Wales

Roger said:

Hi there, anyone experiences with the los lan cymru route?
I'm going to ride this route in the summer of 2005.
Which way can i best begin, north or south. Because of the wind and so..?

First rule of cycling: "it's always a head wind" 🙂

Roger said:

Hi there, anyone experiences with the los lan cymru route?
I'm going to ride this route in the summer of 2005.
Which way can i best begin, north or south. Because of the wind and
so..? Grtz Roger

I did most of it years ago. We started in Bulith Wells and went to Holyhead.
We took the offroad alternatives and it was challenging but doable. We got a
little lost in one forest section and were a little worried when part of the
group were still out as it got dark. The weather wasn't perfect though which
added to the challenge !! Go for it, its hard enough to be worthwhile,
harder than the C2C and more remote which is something I like.

"Roger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi there, anyone experiences with the los lan cymru route?
I'm going to ride this route in the summer of 2005.
Which way can i best begin, north or south. Because of the wind and so..?
Grtz Roger

Roger,

My wife and I did this in summer 2003 from Cardiff to Holyhead on tourers.
We started in pouring rain and finished 7 days later in a heat-wave. We did
not do the big off-road sections but generally followed the Sustrans NR8 -
their route pack is very useful for the maps and interesting booklet. We
stayed in B&Bs so travelled light. We decided on South to North because we
like the sun behind us not in our eyes - it probably doesn't make any
difference hill-wise. There is a short section between Machynlleth and
Dolgellau where we walked both up and down the other side! (the gate across
the road and the sign banning caravans is the give-away).

For us, the only major deviation from NR8 was the section from Porthmadog to
Caernarfon where we went through Snowdonia via the Llanberis Pass - it would
be a shame to bypass the mountains if the weather is good. Also the proper
finish should not be in Holyhead but at South Stack lighthouse a few miles
further on i.e. as far as you can get by road.

I can recommend it highly (as long as the weather is good). Email me if you
would like more details.

Cheers,
Andrew Turner

"Roger" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

Hi there, anyone experiences with the los lan cymru route?
I'm going to ride this route in the summer of 2005.
Which way can i best begin, north or south. Because of the wind and so..?
Grtz Roger

I rode the northern half of the route (Builth Wells - Holyhead) in early May
2000, travelling from south to north and using the "off road" alternatives
whenever possible. I recall thinking that the "off-road" sections could be
done with a touring bike with reasonably wide tires. I don't recall thinking
that I was better off in any way by travelling south to north (wind, hills),
or that travelling north to south would have been a better choice. I did
think that the off road sections were the best part of the trip.

I agree with Andrew Turner that a detour through Snowdonia and over
Llanberis Pass would be worthwhile. I spent 2 nights in the Llanberis Pass
hostel and walked up Snowdon on my layover day.
HTH,
--
mark