Monday 27 May 2013

Welsh Coast 2 Coast Cymru Day 1: Wet & Wild

This was the day of days. Quite easily the longest, most brutal and utterly, totally and uncompromisingly wet day of our entire lives ! Yet highly satisfying ( now that we have showered, eaten and rested) 

We arrived in Conwy and it was raining. 
 
Setting off a little later than planned @ 10am and off we went. 

Biking through the Conwy valley was more technical than expected made more so due to the the  incessant rain. 3 miles in and we had our first puncture and not to do things by half. Carwyn had picked up 3 ! 2 in the back with one in the front. Not a good start !! 
Carwyn working hard there as Joe and Peter got suck into some flapjack.  Luckily the homeowner nearby helped To fill the wheels with his compressor. 

Onwards through the rain up the Conwy valley  eventually. We recached Gwydyr forest and off into the Forrest we went. It was STILL raining. 


From the Forrest we went down to miners bridge didn't take too many photos of this bit. Primarily because this part of the ride was grim due to all the slow progress which was exasperated by... the biblical rain. 

At this point we'd seen misty rain, small rain, heavy, painfull and apocalyptic ! Lol

From miners bridge we headed up parts of Sarn Helen and shortly after half way we had lunch shortly before 2pm. Lunch was not a glamorous affair. We stood  under a tree which offered little protection.. ate soggy sandwiches and lied to Joe. 'Only another 3 hours' somewhat of a underestimate !! 

With raised spirits after lunch and riding on fire roads which were more like rivers providing suitable entertainment we headed down towards the a470 near Dolwyddelan.  Crossing the A470 we headed for Ty Mawr a national trust site which lead us to parts of the Penmachno trail. 

After a lot of climbing AND ..... Rain we kept heading through a valley which would lead us to Cwm Penmachno. Here's a picture of the trail with some bluebottles 

Eventually we reached Cwm Penmachno amid some fantastic views. Sped down hill for the bottom of the valley where we  rode towards the head of the valley to ride/walk up the quarry to get over the hill to get to Cwm Teigl. Once we got to the top there was some amazing views


Here's a view of the Quarry works and the view down to Penmachno. Pity you can't see the rain !! Which was still falling ! 

Riding down Cwm Teigl was spectacular. Nothing else I can say to describe it. See your yourself 

At this point we were on the home strait. Had to walk the bikes for a bit. Found the A470 and headed full speed for Trawsfynydd. It was 7pm at this point !! 

We reached the power station
 And headed for the pub where we were staying ! By now the rain had finally stopped !! 

Wet, tired debilitatingly cold, we were relieved to reach Traws after 10 hrs of riding !!! 

Follow the link below to see our track which is around 46 miles and equivalent to over twice the height of Snowdon ! 


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Diolch am ddarllen. Mynd I Gwely wan! 
Thanks for reading. Off to bed now ! 

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