Could this have been one of the final bike tours that I'll do on the '94 classic 'Halfords Apollo'. With the misaligned back wheel rubbing on the frame for the entire journey, gears slipping on every other turn and having the brake-power stopping distance of a motorway lorry, I suspect that it's touring days may soon be over!
Clare arrived back at The Cottage with the idea of an afternoon mini-tour. I was busy working in the sunshine when the suggestion caught me out of the blue. 'Oh, but we'll have to go up the big hill' was my initial reaction! However, we both decided that the exercise would do us good and the sudden increase in local temperatures would make it acceptable to be wearing shorts again! We got changed immediately and saddled up.
The hill climb felt much easier than last time as we were soon up on the plateau, admiring the views of the distant snowy peaks. The centre peak is where I skied off the top of yesterday! It looked tempting today, but I was guessing that the snow could be too soft and even harder to ski than yesterday.
The roads were quiet and we enjoyed the feeling of self-propelled transport as we headed over in the direction of Llanberis.
After a loop of Bus Stop Quarry round about, we set our sights on the nearby Dinorwic Lodge Cafe, where we had a game of chess over a pot of tea in the warmth of the old village school house. Sat back in the comfort of the sofa, we also had a flick through a photo book that listed different places to visit around the world at different times of year. There was lots of inspiration inside and it certainly got us thinking about the future...
On leaving the warmth of the cafe around 4pm, we had a short amount of uphill, before coasting our way back across the hills and down to The Cottage. We arrived back in good time, feeling like we'd been away for ages and had had a great adventure! I was relieved that the bike had survived another journey! Amazing what a little ride from home can do for you.
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