Welsh Coast 2 Coast Cymru Day 2:- Bye Bye North Wales

The day started well. Looking out of the window provided a view of a dry and bright day. 

A fantastic spread and cooked breakfast at the Cross Foxes in Trawsfynydd set us up nicely for the day ahead. Here we are getting  ready :- 

Joe wanted us all to know that he had brand new white socks to wear today which were going to be filthy by the end of the day. 

As we started.. a long and steady climb lead us above the A470 towards Coed y Brenin. 

I caught Peter on a couple of times

The track linked to the fire roads in Coed y Brenin where we reached the visitor centre for cake. Mmmmm 

 We were also accosted by a  fat chaffinch who wanted most of our cake for itself. As you can see, it can barely support itself on its legs. 

We headed off on the Minotaur trial a blue route in Coed y Brenin. 

From Coed y Brenin we followed cycle path #8 all the way down to Dolgellau for lunch 

Following a quick lunch we headed off for  the first of two big hill climbs. My knee had been hurting all day which forced me to take it slower than I wanted :( there was a good view of Dolgellau on the way

 

Once we finally got to the top of the big climb arrived at the Cadair Idris valley. Following the cycle track we traversed the valley where we found a stark warning :- 

Eventually cutting  across the a487 and started the last big climb in earnest as we could see rain clouds approaching behind us. 

Half way up the big climb. The rain arrived. So time to quickly put on some waterproofs. 

After finally getting to the top the climb we headed down the valley. Unfortunately the weather wasn't too good for pictures. But I tried : 

From the bottom of the valley we followed the river for Corris :-

Rain was as incessant as yesterday but we knew we were close to the end.. so with a good pace we headed down to Machynlleth. 

Crossing the Dyfi over the footbridge marked our leaving North Wales and entering mid Wales and arrival at Machynlleth !!! 

So all in all, we're all agreed that today was better than yesterday. We've showered, eaten and looking forwards to long day to Pontrhydfendigaid tomorrow :) 

Here's a link to our track for today :- 

http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/MzY0NDky

Thanks for reading the blog and please sponsor us by supporting the Altzimers society by following this link http://bit.ly/12X8ZmH

Welsh Coast 2 Coast Cymru Day 1: Wet & Wild

This was the day of days. Quite easily the longest, most brutal and utterly, totally and uncompromisingly wet day of our entire lives ! Yet highly satisfying ( now that we have showered, eaten and rested) 

We arrived in Conwy and it was raining. 

 

Setting off a little later than planned @ 10am and off we went. 

Biking through the Conwy valley was more technical than expected made more so due to the the  incessant rain. 3 miles in and we had our first puncture and not to do things by half. Carwyn had picked up 3 ! 2 in the back with one in the front. Not a good start !! 

Carwyn working hard there as Joe and Peter got suck into some flapjack.  Luckily the homeowner nearby helped To fill the wheels with his compressor. 

Onwards through the rain up the Conwy valley  eventually. We recached Gwydyr forest and off into the Forrest we went. It was STILL raining. 

From the Forrest we went down to miners bridge didn't take too many photos of this bit. Primarily because this part of the ride was grim due to all the slow progress which was exasperated by... the biblical rain. 

At this point we'd seen misty rain, small rain, heavy, painfull and apocalyptic ! Lol

From miners bridge we headed up parts of Sarn Helen and shortly after half way we had lunch shortly before 2pm. Lunch was not a glamorous affair. We stood  under a tree which offered little protection.. ate soggy sandwiches and lied to Joe. 'Only another 3 hours' somewhat of a underestimate !! 

With raised spirits after lunch and riding on fire roads which were more like rivers providing suitable entertainment we headed down towards the a470 near Dolwyddelan.  Crossing the A470 we headed for Ty Mawr a national trust site which lead us to parts of the Penmachno trail. 

After a lot of climbing AND ..... Rain we kept heading through a valley which would lead us to Cwm Penmachno. Here's a picture of the trail with some bluebottles 

Eventually we reached Cwm Penmachno amid some fantastic views. Sped down hill for the bottom of the valley where we  rode towards the head of the valley to ride/walk up the quarry to get over the hill to get to Cwm Teigl. Once we got to the top there was some amazing views

Here's a view of the Quarry works and the view down to Penmachno. Pity you can't see the rain !! Which was still falling ! 

