Climbing at Conwy Slabs

Nice mellow morning instructing rock climbing at Conwy Slabs. Lovely views and rock that was sheltered from the cold winds. Spent the afternoon at the Beacon climbing wall due to popular demand (although it never rained in the end). 

Crib Goch by the East & North Ridges

No time to rest the legs yet. It's always important to have a plan B as well as a Plan A when working in the mountains (and often and C, D and E!). Today was one of those days. A high pressure over Wales this morning meant that we had our first frost of the winter in the valley and were treated to a spectacular sunrise. Having dropped my group up at Pen y Pass and then driven back down the Llanberis pass to park, my day started with a stroke of luck when my friends happened to be driving past, so gave me a lift back up to the top.

We made good progress up to the base of Crib Goch (the steep left-hand side of the photo below), but things slowed down soon after.

The weather remained fantastic but very cold (only a few degrees above freezing) as we picked our way up through the rocks.

It was past 13:00 by the time we made it to Crib Goch Summit. We all marvelled in the views and watched cloud pouring over Snowdon summit like a waterfall. Now that the clocks had changed, we would not have enough time to make the full traverse. But more pressing was the fact that some of the group were very worried about the exposure and unwilling to descend the same way, so we decided to make a descent via the North Ridge instead.

(it follows the redish ridge on the near right of the photos below).

It was suitably dramatic but got us off the exposed ground with the least amount of fuss. Soon we were back down on firm ground by the little lake with the island on it.

It was good to look back up at where we'd been - it looked miles away!

Having navigated over to the Main Cliff on Cryn Las, where I knew a path led down to the Llanberis Pass, we hiked easily passed the split boulder (and some big goats) to make it back to the van just before dark. 

Bull Bay to The Cottage by Bike

Who'd have thought that I'd be cycling in shorts and t-shirt at the tail end of October on Anglesey! Day 3 of 'The Tour' was a beauty. After a 'full Welsh Breakfast' (very similar to a 'Full English' as far as I could tell), we set off from Bull Bay. My tyres were alarmingly squishy from the outset and despite having to stop twice to pump them up, I could never seem to get enough pressure in them. 'Would they last back to The Cottage?' was the question. Given that we had no real choice but to press on, we just pressed on. A brutally steep hill took us up to a viewpoint overlooking Point Lynas.

With my semi-inflated tyres, I seemed to be having to work much harder than Clare. The tyres literally whirred audibly with the friction of the tarmac. I think it's important to be able to laugh at oneself, especially when the going gets tough. We roared with laughter as Clare coasted effortlessly past me pedalling at full speed, in top gear on the next long downhill section.

Concern about the length of the coming day and the state of my bike (and me!) meant that we bypassed the potential detour up Parys Mountain.

Instead, we stuck to the lanes and pumped out the miles. To give you an idea of just how rural, rural Anglesey is, we overtook an old couple who were out for a Sunday ride in their horse and cart! Nice hamper on the back too!

As we neared the completion of the Copper Trail circuit, we came across a fantastic windmill.

As the sun was blazing, we sheltered by the side of the cafe, and had a drink while soaking up the rays.

We arrived at Valley station, just in time to catch the next train. It's a tiny station.

So tiny in fact, that you have to flag the train down if you want it to stop!

It was surprisingly busy, but the friendly conductor managed to squeeze us onboard and find us a seat.

The views were great as we made our way back to the mainland.

While crossing Britannia Bridge, we got a glimpse of Menai Bridge and Clare's old house.

Then before we knew it, we were back at Bangor Station.

From the station, we had to retrace our steps back to the boatyard. This time we stopped and had a look around before setting off up the hill towards The Cottage.

It was a long climb. Just a gradual incline, but enough to make us feel like we were working hard. It felt like a bit of a sting in the tail as we headed up towards the sun.

Things levelled out as we made the final stretch towards Bethesda. It was a perfect autumnal late afternoon and the scenery was fantastic.

The cycle route took us straight to town, where we picked up a few goodies to get home with.

Arrived back totally exhausted. Collapsed in a heap on the lounge floor. Another 55km and 800m of height gain. Such a brilliant 'Tour'. Happy and tired - a nice combination...

Anglesey Cycle Touring - Four Mile Bridge to Bull Bay

Day two of the tour started a bit cold and overcast, but the psych remained at a maximum high and we couldn't wait to get back on the road.

By just after 9am we were all loaded back up and heading east. In anticipation of there being no places to buy supplies later in the day, we each purchased a baguette which was carefully attached to the rear panniers.

Soon after passing through the small town of Valley, (and almost too close to a grouse shoot!) we reached the start of our intended route - 'The Copper Trail'. 

