Forgot to put a carrier bag over my cloth saddle yesterday and it rained
during the night, so it's soggy bum day today (Friday).
12.30 pm Penmaenmawr promenade I'm sitting on a bench in front of a closed
cafe and amusements looking at a beautiful view in the sunshine of Anglesey
and Puffin Island to the left and Llandudno west shore with Great Orme
behind it to the right. It's a little bit windy, but on the whole a good
day for cycling.
There were some quiet lanes on the way out of Llandudno but not exactly
flat - I was off and pushing after no more than 2 miles. The road crosses
the river into Conwy on a dual carriageway. However there's an old
suspension bridge owned by the National Trust which is better, even if they
do insist on cyclists walking. The marked cycle route goes along the shore
past the marina and then through a new housing estate to avoid the town.
Then it becomes a shared use path alongside the A55 dual carriageway, with
the railway between the road and the sea. Normally I'd prefer to use the
road, but not in this case. There were no pedestrians to share with, and
there are no side turnings, so the usual hazards of shared use paths don't
apply. The A55 is a motorway in all but name which doesn't allow for a
cyclist doing 10mph.
14.00 pm A cafe in Llanfairfechan Aaaargh!! That felt like the most
dangerous thing I've ever done on a bicycle. At the west end of Penmaenmawr
bay there is a headland where the railway disappears into one tunnel and
the westbound side of the dual carriageway into another. The road eastbound
has been hacked out of the rock. As bikes (and pedestrians) aren't allowed
in the tunnel I thought there would be a shared use path alongside the
road, with a safety barrier, like leaving Conwy. In fact the path for bikes
(and animals!) goes between the two parts of the road, so you have to cross
the road on foot. Ater cycling up and over the part of the headland that
contains the tunnel, I knew I'd have to sprint across the road again. But
what I didn't expect was to then have to cycle down half a mile of the
road, being pursued and overtaken by the traffic from the tunnel doing 70
mph and more. At least it was downhill so I engaged top gear and went flat
out, praying that for a side turning before the end of the hill. After
about half a mile there's a bus pull in with foot access from a side road.
My legs are all wobbly so I'm having a stiff pot of tea to calm my nerves.
23.00 Bangor
After leaving Llanfairfechan the signed route to Bangor is along nice quiet
country lanes. So quiet, that there is grass growing down the middle and my
left leg was in the greenery in the hedgerow. It was too warm to put longs
on so I now have nettle stings down one leg from the bottom of my shorts to
my socks.
On the outskirts of Bangor the route does one of those diversions to use a
lane and path that takes 4 miles to avoid 1 mile of a main road. At least
it was downhill in my direction.
Got what seemed to be the next to last room in Bangor.
Total for the day 24 miles, all sunny.
Steph Peters
delete invalid from <[email hidden]> Sat, 18 Sep 2004 18:41:11 +
0100
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