Offas Byke coast to coast

[Danofthewoods]

Hello all. New member here wanting to get your advice and thoughts on my plans to solo ride the Offa’s Byke route in the next few weeks. Was going to be next week but with the weather forecast being somewhat mixed I’m tempted put it back a bit. I don’t mind a bit of damp but there’s a limit.

First up the route looks great. I downloaded it a while ago (yes, I’ve happily donated) and been going through it looking at the practicalities. No doubt it could be blatted out in a couple of days by some but I want to make the most of the ride and enjoy being out so 60-70Km a day over 5 days feels about right. I see a few people have done it before and posted about their ride (thank you) but advice on the current state of the ROW and thoughts about facilities, Pubs, and general things to see or do on route would be very helpful.

I’ve been doing my homework on google and OS maps looking for possible quiet places to set the tarp up for the night but any good suggestions or especially dodgy places to avoid would also be handy. I’m fairly familiar with the area below Knighton but not been exploring north of there very much so of particular interest are spots a few Kms south of Llandegla, Crew Green and Clun.

There’ll be few deviations based on my own experience and that of others. The climb over the hill to use the Bothy at Gwyn Fawr I’ve done before and I'm not the first to find it wasn’t a lot of fun. Stopping in the valley and going via Llanthony where there’s a familiar pub seems the sensible option. Also going to use the Greenway and tunnel from Tintern which feeds out nicely to Beachley and the old Severn ferry crossing. A quick mooch up to the front at Prestatyn at the start and maybe I can call it a coast to coast. The last day will be a longer one as adding another 25km to ride back to home into the Forest.

Please do chip in if you can. I’ll try to report back on how it all goes and what I find on route so it might help someone else out next time. If you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them. Apologies for such a long first post. If you’ve read it all thanks for your time…….

[javatime]

Have pm'd you

[Danofthewoods]

Thanks for the reply Javatime, It's just what I was after. have pm'd back.

[Danofthewoods]

Sure enough the weather's looking somewhat iffy for the foreseeable so plans are on hold for a couple of weeks. Going to try to reschedule for early July. javatime has been very kind in sharing his notes from when he completed the published route a couple of years ago and I'll be adjusting my attempt accordingly, hopefully for the better. Will report back when good to go again.
It should be dryish for the next couple of days at least so going to try to get a decent ride tomorrow and stay out somewhere to test the full setup, and so the legs, a bit more.....

[redefined_cycles]

Dan, if you look up Matt and fastest known time on you tube. You might be able to locate a vid that he made after his FKT attempt (now taken by someone else I think). Might help in the mental prep side of things and being able to see at least some of the route...

I'll try and locate it for you if I'm able.

[redefined_cycles]

https://youtu.be/zNpEhbjtpYg?si=-X3AheVFUoKDR19p

Actually he is on the Trans Cambrian Way and I'm not sure exactly how they are both interlinked. Though I'm pretty sure they are

I believe he will also have an 'attempt1' video from earlier. Sorry if its totally irrelevant...

[redefined_cycles]

Ignore me Dan. Just checked the Offas Bike thing and it's way off the mark. For some reason I always assumed they were both interlinked and my abilities probably end at the TCW unfortunately

Have a good ride mate.

[Danofthewoods]

Ta for thinking of me, nearly an excellent idea. Will try to watch it anyway as must be good if you remembered it.
I appreciate the positive thoughts though, will help me somewhere along the way I'm sure.
Have a good one.
Dan

[javatime]

I think I currently have the FKT for Offa's Bike

But I haven't heard of anyone else doing it, so my 4.5 days, relaxed touring, wouldn't stand for very long !

Who is in a hurry anyway?

[Danofthewoods]

No rush here whatsoever.
Very doubtful I'll be troubling your time and TBH will be doing a slightly easier route so wouldn't count anyway. I'm planning for 5 but if I need or want a bit longer it's not a problem. Will be my first big trip for a long time so just completing it with a smile will do me.

[psling]

Have you managed to get out and do this yet Dan?
From your post I see that you're local to FoD? I was going to offer some suggestions for the area but I'm guessing that's not the area you needed help with!

[Danofthewoods]

Ta for checking in, and yes I did. Have been meaning to do a proper write up but have been flat out with work and family stuff since so lacking the time and head space to write anything worth putting up.
As a quick over view saw a weather gap mid July and took advantage of it, Although what was meant to be a dry week when I booked my train ticket a few days before turned into having a weather warning for rain and thunder storms on the first night and they were right. Despite a good soaking Monday afternoon though to Tuesday midday I mostly cracked on with it but did alter my route slightly to stay off the hills when it was thundering. After this It did brighten up a lot but with so much water being dumped on Monday night (Pavement after Llandegla was under inches of water and the ford at worlds end was very fast flowing and deep) every thing was sodden and became very hard going in most places the next day or so.
As it dried progress got noticeably easier but there was still a lot of pushing going on. The route did get you up onto the Offa's Dyke path where ridable but of course you'd gradually climb up onto the ridge, do a few, often very nice miles along the top then have to descend down again before repeating after a bit of lanes riding.
I will confess that I did not do all the off road sections for various reasons but the lanes riding was a very nice alternative were I wanted it to be. Probably did about 3/4 of the proper route and improvised the rest depending on how I felt and where I needed to be. I'd arranged to meet a friends at various points so had to keep to a schedule. Looking back I'm kicking myself a bit for skipping bits but I had a good time and got to some good places, so all's good.
Total distance and climbing worked out about the same in the end and did Prestatyn front to the old Chepstow ferry crossing in 4.5 days of riding. At the old crossing was surprised to find a load of people playing on Jet skis under the old bridge which was entertaining.
The route Tweaks Javatime gave me worked well (thanks again) and respect to him for doing the whole original route in the same time frame.
I've got notes I made each evening and photos that I'll do a proper write up with another time but might be a wet day job. If anyone else is tempted to give it a go though you should.

PSling- Pretty sure we've shared a few off road adventures before. Might send you PM at some point.

[psling]

Well done and you made good time. Look forward to reading in more detail if you get the chance.
"Off road adventures"? Think I can place you, we've featured on the same T shirts before now!!