This newsgroup has had stirring stories of epic tours and titillating tales
of more modest excursions so now it's time for a fable of feeble rides by a
fat bird on a bike.
10.30 am On a train in Cheshire It took a considerable effort of will to
get out of the front door into the Manchester rain but the sun was shining
ahead so I pedalled off towards the station. Within 5 minutes the rain had
stopped and I wished I'd waited. The sun came out, I dried off a bit and
started concentrating on how the bike handles with 10kg of luggage. The
rain came back for the last mile to the station, with very strong gusts of
wind. By the time I'd carried the laden bike up the stairs to the
footbridge and found the train was late I was regretting the whole idea of
Wales in September.
1.30 pm At a B+B in Prestatyn I remember Prestatyn as a busy place with
great beaches from childhood holidays in the 60's. It's hit hard times
since then. The bit of town between the railway and the beach now seems to
be Barratt homes, caravan parks and closed businesses. The B+B's have
almost disappeared. Despite riding around for over an hour I found just 3.
The grey wet train ride gave way to welcome sunshine, but the wind was so
strong that going east on a flat inland road I was blown along at 10mph
without pedalling. On the coastal cycle path next to the sea I could hardly
stand against the wind-didn't dare actually get on the bike. Fortunately
the plan for the afternoon was a ride inland (see North Wales CTC web page
for details). I just hope the winds drop a bit tomorrow or I'll have to get
the train to Colwyn Bay.
4.15 pm A bus shelter in Dyserth Welsh trains must be very powerful. The
Prestatyn to Dyserth Way is along the line of an old railway, but is
steadily uphill for its 3 mile length. This gives great views across the
land and of the five rows of six wind turbines a couple of miles out to
sea.
Dyserth has a spectacular waterfall, reached after some wrong turns and
very steep ups and downs. The waterfall tea room was shut, but I was
prepared with my flask so sat under a tree scoffing a sarnie and sipping
tea while a light shower passed over. The 12% hill up to the village had me
off and pushing, but it was only short.
Coming up to the next junction I was pondering whether to do the entire CTC
ride, or turn off back into Dyserth and find the path again to go back the
way I came. Looking west along the A5151 preparing to cross it, I saw a
wall of rain heading towards me, doing at least 30mph. I crossed the road
as fast as I could to hide in a bus shelter opposite, but got very wet.
Unfortunately the deluge has quite a horizontal component allowing it to
get into the shelter, so I'm getting wetter as I write this.
9.30 pm At a B+B in Prestatyn When the rain stopped I decided to just go
down the Cwm road half a mile to see the views of Snowdonia. The sun came
out and I realised I'd left the sun cream at the B+B. All the water from
the rain ran down the hill and then along this road. It was like cycling in
a stream. My feet got wet despite the mudguards - oh well, now they just
matched the rest of me. In this soggy state I didn't fancy riding another
14 miles up and over a range of hills, so I freewheeled my way back to
Prestatyn down the railway line.
Total for the day 21.7 miles, every one of them wet, windy or hilly.
Steph Peters
delete invalid from <[email hidden]> Tue, 14 Sep 2004 22:21:27 +
0100
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