Had a week booked off a two weeks ago with a friend from Sheffield. He'd been snowed out of a week long trip to Braemar the week before (Munro bagging in Scotland in whiteouts on the summits) so the weather that week was a bit of a contrast - blue sky and forecast set for the week.
We left North Wales on Wednesday morning after debating leaving the van at the start or the end (and even breifly in Shrewsburys at his in-laws place)... in the end we settled for finding somewhere to leave the van in Mach, basing our decision on the train times and the fact that we'd have an exit at any time from the end point.
In the end we bought tickets on the morning from a very nice station master at Mach who recommended we leave the van right outside the station - sure enough it was safe as houses there and no parking fees either. There is a security company right by the station if you really want to leave a car 'safe' for a few days - a fiver a day or thereabouts with them I think. Got the 1205 from Mach and onto Knighton for arrival about 1550. A trip to the Spar (where you don't need the right money if you haven't got any change :) ) then off on route about 1630. Found a nice bench about 1km on route for a first cheese butty stop and a guzzle of loads of juice from the Spar. Boiling hot afternoon but we'd decided to see how far we could get that evening. Nice riding on dry trails after the push up Werygeufron Hill, and we bypassed a couple of nice looking camping spots on Warren Hill to see us stop for a pint and a bag of crisps in Llanbadarn Fynydd. We opted for the bridge (turn left out of the pub) rather than the ford as it was a touch deep.
Decided on some woods Red Lion Hill for the evening after the pub stop... not the best place to try to find a flat spot but eventually found an older ride in the middle of the woods where there hadn't been too much recent logging. Bit on the midgy side but a good nights sleep. We were woken by the dawn chorus at about 5 and were up, breakfasted and off riding for 6. Riding down to Davids Well we could see all the valleys filled with a misty temperature inverison - great views and a really nice dawn/sunrise.
We decended into the clag at Brondre, pedalling across dewy fields and enjoying the chill of the morning before the heat to come. The boggy, draggy bridleway to Bwlch-y-sarnau must take a prolonged spell of no rain to dry out! This was followed by a really cut up section of Glyndwrs Way where 4x4 and trail bikes seem to have hammered a track onto Esgair Hill. The desent was great though, again above a temperature inversion, as we accelerated down the tarmac for a second breakfast in Rhayader... and a quick trip to the hardware store (on the left on the way into town) for a second gas cannister. We'd been thinking of a one nighter staying at Claerddu bothy - using the gas there but timings weren't right. Big fry up in the hotel by the clock and quick SSS in the loos saw us roll gently up the Elan Valley cycle path whilst digesting. We also met three other TCW cyclist staying in the hotel in Rhayader and being bussed to the start/end each day by a mate.
We found the track after Rhiwnant hard going on - not the easy landrover tracks we had been expected but a nice technical diversion!
As we reached the end of the tarmac and the beginning of the dam roads we were overtaken by the 3 other TCW 'day riders' again - stopped for a chat and it seemes they'd got lost on day one and done an extra 15km or so. This seemed to be a feature of their ride as we were to see them twice on both days as they were quicker but in the wrong direction (only paper maps and no GPS/route notes!). Picking up speed around Claerwen I pinch flatted badly (probably a slight loss of pressure from a slow thorn pucture earlier - thought I'd got the torn in time). Back wheel out and rear brakes pads look bad too so I change those at the same time and find three holes in the tube - mend that too at the time as a back up. This time I took some time to get the rear tyre up to a decent pressure to stop repeats. The solitude on the trip up to Claerwen was only shattered by the post van which seemed to be driven by Colin Macrae.
Nice hack down the tarmac after the bothy and a snack stop near Blaen Marchnant saw us trying to resist the temptation of a short cut through Coed Blwchgwallter I'd taken on Ian B's cost to cost last year. At this point the wheels began to come off the ride. Bob normally leaves me on the hills (no to difficult I know) but he'd either been suffering the effect of the heat or had picked up a kiddy D&V bug when staying at mine - either way there was little of the normal power and not much ability to get food and drink down. So the decision was made to get up to the campsite in Cwm Ystwyth and see how he felt the morning after.
Nice site - free warm showers and hot water for washing up saw us remove the caked on dust and dry out our shoes from the stream and deep puddles we'd charged through in an effort to keep cooler.
We managed to both eat loads and drink a fait bit at the campsite, but were both still thirsty even after drinking 12 litres each whilst on the move during the day. A nice chilled evening saw us cook up some pasta and sauce... nice tin of mackerel in mine for added flavour.
Up early again and Bon was feeling poor again - only a couple of fruit teas and no solids saw us set of in the chilly clag (below the teperature inversion this morning) to ride the thin tarmac strip uf Lan Fawr. A chat at the Afon Dilw bridge suggested we'd better make for Llangurig to cut the effort. As we dropped past the CCC campsite the smell of bacon sarnies cooking made me feel really hungy but nearly made Bob barf... Obviously I was OK but he was going down hill. We pedalled a short way up the tarmac towards the Hafren Forest to sit in the shade and plan a course of action.... decision was to push on through the forest and find the first convenient spot to leave Bob so I could pick him up later in the van (self rescue!).
How does anyone do this route in 12 hours with the gates every 200m on this section... once through the fields I really enjoyed the section of single track into the forest, where we plodded uphill in the heat and sunshine. A nice down hill and a ford through the fledgling River Severn saw us rest up at the picnic site in Hafren. I had a soup and couple of sweaty Caerphilly butties and Bob threw up everything he'd tried to eat and drink here. Not good at all so plan B was put into action. We poured over the map and realised it's easy tarmac with few contours form here to Staylittle. We were met again by our 3 other hotel based TCW riders. They left before us but Bob was to see them again later as they'd got lost in Hafren again and pedalled past him a few hours after I left him in Staylittle.
I dropped a few bags in Staylittle with Bob under a shady bush and set of on my own for the quickest way back to Mach.... but I did still enjoy a strong and warm easterly tail wind that blew me up onto Penycrocbren (a farmer even stopped to hold a gate open for me and have a chat
). The single track towards Glaslyn was great and at this point I opted for the tarmac decent to Mach with a quick stop to chat to some roadies (on the Holyhead to Cardiff gig with support vehicles full of custard pies and sausage rolls) at the memorial on Foel Fadian... a blast downhill in a really swirly (scary) cross wind saw me in Mach for Friday about 1400. I jumped in the van and retraced my route to Staylittle to collect Bob, only to be nearly wiped out by a logging lorry coming downhill like a nutter... the most dangerous part of the trip.
Couple of lesson learnt for me - carry a Leatherman instead of Swiss Army knife - better for changing brake pads; take some neck covering that can be soaked in streams; GPS and route notes from the IMBA tracklog files make a big difference - where it says follow the less obvious path they really mean it!
All in all a great route and it was nice to end in Mach with fish and chips and milk shake and then change and hop in the van for the trip north without any train timetable issues. Really enjoyed it despite the near sunstroke.. but after reading about WRT this year (I had to duck out at the last minute) I'm not complaining about the weather on this forum! Cheers and chapeau to the ITTs who've posted rececently - even more impressed now
and thanks for the hints/tips.
