And Home

A very long day of travel yesterday. 22 hours from start to finish. Went to bed as soon as I got home, around 9PM, and slept until 1AM. On and off until 4AM, then rolled out of bed at 6. Feeling very tired still and now have a lot of stuff to do – laundry, photos, bike, foodshop, etc. I think I may take tomorrow off from work to allow me to 1. Recover from jet lag and 2. make a dent into all the stuff I now have to do and catch up on.

My last day in Chester saw me do the Cathedral Tour – up a 900 year old staircase to the highest view point in Chester. Great panoramic views from the top, but dizzying, shoulder width spiral staircase coming down. Of course I toured the Cathedral while waiting for the tour to take me up to the top and my camera battery ran out, 30 minutes before the Tower tour started! Just enough time to get back to my lodging and switch out the batteries and make it back!

I also went to the Cheshire Military Museum though it was not nearly as good as the Firing Line in Cardiff. Still an interesting walkthrough. I spent the rest of the day (still overcast) relaxing and then packing everything up. I was up at 6AM GMT to head to the airport.

The line at the airport was huge. Probably at least an hour from where I was, but luckily a man come over and said my bikebox was too big to get through the line, so let me go to the VIP check in area…where no one was in line! So it took 5 – 10 minutes for me to get checked in and then about 15 minutes to get through security. Had a croissant for breakfast and shot the breeze for two hours until it was time to board.

I had barely sat down in my seat and had just gotten my goodies out for the 8 hour flight, when a flight attendant approached, asked my name, and told me I was being moved to 4-F. It took me a moment to figure that out – FIRST CLASS! Woo woo. Too bad the in-flight entertainment system was broken. It kept freezing movies about 75% of the way through them and I got tired of FFWD to that spot, so I eventually gave up on them and took a snooze – on a chair that laid flat out into a bed, with a nice comfy pillow and blanket. Then there was the three course meal, including a pretty decent steak! So not a bad way to spend an 8 hour flight.

I was not a fan of the DC airport. For some reason I had to claim my bags, walk them 20 yards down the terminal, and drop them back off. What the point of this was I have no idea. Why couldn’t the airport workers do this? Its what they’re paid to do isn’t it? And then we had to go back through security – which meant having to get rid of the water bottle I had bought back in Manchester. It makes absolutely no sense to me – what could some one possibly have picked up in the middle of the air? We went through security etc in Manchester so why again in DC? Baffling.

The flight to Denver was not bad if not boring. Read a bit of my book and dozed a little. Two hours in Denver allowed me to eat something and get a new waterbottle. Had a heavy head on the flight to Aspen and had forgotten how dark it gets out here!

Cardiff by Foot

Tired legs today, so did not go far. Walked over to Cardiff Castle and walked around. Took a lot of pictures, read the history plaques, went into the apartment, etc. Quite an interesting little piece of land. Sadly, moderninzation means you can’t see the Sea from its walls anymore, but I could see the hills to the North that I arrived from.

The Firing Line was quite a cool place to visit, down in the basement of the main building. It has a lot of memorabilia of the Welsh Regiment, including all 7 VC’s from Rorkes drift, and even two American Colors that were captured in battle (though these are rare – the Americans didn’t surrender many 😛 ). Other Colors from the Regiment including Battle Flags though I did not take many pictures here. No one else was so I didn’t want to  be that Damned American.

Not sure what I am going to do tomorrow. Not too keen on taking a bus to St Fagans, so may keep it local and do the Dr Who thing instead.

I did go to see Ant Man and had an interesting movie experience. Comfortable chairs and all, but when purchasing my ticket I had to select a specific seat (D-9 in my case) – assigned seating in a movie theatre! Never encountered anything like that before!

Day 8 – Brecon to Cardiff and FIN

For once, I was up and going before 10AM! Perhaps it was the blue skies and sun that greeted me, or perhaps my nerves for this, the longest day of my trip but also my final day, riding over the Beacons and into Cardiff.

The day before offered me a great view of the Beacons so I was a little nervous about the climb. Immediately upon setting out I was on the Taff Trail along a canal path. The easy miles went by quickly and it was the first time that I was wearing gonly my jersey and bikeshorts – no tights, no jackets, etc. Quite refreshing.