Riding down Cwm Teigl was spectacular. Nothing else I can say to describe it. See your yourself 

At this point we were on the home strait. Had to walk the bikes for a bit. Found the A470 and headed full speed for Trawsfynydd. It was 7pm at this point !! 

We reached the power station

 And headed for the pub where we were staying ! By now the rain had finally stopped !! 

Wet, tired debilitatingly cold, we were relieved to reach Traws after 10 hrs of riding !!! 

Follow the link below to see our track which is around 46 miles and equivalent to over twice the height of Snowdon ! 

 http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/MzYzNTIx

Thanks for reading the blog ! Please help us support the Altzimers Society by donating though this site http://bit.ly/12X8ZmH

Diolch am ddarllen. Mynd I Gwely wan! 

Thanks for reading. Off to bed now ! 

Penwythnos olaf o reidio - Last weekend of riding

penwythnos olaf o reidio - last weekend of riding

Wel dyma ni.. Y penwythnos olaf o reidio cyn y trip mawr! Ag yn ddigon ffodus, roedd y cefn yn teimlo 100% gwaith yn well.. diolch i'r drefn!

Well here were are! the last weekend of training before the big trip! ag fortunatley enough my back has been feeling 100% better ... thank goodness!

Es i allan nos Wener am un o'r reid byr ogwmpas Bangor, Minffordd a Pentir ayyb.. a chware teg.. er gwaethaf y seibiant.. roeddwn y coesau yn teimlo'n ffantastig:)

I went out Friday night for one of my quick rides around Bangor, Minffordd, Pentir etc etc and fair do's.... even with time off .. my legs were feeling fantastic on the ride! :)

Nes i ddim cymryd llunia yn anffodus.. ond dyma'r track :-  

Apologies that I didnt take any photos but here's my track

Ar ddydd Sul, mi aeth Carwyn a finnau am drip ar y beic.. a just dilyn ei'n trwyna... ac roedd hi'n drip da a lot hirach nag roeddwn ni'n disgwyl. Dyma lun o fy hoff fynydd .. yr Eifl..  a trac y siwrne

On Sunday, Carwyn and I went out for a trip on the bike.. just followed our noses really.. it was a nice trip and much longer than i expected.. Here's a photo of one of my favourite mountains.. Yr Eifl and the track of the trip :- 

Saith diwrnod i fynd!!!! Seven Days to go!!!

Wel.. mae'r amser bron iawn yma!!!!  Dim ond 7 diwrnod ar ôl cyn i'r siwrne ddechrau !!! Dyma lun o'r siwrne o Gonwy i Gaerdydd i chi cael gweld. Mae'r cyfraniadau i'r dudalen JustGiving yn dod i mewn hefyd.. cymerwch gyfle i edrych ar y tudalen os gewch chi gyfle ! http://www.justgiving.com/WelshCoast2CoastCymru

Well the time is almost upon us.. Only 7 days to go before the journey starts!! Heres a photo of the route from Conwy and Cardiff for you to see. Donations from the JustGiving page have been coming in.. take some time to visit the page if you have the opportunity! http://www.justgiving.com/WelshCoast2CoastCymru

Codi arian i achos da !!!!! Raising money for a good cause !!!!

Wedi siarad gyda Carwyn, Joe a Peter, mi gytunwyd y byddem yn cychwyn codi arian ar gyfer achos da wrth reidio ar draws Cymru. Felly, rydym wedi cychwyn tudalen ar Just Giving er mwyn casglu ar gyfer y Gymdeithas Alzheimers. 

Felly os ydych yn darllen hwn, byddwn yn hynod o ddiolchgar os byddech yn dilyn y ddolen isod a rhoi'n yn hael er mwyn cefnogi achos da!

http://www.justgiving.com/WelshCoast2CoastCymru

Diolch yn fawr!!! 

After speaking to Carwyn, Joe and Peter, we agreed that we'd begin raising some money for a good cause while cycling off road across Wales. As a result, we've started a new Just Giving page to begin raising funds for the Alzheimer's Society.

