ on the same site along with what looked like railway tracks. I was pleased to discover the Snowdonia Parc campsite that does indeed brew its own beer. What’s not to like, and steam trains too! I know where I’m staying next time.

The road carried on to a small place called Rhyd-Ddu. I was so concerned looking for a cafe stop that I missed the turning right I should have taken. I carried on for a little bit, turned round and took the turning I’d missed. By this time Mark had caught up and was stopped just after the turning, fiddling once again with his camera. It turned out this B4418 was another fantastic road with awesome views all the way down to when we caught up with a 20 mph dawdler with no room to get round them. We ended up being stuck behind them until we hit the A487 from Pen-y-Groes.

Taking the B4411 to Criccieth gave us a more enjoyable ride than the A-road we had just left. We also took a diversion down an extremely narrow road that appeared to have had opening times on it. Fortunately Saturday afternoon was one of the times it was open so we were OK. Riding along the seafront at Criccieth looking for a cafe looked like it was going to end in failure but I had spotted a couple of places tucked away on our left. We turned round and were able to park for free right outside Sŵn Y Môr. Winner winner, scone with cream and jam dinner! I had an iced latte whilst Mark let the side down with a pauper’s can of Vimto.

After a nice long break we rode towards Porthmadog. I stopped to fill up en route but only needed just over 9 litres. We rode along Porthmadog high street and across a narrow causeway. At Penrhyndeudraeth we took he A4085 in the opposite direction we had done earlier, towards Beddgelert. Once we hit Garreg we retraced our route into town from yesterday. We encountered a stand-off between a camper van that we had come up behind and an oncoming bus on one of the narrower parts of the road. The bus driver simply flicked their hazard lights on and sat there, waiting. As the camper van started to reverse I decided to go round and carry on. Mark followed and as we approached Beddgelert I had a bit of fun on the bends and threw Kenton around. It was great fun.

Once back at the campsite we got talking to a maintenance guy who was strimming the grass and who said he had been riding a Himalayan around India for a few months the previous year. There were a lot more tents than there had been on the Friday night. We’d been warned a load of astronomers would be arriving. If these were they, then they would be disappointed as despite it still being warm, the skies had already started to cloud over and rain was forecast for later.

 


After a well-earned cuppa we each took a shower, got changed and walked cross-country into town, along the river. We stopped off at the ice cream parlour which was luckily still open. Mark had a cornet with a scoop of some flavour I’ve forgotten, whilst I had a tub with a scoop of Turkish Delight flavour and a scoop of banana choc-chip. Having had desert it was only natural to follow that with mains. We headed for the Saracens Head where we each had the Dragon Fire curry (served with both chips *and* rice) washed down with a couple of pints.

We then walked back to camp and got our heads down.

Route Map: