Welsh Coast 2 Coast Cymru Day 5 :- The Taff Trail

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Day 5 started in fantastic sunshine. Our hosts at the Bridge Cafe put on a delicious breakfast which included some home made bread and marmalade. 

We were kindly given the use of their track pump to prepare our tyres for what we were expecting to be a day mostly on tarmac. Whilst preparing I found a puncture in my back wheel which would explain why my tyre had needed topping up a few times since day 3 ! 

After swapping inner tubes and applying liberal  amounts of suncream we were ready for the off

From Brecon we began following the Usk and rode along a nice canal for a little bit 

The Taff trail headed up towards a reservoir where again it got a little crowded with riders. 

From the Tal y Bont reservoir the hill climb began. It was long and prolonged climb on a fairly gentle gradient. Was torture for my knee unfortunately. The others were churning through the miles however. 

Just over halfway up the climb.... Carwyn had another puncture.  Here's Joe enjoying another flapjack 

Here's a few shots for the view :- 

 Eventually and after ages. We reached the top. Here's a shot of us at the top of our last climb. All down hill from here :-

Following the Taff trail downhill from here,  we churned through the miles legs and bums hurting reached another reservoir 

From here the Taff trail was more tarmac instead of track, but featured a really annoying gate which needed to be navigated by getting off the bike because  our handlebars were too wide ! It got very tiresome. 

The trail followed an old train line which lead us over a bridge 

Pushing down the valley we headed towards Merthyr Tidfyl with lunch in mind. 

Following lunch we had around 25 miles to go to Cardiff.  Admittedly for a cycle track it was harder going than expected purely in terms that the trail just kept going. 

This sign provided a welcome indication of how far we had to go

Was very hot in the afternoon so joe decided he needed to cool down :)

Crossing over the a470 a few times as we kept heading for Cardiff. 

Approaching Cardiff and whilst going through the suburbs.. Conversation stopped as we became more and more determined just to get to the finish line. 

We went through and over  Bute Park bridge

Stopped for some photos for at the stadium 

On we went to reach the Celtic ring

Here we all are exhausted and in total disbelief that we've eventually arrived!!! 

Thanks for reading the blog. Ill update the blog further later !