So, if your kind enough to be reading this, I'd be very  grateful if you'd follow the link below and kindly donate as much as you can to this worthy cause.

http://www.justgiving.com/WelshCoast2CoastCymru

Many Thanks!!

Rhys

Diwrnod hir yn Llanrwst - Long day in Llanrwst

Diwrnod hir allan ag ogwmpas Llanrwst.. fel y rhedwyr oedd allan in force ogwmpas y dref y bore hwnnw! Long day in and around Llanrwst today. There were runners out in force around the town for a race like us.. they were in for a wet day! 

Roedd Carwyn wedi creu llwybr o tua 30-35 milltir ar gyfer y diwrnod, ac roedd o’n awyddus i drio allan ei deiars newydd.. Nobby Nics gan Schwalbe.. rhaid i mi ddeud.. ar ôl cael sbin ar ei feic.. ma’ nhw'n deiars 'grippy', swnllyd a cyflym.  Yn anffodus, wrth reidio ei feic, ac fel roeddwn ni'n newid y ger... mi dorrodd y chaen! Wel o’n ni'n teimlo bach yn euog i ddeud y lleiaf.. Yn ffodus.. roedd gan Carwyn powerlink sbâr, nath galluogi fo rhoi'r chaen yn ôl at ei gilydd.  PHEW!! Mi fysa rhaid i ni'n dau cerdded yn ol hebddo.
Carwyn had made a route of around 30-35 mile and he was keen to try out his new tyres... Schwalbe'r Nobby Nics and I have to admit that they're both grippy, fast and noisy. As I was looking as I was having a go on Carwyns bike and while changing gear.. the chain snapped!.. luckily, Carwyn had a spare powerlink which he used to put the chain back together. PHEW!! it would have been a long walk home without it! 

Ar ôl trin y chaen.. mi aethom dros fynydd ac i lawr tuag at Capel Curig, ar ôl dilyn yr A5 am chydig.. aethom fynydd dros fynydd arall.. Lot o ddringo yma.. ac i lawr am Ddolwyddelan.  O Ddolwyddelan, mi gytunom ni i fynd ymlaen gyda dolen hirach y siwrne ymlaen am Benmachno. After fixing the chain, we followed a path that took us over a mountain and up to Capel Curig. Following the A5 for a little while, we headed right and over another mountain.. Lots of climbing here followed by a varied decent down to Dolwyddelan. We agreed to ride the longer length of the route,so ahead we went to Penmachno.

Yn anffodus, roedd y ddolen yma yn galetach nag roeddwn ni'n disgwyl. Wrth ddringo dros y mynydd o Ddolwyddelan i Benmachno.. mi ddiflannodd y llwybr mewn cors wlyb.. felly lot o wthio'r beics a traed gwlyb!
This stage of the route was much harder than we expected. By riding up the mountain from Dolwyddelan to Penmachno, the path quickly evaporates into a wet bog... so instead of riding, there was a lot of bike-hiking!

Wedi i ni gyrraedd coedwig Penmachno, mi aethom ogwmpas y mynd er mwyn ail ymuno a'r A470 ger Dolwyddelan. Erbyn i ni gyrraedd yr A470, roeddem wedi colli gormod o amser wrth gerdded drwy'r gors.. ag achos hynny, mi benderfynom ni mynd yn ôl am y car wrth feicio am Betws y Coed ac wedyn ymlaen am Lanrwst a'r car.
Once we eventually reached Penmachno forest, we rode from the valley around the mountain so that we could reach the A470 by Dolwyddelan. By the time we reached the A470 though, we'd lost too much time with all the bike-hiking over to Penmachno, so we took to the road, and headed back to Betws and then Llanrwst to the cars.

Dyma ychydig o luniau y cymerais ar y trip. Here's a few photos I took on the ride :-

Glaw yn Coedwig Gwydir 14-04-13

Dydd Sul arall ar y beic.. ac ar ôl yr eira o benwythnos diwethaf, roeddwn yn awyddus i osgoi unrhyw awgrymiad o eira na chwaith ardal ble fydd gofyn i gerdded y beic.

