A long weekend at Anglesey Outdoors

Friday 15th May 2026

A chance encounter in a café in Delamere Forest last December was the catalyst for this weekend’s trip. I was cycling with three mates and when we stopped for coffee, a man interrupted our conversation to enquire whether we fancied a weekend at an outdoor pursuits centre in Anglesey. We didn’t need much persuading but as things turned out, we weren’t able join him but instead arranged our own weekend.  So the four of us are now at Anglesey Outdoors, near Holyhead, along with four similarly minded friends and four others who are with us in spirit only, having originally booked but had to pull out for various reasons.

My day started with a drive to Conwy. To link up with my current recorded rides, I needed to start here and so, after meeting up with Mike in Morfa Conwy at 11am, we set off, heading into the hills before dropping down to the coast again at Penmaenmawr. We followed the coast for a bit before turning inland towards Bethesda following some lovely roads with fine views of the Menai Straits.

Jim had things to do in the morning and leaving later than us meant he only caught us up at Bethesda. A very acceptable lunch at a popular café helped fuel us for the return ride along the coast road beside the busy A55.  The cycle track here is quite spectacular, frequently crossing the road and railway making use of huge overhead cycleways.

My new(ish) Garmin still has some peculiarities that I haven’t mastered yet and after the lunch break, the display looked quite different and I couldn’t understand what I was being shown. To correct it, I had to stop recording the route and restart the device.  I think I must’ve inadvertently selected the “indoor” setting, which disabled a few features and added others I didn’t recognise. Hence today showed two separate rides – apparently I briefly became an indoor cyclist without ever actually going indoors.

Once we returned to the car, it was then just a 40-minute drive to Holyhead. Sadly, this took us almost two hours because the Menai Bridge was closed.  Nothing says “welcome to an island” quite like discovering the bridge to it is shut.

After a refreshing shower, I met the others in Paddler’s Bar for a simple yet substantial meal, after which I was so tired that I left them drinking and had an early night.

Saturday 16th May

Whilst the centre has its own food outlet, self-catering is encouraged and so I was first up and enjoying breakfast by the time the others emerged. Sadly, yesterday’s sunshine had disappeared and been replaced by drizzle. The Scottish word for this is “dreich” and I’ve now learned that in North Wales it is known as “glaw smwc” which I believe translates as “smoke rain”.  It looked like the weather couldn’t quite decide whether to rain properly or merely sulk.  Whatever it was called, it had almost cleared by the time we left and although there was still a bit of rain in the air, it wasn’t enough for waterproofs.

The route took us past RAF Valley before heading north to a café I had previously identified as a suitable stopping point. Called Mônuts, the place sold – as could have been expected – doughnuts. In fact, “artisan crafted” doughnuts, no less. I enquired whether they sold coffee and received confirmation, so we all trooped in to find… a medium-sized room completely devoid of furniture, containing only a counter selling doughnuts (obvs) and coffee in paper cups. There being nowhere to sit other than outside in the cold wind, we chose to move on to my standby café four miles further on.

The second café looked more promising, but it didn’t open until noon, which was still 40 minutes off.  So, reluctantly, we rode off, increasingly devoid of food options and optimism.

We finally did find a café (and somewhere to shelter from the now-heavy rain) but by then we were just four miles from home. Hunger, however, drove us inside. The others seemed fairly happy with their fare, but I wasn’t. I paid £8.95 for halloumi fries and when they arrived I was shocked to discover there were just six fries and a tiny pot of sauce.  That’s £1.50 each, or roughly 40p a bite. I’ve had more substantial free samples in supermarkets. I cycled back alone to grab an early shower and try to wash off the feeling of having been mugged.

After a brew, things looked brighter and even the weather had improved, tempting me back out again. I wanted to complete a circuit of Holy Island and with an unfavourable forecast for tomorrow, I decided now was my best chance. Jim agreed to accompany me and we managed to collect a further dozen hard-to-reach tiles, returning gleeful. To reach one of them we headed out along the breakwater which was well over a mile long. Amazingly, the final tile was reached only when we actually rounded the lighthouse at the end! We got wet again coming back, but having to take another shower was no hardship for such a haul.