Somehow, I started the climb through the Beacons without knowing it. I shifted gears slightly and was suddenly at the first Reservoir. I kind of surprised myself with this. My unhappiness soon returned following NCN 8 onto a wooded track that was clearly a logging road and more suitable for a MTB than a touring bike, even one with wide tires like mine. I am shocked I did not get a flat but I am sure my tires are way out of true now.

The only good thing about this track was that it was a gradual and steady rise to the very top of the Beacons. While I wished I was on the road, I could see it below me and it rose sharply out of the valley to get to where I was. Even so, it was jarring enough that on the brief descent, I ignored the NCN 8 sign that would have turned me back onto gravel.

Of course, my descent was punished by a short but steep climb. Another cyclist was at the top, looking confused as to which way to go. I told him of my woes, and that it would be a steep climb if he went the way I had just come. We parted ways and down I went again.

I stuck to the road through the other reservoirs. Which was also mostly what NCN 8 was following. Somewhere along the way the NCN left the road and turned into a bike path that was pleasant enough. It dumped me into Merthyr Tydil (or something, I am quite tired right now and can’t be bothered to look iti up) where I lost it a few times, and the usual sort of thing followed.

It was mostly flat or downhill, a few steep uphills, but the quality of the path was terrible. More MTB grade stone or dirt roads in places, really rough pavement or pavement with so many tree routes tearing it up it was like riding over continous speed bumps. The gates were terrible too – barely wide enough to squeeze my shoulders through or I had to lift my bike over the barrier as the route was too narrow to turn my bike through it. Quite terribly planned if you ask me.

About 12 miles out from Cardiff the surface improved greatly. There was no great downhill or view of Cardiff from the trail. I simply ended up in a park next to Cardiff Castle and the Millenium Stadium and nearly rode by my lodging for the night.

And that was that. Trip completed. And the crowd went wild….

Day 7 – Rhayader to Brecon

I wasn’t feeling very good about my original plans last night. My back was quite sore and I knew that I would have a very hilly, very long (48) mile day today. Followed by a hilly 60 mile day to get to Cardiff on Friday. Daunting, to say the least, and I really wasn’t feeling good about it.

So, luckily, there seemed to be a few ways to get to Brecon. NCN 8 took probably the most indirect route for some reason, so I only stuck to it as far as Builth Wells. That as about 11 – 12 miles away from Rhayader and essentially flat, with only a few little ups and downs. It only took about an hour, so it was too early for Lunch but the mainstreet there was quite devoid so after checking my map, I followed the sign towards Upper Chapel. It was 8 miles away, along a roughly 20 mile segment to Brecon.

The road immediately went up (as is the Welsh way) and I slogged it out with the hill. My memory on the day is a little fuzzy on the exact order of things, but at some point I did stop to take a picture of a 25% gradient sign – the first official sign of such magnitude that I have seen (or at least noticed) though judging by the lay of the road, I have traveled up similarily steep pitches in the past. I did make it most of the way up before popping off for a short walk and eventually made it down to the Lower Chapel, though I am not sure on whether that was before or after the 25% grade.

For once, the road (the old Brecon Road) wound its way down the valleys instead of up over them. A few minor climbs usually with some fast descents afterwards. Lots of Red Kites flying overhead too with their very distinctive tails and before I knew it, I had arrived at Brecon. Even in my tired state,  I think I could have gone further, but since I had only been in the saddle for just over 3 hours, I think this is almost like having a half-day off.

I checked into my lodging, showered, and went for a walk around town before getting a bite to eat. The sun didn’t come out until around 1AM so I am presently laying on my bed, with the window open to air dry my jersey which I washed in the shower. The sun is on/off as the clouds pass over it, but tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same.

I am still a little worried about the length of tomorrows route – 60 miles – as it is almost double what I have been doing. I imagine that will require 6 – 8 hours in the saddle though the main climbing is done in the first 16 miles – up over the Brecon Beacons. I am told its a long climb (by welsh standards..it appears to only be of about 6 miles in length) but not nearly as steep as the previous climbs. I sincerely hope that is true. I have about 5 miles of flats to get the tired, sore legs warmed up. I wasa hoping for a general downhill into Cardiff from there, as the Taff Trail follows the Taff River, but it appears it may be more up and down than expected.

