Bike rides

Thursday 24th August - Wales trip day 2

Stats:

TTM: 25:01 ODO 256.5 DST 31.43 TM 2:52:30 AVG 10.9 MAX 33.7 - record distance!

Route: Gmap's pedometer site

Day two. After a decent breakfast in the B&B, I put the plan I'd formulated the previous action the previous night into practice. I was going to take the Welsh Highland Railway up to the top of their route at Rhyd Ddu - they're still building the bit from Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog - with my bike, and then cycle back, following a B road from Rhyd Ddu and then back towards a couple of the marked routes on the map and the NCN route 8. The theory was that this would combine my interest in the trains with the gravitational advantage it would give me!

The train journey was really lovely; it was good weather, the carriage wasn't crowded, and I got chatting to people there from Nantwich - a couple of ladies who were there for the ride and another (independent!) gentleman, also from Nantwich, who seemed to be there for the love of the railway who could commentate and point out interesting things as we went! The train also had a specific carriage for taking bikes, which was great; for £2.50 they transported my bike up to the top with me, which was really good.

Having got to Rhyd Ddu, I followed the B4418 away. The first bit didn't do much to encourage me after my disheartenment the previous day; it was a steep climb out of the village there and I wasn't best pleased. I managed to cycle most (not quite all!) of it up the hill, most definitely NOT all in one go(!), but when I got to the top and through the pass in the hills there was quite an exhiliarating ride down the other side awaiting me. I whizzed down there at 30mph ish - I could have gone faster but I didn't trust my brakes or my ability to stop at faster speeds on those roads; one side was fine, but if I'd misjudged it I could well have gone flying over the stone wall and down the hillside on the right... so I kept my speed down. The rest of that road was fairly straightforward - well, bendyforward(!) - and undulated gently, so my speed slowed/sped up accordingly! Still, it was quite a pleasant stretch and I wasn't in a hurry.

I stopped at a village on the way, then joined up with the NCN route 8 again at a slate centre/shop where I had a drink. At this point I had a choice - carry on back down NCN8 to Caernarfon or follow the map's route towards Foryd Bay, an area of mud flats where there's a large bird population. I was feeling fine, so I headed to the bay, and enjoyed the (continuing) gentle undulations round the coast area, past a hide and round the bay towards Caernarfon again.

By the time I'd got to Caernarfon again I was on about 20 miles; shockingly, my legs weren't complaining and I was feeling fine. Consequently - and on consultation with the WHR timetable, which revealed a train was due back down to Dinas at 1610 - I decided to rejoin the NCN8 from the Caernarfon end which followed the route of the WHR as far as Dinas. I knew in advance that this would be an incline upwards (110ft apparently) but similarly knew the route was a good path - and I had the bonus of seeing a train at the end of it! So, I followed the line of the WHR/NCN8 up to Dinas where I had a chance to stop and see some of the rolling stock that's being restored.

A bit of an aside about Dinas - it's apparently the place where the narrow gauge slate trains (the WHR) would join up with the main BR line (which is now the cycle path). Apparently the only reason that the area has survived so well is because most of the station area was owned by a utility company who just let it be - so when it was restored it was relatively easy to sort out.

Anyway, upon seeing the train (disappointingly the same one I'd travelled on) and still feeling OK, I thought I'd continue up the NCN8 route, where it diverges from the WHR route, to see where it ended up. I knew it'd still be climbing but then I also knew that it'd be an easy trip back again - so I thought I'd just see where I ended up, really. To my surprise (I should have read my map better!) I found myself back at the roundabout/junction which I'd left a few hours earlier! I decided to turn around at that point.

It was at this stage that I suddenly realised my '30 mile in one day' target was attainable. I'd set myself an informal target this year to try to cycle 30 miles one day; up until now my previous best was nearly 21m, and I knew I'd done better than that already on this day at that point. However, I was about 25/26m at this junction so I set back to Caernarfon, hoping that it'd take me over the 30m mark.

As predicted, the ride back down the NCN8, through Dinas, following the WHR and back into Caernarfon, was a lot easier than going up! I sped down most of it at 15-20mph without too much extra effort, and it had the added interest of meeting the train coming back up out of Caernarfon! Additionally, just after this, I did indeed go over the 30m point, which was nice.

After this, the rest of it sounds like a bit of an anticlimax - I stopped for an ice-lolly in Caernarfon bay (where I wanted to tell everyone what I'd done, like I wanted to when I first cycled to work!) and then headed back to the B&B, feeling suitably tired (though interestingly, not exhausted).

All in all, I really enjoyed the day - the weather was good, not too hot but not wet, and it combined trains with a personal achievement of my bike ride - and it was pleasant, cycling around the hills. I must admit I did get a bit lonely during the course of the day - at other times I'd been OK, but I really wanted to have someone with me, particularly when I met the 30m target. Still, we can't have everything! I slept well that night, not /too/ achey but sufficiently knackered. I planned to go home the next day.