I have been slowly increasing the distance on my training rides over that last few months, so when a friend suggested I try cycling to visit them in Llanrwst in North Wales it seemed like a good way to get some miles under my belt.
So, the plan was to set out early on Saturday morning getting the busy coast road between Deeside and Prestatyn out of the way before heading along the coastal path to Colwyn Bay, then head inland over the hills before dropping down into Llanrwst, staying overnight, then simply reversing the route on Sunday morning and pedalling home.
The first part was simple enough, a quick ride across the Wirral and along the coast happily enough until arriving at Prestatyn, this sadly is where things got harder. As soon as I got onto the coastal path I was stuck with a strong headwind and intermittent rain, unpleasant normally but 30 miles into a 60 mile ride it soon became downright miserable.
Hard miles ahead
I plodded along at a much slower pace, stopping occasionally to shelter from the worst of the rain, eventually going back onto the coast road to hide from the wind while I dodged holiday makers through the caravan parks. Once I arrived at Abergele I was back on the coastal path but thankfully the weather had lifted a little and there were blue sky’s ahead which made the head wind that bit more tolerable.
From one extreme..
To the other..
The section of coastal path from here is especially scenic with boats racing off the shore, cormorant’s stretching and drying their wings on the breaks, and the hills ahead slowly growing larger.
I soon rolled into Colwyn Bay at around mile 48 and took a nice break to get more fluids and food on board before heading through the town and into the countryside to Llanrwst.
The climb started easily enough but within two miles was up to a 9% incline and kicking up to 15% in places, at this point I was really struggling and the next few miles became a tortuous mix of pushing the bike up the extremest parts of the climb then riding where the going got a little easier.
The going was pretty slow at this point but it did give me plenty of time to admire the stunning views from the top overlooking Llandudno and the Conwy valley and estuary.
I just stopped to admire the view, honestly.
What had looked to be a simple ‘Up and Over’ turned into seven miles of climbing up and descending down small steep slopes until finally I was on the descent into Llanrwst ready for a cold drink and a hot shower. Sadly during the ride I started to have some pretty bad knee pain so had to call off the return journey and was very kindly given a lift home by my Dad (bailing me out yet again).
It was a great ride and bloody hard work, but totally worth it and hopefully is a taster for what I will be experiencing on the road In Japan.
A few stats:
Distance: 61.4 Miles
Moving time : 6 hours 12 minutes
Total climbed : 2,106ft
Three months in japan 