I guess I will find out tomorrow. If the going gets too hard, I may call the day short and find somewhere to spend the night before wrapping things up on Saturday. At the same time, the end is in sight…its just going to be a really really long day, mileage and timewise.

Day 6 – Machynlleth to Rhayader

I barely had time to get my legs going before tackling what I believe was/is the largest climb of my route. Over 3000+ ft of climbing done in total over some 336 or 38 miles but most of that done in the first 8 or so. A seemingly never ender road that went up at quite a steep angle. My lower back seems to be my weakness, as I was able to talk to another cyclist for a good portion of the ride up, but ended up getting off the bike when the strain on my bike was too much. Perhaps a 5 yd walk up a very steep bit before riding the rest of the way. Some good views but it was windy and it got cold quickly at the top, where the NCN has a sign marking the highest point of NCN 8.

The cyclist and his two sons turned around to head back down, their excursion done for the day, while I continued on. I stopped for lunch (jacket potato again, I think) in a rather odd town of Llanidloes. I peeked my head in the first cafe I saw but it was full of old ladiies so I passed on that. The one I ended up at was playing Irish music on the radio and seemed a bit more low key but had a ‘whole foods’ feel to it. I had some sort of organic lemonade which was actually quite good.

But, after that massive climb and some ups and downs, I was feeling knackered. I think I made the mistake of going down a B-road to get to Rhayader but the NCN 8 route looked like it did lots of ups and downs. Of course, my new route immediately started off with quite a large climb which had me regretting my decision but not the views it offered. Lots of cyclists were coming the other way so I figured it couldn’t all be bad. Wrong.

Long uphill followed by a short downhill….to cross a stream  before going back uphill. I got into the swing of things a bit and it payed off with a general descent down into Rhayader, which sits at the end of the Elan Valley. I would have liked to have ventured out into the Elan Valley and the waterfall/dam it has, but that was a 20 mile round trip and I simply did not have the time or energy for that.

I thought I had written this post last night in Rhayader but apparently I did not.

Day 5 – Harlech to Machynlleth

Another slow start after breakfast though it didn’t help that it was out into the wind (though not as strong) before a decent incline right out of the gate. After that, it was through slightly rolling hills (where I stopped to change from rain jacket to windbreaker due to overheating again) all the way to Barmouth.

Briefly stopped in Barmouth which had the sea-side-touristy feel to it (lots of inflatables hanging out of shops, icecream, lots of people) despite it being very overcast and breezy. Lovely stone architecture too.

The Barmouth Bridge, on sunnier days, looks quite lovely. It is terrible to ride over. The uneven wood makes it feel quite like riding over cobblestones. The Madwach (sp?) path after it, that leads all the way to Dolgellau (sp?) was a hardpacked gravel and heavily populated with walkers and slow moving families on bikes. It must have rained heavily overnight as there were puddles everywhere and I got quite muddy from the spray -was luckily wearing my tights so they and my shoes are now a white/gray color instead of solid black.

I breaked for lunch and a rest in Dolgellau, knowing I was only about halfway there, and had a jacket potato with cheese. Quite goodand warm. Not much of a warm up before hitting the big climb out of Dolgellau.

They don’t try to hide it either. The NCN 8 sign points you off the nice, flat road you are on and you instantly start going up. There is usually a nice straightaway too, so all you see is a mountain of pavement going up. Andthat was the easy part. I made it, eventually, to what I thought was the top and the end of the climb, meandering on a plateau like area that took me through what I think was a nature path. Gravel down the middle of the path, lots of horse manure, and ferns left and right. Then I hit the open-ness of farmland and had a moment of fear.

There was no town down below me in the fishbowl formed by the hills around it. The only direction, other than descending into it, was to go up but the path was continuing down. Sure enough, it took me to the bottom, across the main road, and onto some farming land inhabited by sheep (or schaap, i believe, in dutch) who had done their best to cover the paved road with as much sheep droppings as they possibly could. I quickly gave up on trying to dodge it all and this climb was even steeper then before. There was a gate about 75% of the way and that was as far as I made.

I took as much as a breather as one can get pushing a bike up a very steep hill that would be a challenge to walk up normally. Even the sheep, who posses mountaingoat-like qualities with their ability to climb, were much more sporadic up here. Over a small ridge, I got back on my bike for a little ways before another steep inclimation. Popped off the bike, crested, and wanted to hurt somebody as the road continued up in a near verticle fashion.

