Wednesday 20th March 2024
It rained all through January and February (well, it seemed like it) so I had no desire to go very far on the bike during those months. Anticipating the start of drier weather, I had toyed with the idea of cycling to Conwy and back over four days but decided against it on the grounds that I’d be familiar with the roads on the first and last days. So instead, with fingers crossed for fine weather, I booked two overnight stays in hostels at Trafford Hall, near Chester and Conwy.
Because I wasn’t touring all the way to Conwy, I chose to drive to Delamere Forest, park up and ride a circuitous route around the area before checking in at YHA Trafford Hall, which has rapidly become my favourite hostel.
I’d only planned a 46 mile ride today, mainly zigzagging through the forest to collect spare tiles. Last year, I’d traversed it West to East and prior to that, from North to South. Because I was only planning to ride 46 miles (and due also to poor morning weather) I only left home at 11am, setting off on the ride at 12.30. I got half an hour in the dry before the rain started. I say rain, but it was only light stuff, and by 3pm, the sun had made an appearance and the last hour was lovely. The roads were very wet, though. Not just wet, but flooded in many places. I lost track of the number of times I cautiously navigated several feet (long, not deep) of flood water. When the roads weren’t flooded, they were muddy, so my bike was in a real state by the time I’d finished.
When I let Jim know my plans for this trip, he offered to accompany me for the journey to and from Wales and so he turned up at the hostel at 5pm just after me, having cycled there from his home. Setting off later than me, he’d missed the rain, and, also apparently, the floods. We spent the evening catching up on events whilst enjoying sausage & mash (him) and pizza (me) in the hostel.
During the course of the afternoon, I developed a cough, and I also noticed that my normally robust appetite was lacking and I struggled to finish my pizza. Most unlike me.
First day of touring starts tomorrow, and I’m carrying about 4.5kg of luggage. Let’s hope the hills aren’t too steep, although I’m expecting the forecast 20mph Westerly could cause us some grief.
Thursday 21st March 2024
I enjoyed a substantial breakfast to see me through what I anticipated would be a difficult day. Although it was dry first thing, rain was forecast for an hour from 9am, and by the time we set off, I could feel rain in the air. Because of the wind, we’d decided to reverse my planned route, and head out into the hills today, and return by the easier coastal route tomorrow. So initially, we headed South through Chester city centre which wasn’t too busy. Once more, I fell foul of a quirk of Cycle.Travel when reversing a route. It literally reverses the route precisely and therefore in the Chester morning commuter traffic we found ourselves directed the wrong way along one-way streets. We managed OK, but the problem never emerged after Chester since the roads were all rural from then.
It was raining gently all morning, but we didn’t get too wet, and I didn’t really notice the wind at first. It was not until after ten miles when we began climbing that things became a bit testing. My cough was causing slight problems on the ascents, since whenever I tried to fill my lungs, I wanted to cough. I was thus trying to ride uphill into the wind with luggage whilst trying to breathe only shallowly. It was tricky.
By 11am, I was on the lookout for somewhere I could source a snack, so I turned to Google Maps for help. There was very little in the way of civilization just there, but Google suggested a café within a mile of our route. So, despite the heavy rain, we headed off course down a steep hill to the café location only to find… nothing. There was an attractive-looking pub (which was shut) but of Caffi Florence, there was no sign. We asked a delivery driver who helpfully said he knew the place, and in fact had just delivered there on his round. So where was it? It seems that there are TWO Caffi Florences and the open one (or the one that actually existed) was another seven miles further to the South. Naturally, we abandoned the search for that café and headed back onto the route.
After a further half an hour, we stumbled upon a posh-looking pub in Bodfari where we settled in for a nourishing bowl of soup (me) and a big bowl of enormous chips with artisan bread (Jim). By the time we left after an hour, the rain had stopped (hurray!) but the wind, if anything, had grown stronger. Jim noticed that we were exactly halfway to our destination. Great news! Then I noticed that we’d only managed only one third of the climbing! Not such good news.
So I hit the road once more with rather a heavy heart. I was beginning to struggle, feeling the effects of the onset of a cold and knowing that I still had 30 hilly miles to cover into the wind. But it was dry, so I was grateful for every blessing, however minor.
The roads weren’t hilly per se, they were just very undulating. The descents were often too steep and on narrow, bendy, single-track roads which prevented any real increase in speed. I began to remain in low gear and simply roll down the hills: it wasn’t worth the effort to change up just to change down again at the next climb.
I barely took any photographs today. I was wearing a tight-fitting waterproof with no pockets and so to get to my phone (camera) involved unzipping the jacket, fishing the phone out of my back pocket, and then taking off my glove so I could unlock the phone. I could do without that faff, so the phone remain in my pocket. In addition, there weren’t many views since I was stuck between high hedges most of the time. I also had to be on the lookout for farmers in 4×4 pickup trucks who didn’t appreciating having to move over for cyclists.
By the time we began to head North up the Conwy valley (with 10 miles to go), I was dead beat. I just wanted it over with, although turning out of the wind was a great relief.
