3/12 27 in a row
With luck the weekend started with a shorter drive from Birmingham rather than London,by half six i was at the West Arms in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog,after finding a quiet lane to park the van i headed down to the pub. I was greeted by a rather eclectic crowd from all corners of the cycling world many of which i never knew existed, Reg would have actually blended in!
Many beers were consumed ( i blame Alexpalacefan) and the slideshow was interesting, some great old photos in one or two people actually were riding bikes, HAB was just as popular 100 years ago.
Friday night was bloody cold in the back of the van, i had a beer blanket, the winter bag, extra clothes and still suffered.
Morning came none too soon and there assembled the most diverse array of bikes ever seen, vintage stuff through to modern carbon wonder bikes, after photos and the usual faffing we were off up Wayfarers.
After a long hot climb we finally reached the memorial, speeches were made and photos taken.
After the descent we headed into Corwen where the organised went for a pub lunch as a warm up for the evenings 3 course affair,I settled for a more traditional bikepacking lunch of a pasty and ice cream
The organised ride was a planed road loop so while scoffing i looked at the maps and decided that clocaenog forest looked like a suitable candidate,Highly recommended, lots of fast gravel tracks and i didn't see another soul.
Ignoring conventional wisdom i decided that after the previous cold night bivvying next to lake Brenig would be a great idea,
At the end of this track i spied a building, hmm nice lake....could be a cafe
It was and still was but very much a cafe that had closed half an hour ago
I headed off down the lake shore which surprisingly was rideable on 2.4" tyres looking for a shelter bivvy site as the wind was up.
Sunday morning dawned cold and misty with a cruel headwind,dark clouds looming with the threat of rain, heading up wayfarers with only a thin wind jacket was not a sensible option.
After a long push ride against the brutal wind i topped out cold and tired.
Got back to the West Arms too late for breakfast but did have the worlds best sausage roll
great weekend will definitely be back for the 200th anniversary bash
We’re all individuals, except me.
I woke up this morning but I’m still in the dark
). I'd never done these bridleways before but knew that the descent was quite technical.
Was going to camp at Hardknott but it was a bit claggy so headed up to Dunnerdale after beers and Pizza, great spot for a camp! up and over full Walna Scar for breeccy in Coniston on the Sunday