Ar ôl edrych yn ofalus ar fapiau dwi wedi lawr lwytho drwy Viewranger ar gyfer y trip, mi ddechreuais lunio trip newydd. Wrth gyfarfod a Carwyn yn y maes parcio ger y goedwig, mi ddechreuon ni ar ei'n siwrne. A cyn i mi fynd ymhellach, rhaid i mi gydnabod y ffaith bod hi'n bwrw glaw yn ddrwg.. na... roedd hi'n uffernol!

Hyd yn oed efo waterproof ymlaen o’n ni'n socian! Ond na fo. Dyna ydi natur beicio ynde.. rhaid cario ymlaen!

Er gwaetha'r glaw enbyd.. gafon ni siwrne dda.. welon ni bont sydd wedi gweld dyddiau gwell.. yn ogystal ag arwydd i un ochr gan y perchennog dwi'n cymryd.. mae'n swnio braidd yn anhapus bod gan neb diddordeb yn ei bont annwyl.

Mi aeth gweddill y reid yn eithaf da er gwaethaf y glaw, gwlyb, depressing. Rhywle yn y mynydd uwchben y Ty Hull er Capel Curig, mi dorrodd cadwyn Carwyn. Pan roeddwn arfer beicio mynydd, roedd y fath broblem yn arwain at alwad ffôn i ofyn i riant ddod i nôl fi..

Yn ffodus, roedd Carwyn y diwrnod cynt wedi buddsoddi mewn linc's sbâr i'r gadwyn.. gydag ychydig o 'elbow grease' lwyddon ni drin y gadwyn ac i ffwrdd a ni yn llawn hyder ar ôl perfformio llawdriniaeth lwyddiannus ar y beic.

Mi aeth gweddill y siwrne yn weddol rwydd.. nai ddim son gormod am y ffarmwr doedd ddim yn hapus gyda ni'n defnyddio ei giât pan ddylwn ni fod wedi defnyddio llwybr troed cyfagos.

Erbyn diwedd y siwrna.. sychodd y tywydd a gododd y cymylau i gynnig ychydig o olygfeydd braf o ddyffryn Conwy i ni gael edmygu.. Dyma ychydig o luniau a'r manylion y reid isod :-

Wet day in Gwydir Forrest 14th of April,2013

Another Sunday on the bike.. and after the Snow trauma of last weekend  we were keen to avoid any suggestion, hint or light dusting of snow as well as looking not to require any bike-hiking.

After looking carefully over the maps that I've downloaded through  Viewranger for the Coast to Coast trip I drew together a route for the day. Meeting Carwyn at the car park nearby the forest, we got started on our journey.. Before i go further.. I have to mention the fact that it was raining a lot on this ride.. and by a lot.. i mean on a biblical scale! But as the word training suggests.. we had to get on with it. 

Despite the incessant rain, we had a fairly good ride.. we passed a bridge that had seen better days.. as well as a sign located nearby from the bridge owner i assume.. who by the sounds of it.. is a little unhappy that no one's taken an interest in hir bridge...

The ride continued well.. with long climbs and lots more depressing rain. Somewhere above 'Ty Hull' near Capel Curig, Carwyns chain broke.. as you can see on the picture opposite. Back in the day.. this would've meant a phone call to a parent to come and fetch you.. But not so in these modern times. 

Luckily, Carwyn had while in the bike shop on Friday invested in some spare chain links... a wise investment indeed as they were put to good use, along with some elbow grease to put the chain back together again. Feeling supremely awesome at our trailside surgery skills and still soaked from the rain.. we soldiered on. 

The rest of the ride passed relatively un remarkably.. I wont spend too much time talking about the unhappy farmer who wasn't to pleased to see us not walking down a nearby footpath through his farm.. but we managed to talk our way out of the situation. 

By the end of the day..the rain stopped chucking it down, the clouds parted to reveal some nice views of the Conwy valley for us to admire. Here's a few pictures and details of the ride for you below :- 

Cylchdaith Eiraog Coed y Brenin Carwyn 7fed o Ebrill

Ar ôl trafod paratoi am y trip gyda Carwyn ac yn dilyn ei ymchwil.. mi awgrymodd y dylwn ni fynd am reid  mewn amgylchiadau tebyg i'r trip ei hun. Gyda hyn mewn golwg, mi luniodd Carwyn llwybr yn dechrau a gorffen yng Nghoed y Brenin.. ond yn osgoi'r llwybrau arferol wrth fynd i mewn i'r wlad a dilyn y lonydd cefn, lonydd tan 'fire roads' a'r llwybrau ceffyl a hynny am 30 milltir

Dyma ychydig o lunia yn fuan ar y trip.