A while later and having paused at a gate to refuel with water, it was finally time to descend. It also became the first time I have had the pleasure (or not) of smelling burning rubber from my brakes – this side of the hill was a lot steeper and virtually went in a straight line down the backside of the hill. My hands hurt from riding the brakes and I felt like I was going to fall over the front of  my bike. Not even the Mtns of Colorado have descents that steep!

Some more gates and then finally some sunshine -but more wind for some reason too. A lot more level as I was now following a stream along a main road, but following NCN 8 wanted to take me up and down instead (while the main road appeared to remain relatively flat. About 3 miles to go I came back to the main road (honestly missed the sign for NCN 8 so stopped to see where I was) and followed it to a point where NCN 8 met up with it again and followed it the last mile or so into Machynlleth.

Of course, my lodging is at the top of another steep hill – but with no loose gravely and quite wide for Wales, it was easy to get up. Tomorrow will be a longer day with a big climb (to the highest point of the trip, I believe) straight out of the starting gate. No room for shortcuts but I am hoping that once I get over the climb, it flattens out for a bit with out too much more climbing left to do. Otherwise it maybe pushing darkness by the time I get to Rhayader!

Day 4 – Bangor to Harlech

(Typically, a post a day late means I did not have WIFI access at my lodging)

The weather once again did not sound good. 10 – 20 MPH winds with 80MPH gusts – all coming from a WSW direction so right into my face, theoretically. Luckily, I was now riding on the NCN 8 and unlike NCN 5, the 8 was much better. Bangor to Caernarfon was on mostly protected trails through the woods, nice pavement, and only the occasional gate.

I popped out of the woods at Caernarfon – the first and only (so far) Castle that I could not see from a distance. I figured I was in Caernarfon due to the large apartment/holiday rental building on the peer. And the fact that there were two other touring cyclists stopped right there looking at their map. Petra and Garrit Jan, a married couple from the Netherlands.

I took a tea break with them outside the Castle Walls and since we were headed along the same route, to almost the same destination, we ended up spending the rest of the day cycling together. The quiet paths through the woods continued though at one point we stopped to put rain grear on as a heavy, wet mist was rolling our way. This turned out to be a good idea as we got quite wet though it was not quite a rainstorm. Petra and G.J were on their first day cycling, having camped outside of Bangor, so were quickly learning that the NCN liked to go up short but steep roads.

We stopped in a very small town (village even) for lunch as it was the last real place to stop before Criccerith (sp?) Castle, which was still probably 6 – 10 miles from that point and we were all hungry. We found a CoOp – about the only place in the town to get some food – and put our rain jackets on (for warmth) while eating outside on a bench near a War Memorial in front of a church.

Refueled we continued and since the weather was slightly clearer, stuck to the hilly route instead of the more direct route. This afforded us a great picture opportunity overlooking the Castle before a steep descent down a narrow lane took us to its base…forcing us to go up a short but steep ascent as we passed the castle.

Lots of traffic in town so I grabbed a croissant for a snack while P+GJ did a quick food shop as they were camping that night. We then continued and passed the unmarked turnoff for their campsite, so ended up in Porthmadog, where the map showed they could circle back around along the coast to their  campsite. We exchanged emails and went our ways.

Crossing over Pont Briwet bridge (which, only opened a week or two ago, is about to be closed as they did not make the road wide enough) was rather unremarkable for all the delays and fuss asasociated with it. It did afford me my first view of Harlech Castle in the distance and I think I took the wrong road to Harlech. I thought I was taking the one that ran along the bottom of the ridge (slightly shorter, perhaps more protected) but took the one all the cars were taking that sort of ran out onto the plains and pulled away from the castle at an equal rate to its advancement to the Castle, so it didn’t seem any closer for a good half of the trip. Finally the road turned towards the castle but since these last 10 solo miles of my trip were into a headwind, I was feeling knackered and took a mini break on the side of the road to refuel with some energy to get me the rest of the way.

Dinner was a nice welsh-stake, much needed, before I called it an early (for me) night around 10PM. Of course, barely able to keep my eyes open watching TV, as soon as I turned the lights out I could not fall asleep. Iwas still half asleep when Ishowed up for breakfast in the morning and went with Cornflakes and Toast.

