Where do you start, and how do you decide, when you have just two days to show someone the best riding in your area?? The fact that packrafts were going to feature as well as bikes kind of made the choice a bit, ok a lot, easier, and I decided on The Gap and Llangorse Lake for day 1, and a loop round the hills above the lake, and the canal, for day 2.
IMG_20220806_091319 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrBeing well prepared as usual, I packed that morning before John arrived at my house with his camper van, and the day started with some emergency sewing on my front lawn while John faffed getting bags, rafts and paddles onto bikes. Even with my expert stitching, we would later need to enlist the help of the friendly bike shop in Talybont for some gaffa tape to hold my seat pack seams together, and between us we decided it’s time to retire it after some very good use for a good few years…
IMG_20220808_080649 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrIt's funny isn’t it, playing tourist in your own town? We started off by hunting down somewhere nice for breakfast in town, and I genuinely had no idea what would be open, nice, and bike friendly on a Saturday morning…. but we managed.
IMG_20220806_095752 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrThe Gap ride never disappoints, and especially not on a glorious sunny day.
IMG_20220806_114057 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220806_114105 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220806_121250 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220806_121843 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220806_121838 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG-20220806-WA0011 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrOn the other side it was time for some lunch, which we had at the very pleasant but somewhat pricey Old Barn Tearooms at Torpantau (mentioned it before, tap just inside the gate, on the right, handy water refill stop).
IMG_20220806_130116 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrI think it’s fair to say John rather enjoyed the seemingly endless descent town to Talybont.
Quick guided tour of the bike hub there, ice creams and Hi! to Keith at Bikes n Hikes, and by the way have you got any gaffer tape… then popped into the Star beer garden for a swift pint of lager shandy – has to be done when in Talybont, right? We decided to head quickest way to Llangorse Lake for a later afternoon paddle, and just to illustrate how much I’m not used to daytime drinking, I got so pleasantly disorientated after that shandy that we somehow lost (!) the canal towpath and ended up on the road instead…
Contemplated some potential bivvy spot options on the way, and got kind of stuck in a small herd of incredibly cute, incredibly small, incredibly inquisitive ponies, who came right up to us and were fascinated by the yellow paddles and voile straps.
IMG-20220807-WA0027 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220806_161827 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220808_061659 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrWe then decided on our bivvy spot, closest to the lake and grub/ beer, goes without saying, and headed over to the lakeside, where John commenced the faffing to get ourselves ready to go on the water, briefly accompanied by heard of much bigger, hot and thirsty horses…
IMG_20220806_171506 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrGorgeous paddle on the lake.
IMG_20220806_173518 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220806_173424 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG-20220807-WA0029 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220806_175036 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrAt some point, John started to feel somewhat deflated, so he asked me to pull up alongside him and blow into his tube. Needless to say, the hills were alive with the sound of uncontrollable giggles, punctuated by something like the sound of a strangled bagpipe everytime I blew into the tube.
IMG_20220806_181512 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrAfter we had returned safely to shore, we went in search of food to the nearby Lakeside campsite bar, stereotypically tacky, with bingo followed by a live act…. The menu, which we had previously scouted and much to our delight looked alright and included lasagne with chips and garlic bread, had miraculous shrunk to either burger or pizza, both served in a cardboard box in the covered area round the back. We went in there complete with bikes and both rafts still inflated, and when John later folded them up, he was being watched by a toddler with a misapproving expression which reminded him of his mother-in-law.
IMG_20220806_204233 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG-20220806-WA0022 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrHeaded over to our bivvy spot just in time for sunset, complete with fairy lights, and then we were treated for ages to groups of Canada geese circling right above us.
IMG-20220807-WA0039 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrAfter a beautifully clear starry night, with dawn the geese were back, circling the opposite way!
IMG_20220807_070908 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrMorning shenanigans with haybales, obligatory, apparently.
IMG-20220807-WA0025 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrBefore what we hoped would be a proper breakfast, we headed up and over our first hill, the Allt. The path up was very overgrown with nettles and brambles, which somehow only I caught. All the effort was worth it for the views from the top.
IMG-20220807-WA0044 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220808_184457 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrI caught a snakebite puncture on the way down, a new one to me, and I felt rather sheepish for not having an inner tube with me…. We stopped at a corner shop which did not as google had told us contain a cute American style diner as well…. Instead sausage rolls and cold cans for breakfast, served by an old lady who had absolutely no idea what anything cost, so we made some helpful suggestions which she duly tallied up with her pencil and paper…
On to the steepest but shortish and totally worth it climb up to Mynydd Llangorse, up and over and then rolled down all the way back to The Star in Talybont for a pub lunch of that lasagne which by now we had our hearts firmly set on….
IMG-20220807-WA0013 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG-20220807-WA0012 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220807_111227 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrWe rode on to Pencelli with its ideal launch point, for another round of faffing to get back on the water to paddle back to Brecon. We launched, turned the first corner, and – one of the little bridges farmers use was lowered, with no space to go under. After a bit of cursing and deciding it was my fault, we enlisted the help of a couple of unsuspecting walkers to help us lift the rafts complete with bikes and luggage out and around the bridge to relaunch. As we did this, the farmer went past on his quadbike and gave us a look that said “you morons”, shortly followed by a nice lady who was in possession of the winding handle thingy the canal boats use, and she raised the bridge ready for their boat to go through….
IMG_20220807_142341 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220807_143800 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220807_145436 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220807_152044 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrWe carried on to Brynich lock just outside Brecon, my arms were aching and tired by the time we got there. We unfaffed with speed, focus and determination (to make it to the ice cream shop before they closed), so much so that one passer by asked us what we were doing, as in they thought we were in some sort of race or event “you’re an inspiration!”! Err, no, we were just desperate for an ice cream, which should be at the end of every good trip, right?
Thanks to John for letting me try out packrafting, for the laughs, and for putting up with my never ending promises of “that’s the last hill/ nearly at the top”.
wow... How did you capture that pls?? Phone or or specialist camera 
, it's the best!! Llanfaes Dairy in Brecon, it's a must!
