Hills and Beaches

I didn't want to get out of bed today. The legs were hurting and I was feeling lethargic. A good breakfast helped but the prospect of a day in the saddle wasn't a welcome one. Still, Rosemary had planned the route and deciding not to go wasn't an option.

We set off through Deiniolen, crossing a new footbridge where there used to be a road bridge.That was until the great flood of last year. It's never flat in Snowdonia and my legs objected on every upward gradient. It was a feeling of emptiness within the muscles, a fatigue that is difficult to explain. My mood was sinking, especially as I had got oil on my front rim and my brake wasn't working properly. The first big climb at Waunfawr had me walking. An admirable effort saw Rosemary reach the top of this 20% beast. The view at the top, including Caernarfon Castle, was well worth it.

After a fast descent, going was quite tough as the roads were very lumpy. Lunch was planned at Porthmadog, but R had planned a detour to the beach first. What she hadn't told me was that she'd packed my trunks. Although it was a nice though, I was concerned that swimming in the sea in mid-October without a wetsuit would result in a very cold Andy. I'd have gone in if we weren't on the bikes, but freezing feet and cold within the core is difficult to recover from at this time of year. We still managed a paddle up to our knees and the cryogenic effect certainly made my calves feel better after yesterday's hill run.

Lunch at The Moorings in Birth-y-Gest was excellent and unexpected. There were a bunch of ladies lunching, some drinking champagne, having great fun. Unfortunately, we couldn't understand a word as they were speaking Welsh. Our leek and tattie soup came and it was the best I've ever had! Top restaurant quality in this fine wee bistro. Puddings looked excellent but we had a stop planned for later so resisted.

It was after 3pm though and we knew we had to get a move on so we'd get home before dark. Although on the main road, it was very quiet and the scenery was stunning. At one stage, R lifted the pace a little and I started to struggle. Luckily we reached our next stop, Caffi Gwynant just before I popped. A piece of carrot cake saved me. Coffee wasn't great but I'm an annoying fusspot and the caffeine did the trick.

A few km later, the road went into single track and we were into the big climb of the day, through the Llanberis Pass. It's a 10km climb from Beddgelert, surrounded by stunning mountains including Snowdon. I stuck with R most of the way up, but she got a gap on me at the junction onto Pen-y-Pass which I held but couldn't bridge. Cav made it over this road and won the stage in the Tour of Britain, so that helped me believe I could catch her. One final jump but she heard me coming and that was that. R loved the descent but I was less enamoured as my head was literally in the clouds and my glasses had steamed up....oh and I'm crap at going downhill.

From Llanberis to Dinorwig was all uphill and I decided to do the final bit of the ride at my limit. Goodness, it was hard but my legs were much better than in the morning. I just about broke Rosemary but not quite....She hung doggedly to my wheel to the end and it would be uncool to push the limits to get one over on her anyway. We were a bit wobbly when we stopped but it was a great day. We made it just before dark too.