I believe the milage on the day was around 46 miles as well, though the first 30-odd miles went rather quick (6 miles from Bangor to Caernarfon).

Day 3 – Rest Day

Due to the weather forecast for todday, I decided to avoid the downpour and take a rest day. I think the seagulls are what akes me up at 6AM as they seem to enjoy making a lot of noise of that time in the morning in Wales. I lounged around in bed before breakfast where I ran iinto my Danish friend once more. He was going to try and catch a ferry to Dublin tonight if possible.

I returned to my room and ended up falling asleep as the rain pattered on my window. I am not quite sure how long I slept for, but I woke up for lunchtime. Overcast with rain clouds but only a sputtering of rain. Very few places to eat here – last night or today – and most of it is takeaway or the like. I ate chinese last night and am glad I decided not to ride today. I am not sure what I am going to do for dinner tonight and my options are very limited.

I walked down the very steep hill to the center of town, near the small Cathedral (the local church appears bigger) and the shopping center. Most shops were closed, half of the rest were vacant or for let, and even the Marks+Spencers did not have a cheese+pickle sandwich! Well, it did, but it had ham in it too, and I greatly dislike ham unless it is in the American Bacon form. Canadian Bacon form is ok, but too hammy for me to  be honest, I did find some humbugs which also bring back some memories so indulged myself. I am going to try and make the bag last the rest of my tour…but the more I eat the less weight I have to carry…

So, since this was a rest day, I thought I would share some cultural observations that I have noticed while being over here and observing people.

1. Sweatpants and track suitts are still very much in fashion. I have not seen so many people wearing sweatpants etc since I was in college. It seems to still be the social norm here, though some establishments (like the bar at my lodging in chester) ban patrons from wearing sweatpants or track bottoms when entering. I feel like the equivalent sort of signs in the US are the places that require you to wear shoes and a shirt when entering!

2. Yoga pants and crop tops seem to be popular among girls, perhaps in the 14 – 22 age range. Midriffs exposed and typically accompanied by some form of a jacket. Not all of them can get away with wearing such clothing.

3. Smoking – at least compared to places like Aspen – is still petty prevalent. I am not sure what the smoking age is here, but there are definately people too young to be smoking in the US puffing on cigs. Also have noticed a few people smoking those vapor -cigs or whatever they are.

4. At least in Chester there were quite a few young mothers with buns in the oven too, speaking in cringeworthy accents that simply made me think ‘white trash’ especially with their unruly children running amok.

5. Unlike Ireland, with its chipseal roads ec, virtually every road so far in Wales has been quite nice, even those single track country lanes. I was expecting rougher roads like I did in Ireland so this is a pleasant surprise.

6. Whomever designed the NCN has clearly never ridden a bicycle nor any of the roads on the NCN. A cyclist, touring or otherwise, would much prefer a slightly longer route if it meant a flatter incline and some car traffice. The Welsh have built many of their roads on the basis that the shortest point from A to B is in a straight liine – the shortest point from the bottom of a hill to the top is straight up. If cars, with engines, choose not to go up these roads, do you really think a cyclist will enjoy tryiing to ride up them? I imagine I will be sliding backwards on such roads when it rains.

7. That same person also does not understand the use of a signpost. I find the sign, directing me onto a road. At the end of the road there is an option to turn right or left (the road clearly has come to an end). Yet there are no NCN signposts at this end, directing you where to go. If, as often is the case, the option is to either go downhill or uphill, the most likely answer is to go uphill based on the NCN’s desire to take you on the hilliest route possible. I learned this the hardway, after going up and down the same hill a few times trying to figure out where the NCN wasa supposed to go.

8. The English Breakfast is a thing of the past. No more sausage with breakfast and fried-toast seems to be the in-thing now. I am not quite sure I like fried-toast for breakfast or in general. Tomorrow I skip the cooked breakfast and stick with cereal and regular toast which tastes so much better here than in the US. I wonder if their bread is better – their buttter, just like their cheese, certainly is! And some fruit too.

9. Portion sizes are typically a lot smaller here too. Even bottled water. I can drink a bottled water here and still be quite thirsty – same with eating my meals. Perhaps because I do not drink coffee or tea, but I seem to require a lot of water to get me through a meal.