LLun gan Carwyn - Picture from Carwyn

Roedd hi'n cychwyn grêt i'r diwrnod.. roeddem yn cadw amser da.. ac yn dod i arfer gyda'n teclynnau i ffeindion ffordd.. Carwyn gyda'i Garmin a finnau gyda'n Iffon.

Dwi'n gobeithio sgwennu yn y blog am declynnau GPS hwyrach yn y Blog.

Gafon ni ychydig o eira ar y llwybrau gweler fideo ohonof i'n trio beicio ar ychydig bach o eira.. dwi angen teiars gwell ar gyfer job fel honno dwi'n meddwl.

Ar ôl fwy o reidio, mi aethom ni ar draws ein lluwch eira gyntaf. Fedrwch chi weld pa mor ddyfn oedd o ar ôl claddu'r giât a llyncu'n goesau yn y lluniau yma : -

 

Ar ôl chwaneg o ginio.. mi ddaethom ni fyny at  lwybr roedd wedi ei orchuddio gydag eira. Wrth gredu byddai'r eira ddim yn rhu drwg a gan fod y llwybr yn uno a choedwig, penderfynom gario ymlaen at y goedwig ble fyddai'r eira wedi diflannu. Son am gamgymeriad.. ar ôl sloggio am bron i awr i gael i ben y llwybr trwy eira i fyny i'n pengliniau.. Roedd cymaint o eira yn y goedwig ag bob man arall!

Roedd ddigon o eira i allu ni sefyll ei'n feics heb dal arnyn nhw!

Beics yn sefyll yn yr eira 

 Erbyn hyn, doedd ganddom ni ddim teimlad yn ein traed, dim lot o egni na myned..mi aethom ni nol i drio ffeindio ffordd arall.  Aeth y gylchdaith yn eithaf da o fanno.. Mi aeth y reid tua 10 milltir yn llai na'r bwriad.. ond roedd hi'n ddiwrnod da a mi ddysgon ni lot! Da ni am  ddod yn ôl unwaith mae'r eira wedi diflanu!

Dyma manylion y reid :-

Snowy Circular above Coed y Brenin 7th of April

After discussing the Coast to Coast with Carwyn and some of his research, he suggested we should go on a ride similar to that we'll be facing on the trip itself. With this in mind, Carwyn made a gpx circular route starting from Coed y Brenin but avoiding the mormal tracks established in the centre and going up into the mountains and country allong fire roads, tracks and bridleways for 30 miles

Here's a few photos from early in the trip.

LLun gan Carwyn - Picture from Carwyn

The start of the trip went very well, we kept a good pace and we were getting used to navigating with our gps devices. Cawryn was using his Garmin and I was using my iphone with the Viewranger app. I'm planning on writing on the blog about the GPS app that I'm hoping to use for the Coast to Coast. 

We came accross some snow early on and here's a video of me having a go at riding through it. I think ill need some better tyres in this instance I think! 

After some more riding, we came across our first snow drift. You can see how deep the snow was after almost burying a nearby gate and swallowed my legs as you can see below :- 

 

After some lunch.. we set off and quickly reached a path that was covered in snow. Believing that the snow wouldn't be too bad, we set off up the snow as the path would later join a forest which we believed would be clear. What a mistake this was! After slogging for over an hour to get to the head of the path, where it crossed a stream to the forest, with the snow up to our knees for most of the way.. there was as much snow in the forest as there was outside it! As you can see from the pictures below.. the snow was thick enough to stand the bikes in! 

Snow standing bikes 

By now, we'd lost feeling in our feet, low energy and even less patience so we agreed to turn around to find another way. Once back down from the snowy path, the route went well.. loosing about 10 miles from the original path, but it turned out to be a good day where we learned a lot about navigation and reading the environment. One things for certain.. we'll be back when the snow's left!

Here's the details of the route:-