The question came back…. “What about WRT on Brommies?”
I replied positively, then we both thought “what the actual fxxx have we done?”
Saturday arrived. We made our way separately to BB Towers, but neither of us was 100% confident that the other would actually turn up with a Brompton. Dumb idea? Yup! Mine was a six speed version and fresh out of the box, the only thing I did was oil the chain and hang the bags on. Nicks was identical but was a two speed version. And it transpired that the only shifter was not shifting no matter how we both fiddled with it and sprayed oil at it. Singlespeed it was then.
Bromptons are no lighter than conventional bikes, mine was 46.5 lbs; Nicks 44 lbs including snacks on the scales of doom.
This was going to be hard work, especially running singlespeed. We were fully prepared to knuckle down and take on the challenge, taking no prisoners along the way. And cheat, obviously.
After the glittering awards ceremony that preceded the start, during which we were given beer for the most inappropriate bikes ever seen at the WRT (thanks Stu!) we left BB Towers and faced our first dilemma – right or left at the first junction. After not much deliberation we turned left towards Llanbrynmair. 3.5 miles later we arrived at the bus stop, with 5 minutes until the next bus….
After this arduous start we obviously needed a light lunch in Machynlleth. Wherever we went the bikes seemed to create interest, a good chat was had with a road rider at the café. He on an Ultegra equipped carbon machine he was nevertheless fascinated by the bikes and the contents of our bags.
We then rode as far as the station, pausing only to pick up some oil from the garage to try to bring Nicks gearing to life. Train to Fairbourne, then a short ride round to the Mawddach Trail and off to Dolgellau for a chippy tea!
I’d bivi’d at a spot along this trail before, so we returned there for the 1st night. Tents up in the dark, sleeping kit down. All good.
Sunday morning, off to Barmouth for some brekkie at Davy Jones Locker. And off to the station. Obviously. Not really fancying the A road north for very far we hopped up as far as Harlech, pushed the bikes up the stupiudly steep hill into the town - no matter what they tell you, that left folding pedal is actually to make pushing the bike less likely to knobble your shins. Except that Nick had swapped these for the widest set of flat pedals known to man.
Which was not all amusing.
For him.
The ride from Harlech up across the Cob and into Porthmadoc witnessed our arrival into some sort of wonderful parallel universe. Not once but twice did white BMW X5s not only wait patiently behind us until gaps appeared in the oncoming traffic, they also indicated (!) and passed right on the opposite side of the road. Obviously this couldn’t continue and were dragged back to reality by a blue BMW 5 series that behaved perfectly normally. For a BMW.
At this point we needed snacks again. All the decent establishments were over crowded, so we folded the bikes down again and visited Costa. Drinks and food consumed, a group of 4 or 5 riders parked up outside and came in. The Bromptons again prompted the conversation, they were doing a Welsh end to end and were glad to be in from the rain. We were leaving and heading straight to the station, they really looked as though they’d have happily joined us.
After another train trip back down to Barmouth we rode gently up and down the front to kill a little time and then decided a brew up was needed. An empty bench obliged and tea was had. It’s funny how “normal” people react to even slightly “unusual” goings on. And small gas stoves are apparently considered very unusual.
The plan was to return along the Mawddach Trail to the George III for a meal then back to the previous nights bivvy spot. The George had no space for food for us but we stayed for a pint. We then got chatting with a 6’7” 20 stone MTBer that wasn’t Ton! Despite being a lifelong rider he had heart issues and was getting by on knackered knees. He had a serious ebike! A full sus Riese & Muller bike with twin batteries and a belt driven Rohloff hub (with an idler sprocket to hold belt tension), complete with electronic shifting. An impressive beast! He’d been up Cader Idris on it that day and as happy as a dog with two dicks. Great to see.
Anyways, we carried on up Dol for our meals, before returning to the planned spot to camp.
Monday morning was perfect. It was one of those mornings that you might normally see only in those bikepacking lifestyle adverts. Life was good, I was contented and relaxed in a way that I hadn’t known for quite a while.
A short ride back to the nearest station and then on and back to Machynlleth. Breakfast now beckoned. We were soon replenished and on our way, only to catch up with Scott of the Woods after less than 50 yards. Turns out he’d had a better time than even us, having been “befriended” in the pub by a local farmer and his wife and invited back to stay the night with them.
The busses were not running on Monday. We had to ride back to BB Towers. Which we did! A route was set that bypassed the highest hill but was still plenty on loaded Bromptons, especially a single speed version. I managed to ride, Nick pushed but we got to the top. Snacks. And then down the other side. Turns out 38mph on a Brompton is quite scary! Back to BB Towers and tea and the fabled lemon drizzle cake. Job done!
Welsh ride thing 2022 - the inappropriate Brompton ride! by Richard Picton, on Flickr
Welsh ride thing 2022 - the inappropriate Brompton ride! by Richard Picton, on Flickr
Welsh ride thing 2022 - the inappropriate Brompton ride! by Richard Picton, on Flickr
Welsh ride thing 2022 - the inappropriate Brompton ride! by Richard Picton, on Flickr
Welsh ride thing 2022 - the inappropriate Brompton ride! by Richard Picton, on Flickr
Welsh ride thing 2022 - the inappropriate Brompton ride! by Richard Picton, on Flickr
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?) would be bloody hilarious, somewhere flattish!
) singlespeed folder here that I rescued from a skip.