10. Fastfood (McDonalds) portions are also quite different. The fries and soft drink size of the ‘regular’ meal are the quivalent, if not smaller, than what you get with a Kids Meal in the US. I find ths size poriton to actually be quite good for fast-food. I don’t feel nearly as bad or sickly after eating it. The establishments are also quite different – no Meal #’s so you sort of pick and choose. In the US I would order a “#2 meal” for instance. Here, you ask for it by what it is (cheeseburger meal please). The menus are much nicer looking too and they wear green shirts — very  un-fastfod like compared to the US version of things.

11. Ketchup IS tomato sauce. When I hear Tomato Sauce, I think of something much more like tomato soup or something. Lemonade here is a fizzy drink – looks like american lemonade but tastes more like sprite I guess? Maybe not as citrusy, but still fizzy like a soda.

Also, apologies for spelling errors. I am using a miniature bluetooth keyboard that syncs with ny tablet and it may not register every key press, or due to the small nature of it I may hit the wrong key instead. The space button isn’t perfect either so I am sure I have joined words more often than anything else.

Day 2 – Rhyl to Bangor

What a day! It started out quite terribly, actually. No rain but it was overcast and the ind brought back nightmares of Ireland. If there is ne thing to hate about cycling it is the wind. This wind was constant and blowing from the direction I was heading. It never let up and gusts threatened to blow me off. I was miserable and was ready to throw the towel in – there was no way I was doing 40 miles in a day in wind like that. And then the route I was following was closed off.

No warning or anything. There were detour signs, but only visible once you turned around…which makes them quite useless as no one is traveling from that direction in the first place. The detour took be away from the wind, briefly but onto busy streets and then back into the wind. I got to Colwyn Bay eventually and not only was there wind, but he bike path decided that the best way to get around a dock or anything else, is to turn sharply and go up a steep hill, level out for a few feet, and then go back down to the level you were at. Tiring and poorly designed if you ask me.

Tired of the wind and not wanting to continue, I noticed that I was at about the point A55 turned inland towards Conwy – my half day goal, I also noticed that I was beside a road that ran alongside the A55 called Conwy Road. So I took it. It took me out of the wind and I eventually rejoined NCN 5, my planned route, after it ducked back down from the coast. I was soon back on track and made it to Conwy.

Which was a tourist trap with a lot of traffic heading into. Every 15 ninutes, three large buses would pull up and drop off 100 people each. There was also some sort of mini-market going on too and lots of one way streets.The wind was gone mostly and the sun was out. I found a place to get a sandwich and a coke – a fellow cyclist keeping on eye on my bike while I was in the shope as there were no bikeracks or anything to lock my bike to in the town where the shops were. I then made my way back to the Information Center and ate at a picnic table there, with my bike under lock – next to another heavily loaded bike.

I popped into the IC to buy a postcard (having previously popped in and talked to the solitary worker there). When I came back in, he pointed me out to another guy that was there – the Danish Cyclist whose bike was outside. Long story short, the Dane was on a 4 week journey (in the final week) headed to Dublin via Holyhead and camping. The weather that is supposed to blow in tonight and make tomorrow a torrential storm had him worried and not wanting to camp. He was in the process of trying to find lodging in Bangor (where I am now) but not having luck (the IC guy was on the phone). So I told him where I was staying in Bangor and to give it a try – luckily they had a room available for him and he should be here by now (we headed out on our seperate ays to get here).

The hills out here are quite steep and the NCN 5 signs are poorly marked in a lot of places….they will turn you onto a narrow sunken  lane that has a 15% gradient and a t-junction at the end, but they won’t tell you which way you turn once you get to the t-junction. I climbed a few hills a few times figuring out which way to go – nearly killing myself on an even steeper, rough downhill, discovering my rear brake is barely functioning for unknown reasons. A LBS tweaked the brakes but I don’t think they’re fully functioning but I was told most hills out here are not nearly as steep as the one I came down.

I did manage to take more pictures today but those wont be posted until I return to the states. The forecast tomorrow has a low pressure system moving in with 44mm of rain expected (nearly 2 inches of rain…if I am remembering correctly). I may take the day off as I had planned on going onto Anglesey, but if its raining that much I wont be visitingany castls (they don’t hae roofs obviously) and I dont much feel like getting that wet for no reason.

Alright, time to wander along the hills of Bangor to find somewhere to eat and some snacks for later.