What started out as an ambitious plan, turned into a monster ride during the day. Light winds, overcast skies and even touch of drizzle actually gave some perfect biking conditions for a long ride. Leaving The Cottage behind, we crept slowly up the A5, past Ogwen Cottage and along to Capel Curig. From here it was a pleasant downhill to Betws-y-Coed and into the Conwy Valley. A quick stop for Pain-au-Choc in Trefriw gave us the boost we needed to successfully complete a bit of navigating around the lanes near Rowen, before riding in through the castle gates at Conwy.
All was quiet at the water's edge. An apple and a drink of water provided a bit of a re-fuel.
Next it was west, alongside the deserted beaches and a glimpse of Llandudno - which I last visited on March 2nd! This was the furthest I'd been from the house since then!
Traffic-free riding along the coast was 'steady' despite the odd suggestion of a headwind developing. Peanut butter sandwiches probably saved the day in Llanfairfechan, by keeping me topped up with energy.
Having got to Bangor, the plan of riding home was abandoned in favor of continuing along to Caernafon. Partly because the sun had just come out, but mostly because we were becoming tantalizingly close to completing a 100km ride. Something I've never even considered doing before. The seed was sown and germinated quickly. We kept on turning the peddles.
It was 'busy' by the castle with a few people out in the sunshine, so we opted to keep moving.
I did pull over in the town square, where some joker had given Lloyd George some PPE!
The 'cultural tour' of the town continued as we wove our way through back streets, town squares, castle walls and council estates. Each with their own different and unique feel about them. I ate on the move as we began the gentle (but unrelenting!) climb back up from sea level. On the final section, I chose to go a shorter 'direct' route, rather than a longer way around the final hill. It was off-road and a steep climb, but from the summit, I was able to complete the final 3km without having to peddle at all! A great way to 'roll home'!
The total ride weighed in at 114km with about 1400m of height climbed too!
It made me think of our first ever cycle tour in Denmark; the guy we hired our bikes from waved us off, saying see you in a few weeks. We said, 'hopefully - what if we don't make it? To which he replied, you will - all you have to do is keep turning the peddles. He was right.
After some serious food and water consumption, I managed a short 'warm-down' stroll to check the sunset, before collapsing into bed.
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