Although it is a recognised cycle route, only a small section is on cycle tracks. The majority is on minor roads but we experienced very little traffic. The few cars (and mostly tractors) that we came across were very courteous indeed and slowed or waited for us to pass and always gave a smile and a wave.

Some of the roads were obviously travelled quite infrequently.

At Cemlyn Bay we detoured off the trail to have lunch at the beach. By now the baguettes were pretty mangled and it was hardly sunbathing weather, but we were still revelling in the freedom of travel and happy with our progress. We were glad of the rest too. Lots of birds to watch here - but also a rather incongruous huge Nuclear Power Station just out of shot!

Next stop was Cemaes Bay, which gave a very colourful entrance. It was almost like arriving into Marstal on our Danish Bike Tour. Well, almost....

We had a walk along the harbour wall...

As bikes were not allowed!

Out to sea, some kayakers were having a hard time in the swell. We toyed with stopping in the town for a bit, but we were both eager to keep moving in case we ran out of steam before reaching our next, pre-booked, accommodation in Bull Bay.

As it turned out, we were soon close to our destination, so took an extra loop to look around the town of Amwlch.

There wasn't too much to see to be honest, but we did find some amazing cheesecake and couple of comfy chairs to rest in.

Before checking out the harbour.

We finished the days ride by travelling along the coast road to Bull Bay, booking in for dinner at the pub on our way to the 'Leafy Lane' guesthouse.

Here we got an exceptionally warm welcome. After stashing our bikes downstairs, we were invited up to our room...

And then presented with a huge pot of tea, with scones, jam and cream! Result!

Happy bikers indeed. The sofa felt especially good after looking at the day's ride stats - 56.5km and over a 1000m of ascent.

Bike Touring to Anglesey

You don’t have to go far from home to have an adventure - especially around here. Having arrived back from The Fort late last night, we had a few hours this morning to get packed for our first overnight cycle tour from The Cottage. By midday, we’d checked the tyres on my classic 1994 Halfords Apollo, (squishy but rideable), got a few essentials packed into the tiny panniers, and were ready to set off.

It felt super exciting to be setting off on a journey into the unknown, from home and under our own steam.

After a brief start on the road, we were soon established on the cycle track down towards Bangor, which has recently been linked to near us by travelling through some old railway tunnels under the village of Tregarth.

The psych was high as we enjoyed the smooth, flat tarmac...

A strong southerly wind and slight downhill gradient took us rapidly through some old woodlands and under plenty more railway bridges. Then suddenly, we reached the seaside in the form of the Menai Straits at Bangor Boat Yard.

The ‘City of Learning’ was packed with obstacles, mostly in the form of people and a market. We wove our way through the various bits of bike lanes and across town, making the station with ten minutes to spare.

Having reserved the only two available bike racks, we wheeled ourselves onboard and forty-five minutes later, wheeled back off at the Port of Holyhead. The holidays were on! As you cross the bridge over the harbour from the station, there is some coloured perspex on the sides of the bridge which makes the water look a tropical turquoise colour. With that and the funky bridge design, it all felt very holidayesque.

It was only a short ride west to the coast and we took our first stop at Porth Daffach to soak up some rays and watch some kayakers.

From there, we followed the coast road past several little bays and some nice houses to Trearddur Bay. Recent storms had washed sand right up over the promenade which made for some heavy going for a while. It was busy in the bay, so rather than call in for a reminisce where we got married, we carried on to the far headland and had a snack looking out over the bay.

The sun stayed out making it reasonably warm for the time of year. We were revelling in the fact that we were away and on a self-sufficient journey. We chuckled at our 'non-pro' kit too. So far the bike was holding up well; the panniers (given to me circa 1995 by Mr Davenport), had remained in place and my helmet (bought a couple of days ago from a bargain bucket in Tesco for £2.00) remained very comfy. It felt good to be 'back on the tour'....

Our destination for the night was the little village of 'Four Mile Bridge', where the tide was high and the views over to home and the mountains of Snowdonia looked fantastic.

While checking the GPS, I made a slight blunder with timings. I read that the time was 3:35, when actually I was looking at the 'time travelled so far' section. Thinking that we'd got ages until sunset, (and in the absence of any nearby cafes), we popped into a nearby pub called the Anchorage.

And ordered a Guinness to celebrate the day! Given that the sun was beginning to set, we were a little confused at the time of day, so re-checked and realised my mistake.

Luckily, we were only a few peddle turns away from the luxury and comforts of a tiny boathouse bedroom. The perfect stopover for a night on 'the tour'...

Day one was complete at a very respectable 30km of cycling.