Sadly, David had to leave early, so he departed mid-afternoon and the rest of us had tea at Paddler’s Bar again. I had chicken curry tonight. It was a substantial portion, but not especially curry-y.  More like a chicken stew with just a polite suggestion of curry.

Over tea it was agreed that three of us would ride up to Amlwch tomorrow. The rain was forecast to arrive mid afternoon so an 8.30 start was agreed. The others needed to be back earlier and therefore made alternative arrangements.

Afterwards, we all took a walk down to a very pretty and quiet beach less than a mile away. I turned in after this and read until “lights out” (i.e. when my eyes began to close).

Sunday 17th May 07-00

I was up early today reassessing the route to ensure we didn’t miss any local tiles. I’ve added another mile in so doing and, checking the forecast again, saw that the rain is now due at noon so my prediction is that we’re going to get wet.

Sunday 17th May – 18:00

Well, sometimes I love being wrong. My prediction for today was gloriously inaccurate, but then so were the Met Office boffins.

Although we set off early to avoid the rain, it’s now 6pm and there’s still no sign of it. The route out was lovely – a few miles beside the sea before heading inland to pick up a welcome tailwind. The views weren’t especially dramatic, consisting mainly of rural farmland, but were very pleasant, nonetheless.

The wind assistance meant that we arrived in Amlwch much sooner than I’d expected so we had time for a mooch around the old port before discovering a wonderful crêperie. The owner certainly understood marketing, directing us into the café through a gift and flower shop. This didn’t actually tempt us, but the food certainly did. The establishment also appeared to have close links with the adjacent funeral parlour, which felt slightly unsettling. I was reminded of the taxi driver in The Proposal who combined exotic dancing with wedding services and immigration advice.

I chose the Breakfast Galette, a French pancake filled with all the expected English breakfast ingredients. Delicious.

When we set off again, we faced a 20mph headwind for the remaining few miles but we always knew this would be the case.

When we got back, I had a brew while Mike and Jim departed. I hadn’t yet showered and the sunshine at 2pm tempted me back out to collect a few more tiles. I headed to Rhoscolyn, a pretty bay a few miles south of Holyhead. Although the wind had grown even stronger there was still no rain.

When this trip was arranged back in December, I somehow got it into my head that it was a Friday-to-Monday event and made plans accordingly. One arrangement was to meet a friend at 2pm on Monday and so when I realised the group accommodation had only been booked for Friday and Saturday nights, I had to book an additional night. Consequently, I’m now here alone. Properly alone, I think. Mine is the only car on the car park and the whole place is eerily quiet but I’m having a lovely evening, pleasing myself what to do and when to do it with no queues for the bathroom.

Monday 18th May

After an early night, it felt wonderfully indulgent to sleep in until 7am. After breakfast I was quickly packed and on the road by 8.30.

I drove across the island to Moelfre but, when I unloaded my bike, I found I had a puncture in the rear tyre. I couldn’t find anything embedded in the tyre, but the inner tube had a tiny hole, probably caused by a thorn. I repaired the leak but replaced the tube anyway and hoped for the best. It seemed wise not to gamble my day on a patch the size of a fingernail.

My first stop today was in Beaumaris and I had a specific destination in mind. Castle Gardens is a garden centre set in a tiny space just off the main street. Google reckoned they sold delicious coffee but, sadly, they don’t.

The next shop, however, had a table and chairs outside, so naturally I assumed they must sell coffee. They didn’t either. It turned out the table actually belonged to a coffee shop which was around the corner on a different street. Clearly Beaumaris likes to keep caffeine acquisition as a sort of treasure hunt.

The café was called August and since I’m not a particular Taylor Swift fan I missed the connection with her song of the same name. Inside, the whole establishment was dedicated to Taylor, including life-sized cardboard cut-outs of her. I bought a very good coffee and scone, and it was great to be able to enjoy them outside in the sunshine.

Moving on to the Menai Bridge (which was now open once more), it was great to cycle beneath it before climbing up to view the newer Britannia Bridge a little further along the strait.

Today’s route sadly won’t connect with any of this weekend’s other rides on the island, but the tiles acquired in Menai Bridge do form a contiguous link to the rest of the UK.

A lovely tailwind back to Moelfre from Menai Bridge meant I reached the café in good time to meet my friend at 2pm.