The hostel is very large (and set on the top of a hill!) and appeared to have a group of sixth form college students based there, so after a shower and cup of tea, Jim and I headed down into town for some food. But not before Jim had managed to lock us out of the room. Jim found that when he put his room key adjacent to his phone, it failed to open the door, so when he went out, he specifically asked which was my key. I therefore assumed he’d taken my key since his didn’t work, so when I went out later, I didn’t take a key. It turned out he had taken neither key, and of course, neither had I! Anyway, we got it sorted and we headed for the big city lights.
We managed to snag a table at a very popular Indian restaurant in town, but after I’d finished a couple of poppadoms, I was already feeling full (this was when I realised that I must really have been ill!) and I couldn’t finish my chicken dupiaza with mushroom rice. (I could’ve asked for a doggy bag, but I wouldn’t have fancied it for breakfast and I really didn’t want to be schlepping it 65 miles back to the car). The food was very good and inexpensive, but the soft drink prices were outrageous – it wasn’t licensed. My orange and lemonade cost £2.95 for the lemonade and £2.50 for a shot of cordial! And it wasn’t even a pint. Anyway, we both left very full.
I was in bed at 9.30 after a very challenging day. I’m really looking forward to the 22 mph tail wind all the way home tomorrow.
Friday 22nd March 2024
I woke at 7am after a good night’s sleep but I was a bit shivery, and when I went down for breakfast I realised that I certainly wasn’t fully fit. I didn’t feel able to do justice to the full breakfast, but I started with cereal and enjoyed that, and so, encouraged, I went for a cooked breakfast. Before I’d eaten a quarter, I was felt rather unwell. I knew I had to eat because of the journey ahead, but I left over half the food, which saddened me.
By now I could feel the onset of a temperature, but knowing that I could always catch a train from Llandudno to Chester, I thought I’d just set off and gauge how I felt on the road. It was just 65 miles back to the car with a tailwind, so I thought I’d be OK. I certainly didn’t think I could have managed yesterday’s ride again; that was really hard. We headed out soon after 8.30 and pretty soon, I’d forgotten my woes. The wind was a wonderful bonus, and since it was forecast to give me a boost for the entire day, I thought I would be fine.
The first snag arrived soon after Deganwy Quay (two miles) when the GPS advised me to take to the road, not the NCR 5 route I’d been expecting. I soon found out why when the path became submerged beneath a large sand dune. By now, I was committed to the coastal path so I climbed off and pushed the bike for a while. Pushing a bike is no fun, and through 4″ sand dunes, even less so. With panniers too, it was well beyond humorous.
We skirted a golf course before rejoining the route on the outskirts of Llandudno. This is where Jim had a stroke of luck, almost cycling over a £20 note! That paid for our lunch. (Very generous is Jim, sharing his good fortune).
At this point, we had the option to head back along the coastal path, missing out Great Ormes Head (which I’d originally planned), but I was feeling good so I went for it, turning into the vicious Westerly with reminiscences of yesterday’s horrors. Today, however, I knew that it was only for about three miles before we headed East once more. It was still harder than I thought, and clearly quite unnecessary.
By the time we were leaving Llandudno, my average speed was hovering around 10 mph caused by walking through the sand dunes and then struggling up Great Ormes Head at walking pace. I really thought that once I was on the flat, bowling along the prom effortlessly at 18 – 20 mph the average would quickly rise but although the next 20 miles were under idyllic conditions, my average speed remained stubbornly low.
I knew that there were hills to come as soon as we left the coast after Prestatyn, and although I felt fine on the flat, as soon as the gradient crept up, my energy diminished proportionately. Sadly, there are very few villages around there, and so the climbing was almost over before we found a newly-opened (re-opened?) pub in Gorsedd which was offering lunch. The Druid Inn had only opened that week and today was the first Friday lunch they’d experienced. A combination of inexperienced staff, a new electronic booking system and a brisk lunchtime trade led to considerable delays, but we were eventually served. I enjoyed the spicy soup, but as soon as I remounted to continue the climb, my legs were screaming in pain. I was simply not feeling well enough to tackle the climb, and I felt very sorry for Jim who kept patiently waiting for me. I had developed aches in my shoulders and neck and my legs simply had nothing left to give. I found myself in first gear for mile after mile.
I had taken two paracetamol with breakfast and I had another one with lunch (I’d’ve taken two, but I’d none left) which was just enough to get me back to Chester, still another 30 miles or so away. Thankfully, at Shotton, we joined the Chester Millennium Greenway route which took us the last 8 miles or so almost to the hostel door. It was along a disused railway and was absolutely flat which suited me perfectly.
Once at the hostel, we loaded the bikes and headed off to join the traffic jams on the M6. After dropping off Jim in Ashton-in-Makerfield, I joined another jam approaching Leyland which was frustrating. It was Friday afternoon, though.
I was home my 6pm, but didn’t feel like eating anything, but I felt I ought to have something. A bowl of cereal was all I could manage and I was in bed asleep by 7.30pm.
Normally, the tour description would end there, but this time there is a bit more to cover. I woke on Saturday at 6am as usual, but I couldn’t face getting up, so after a small breakfast and a Lemsip in bed, I went back to sleep until after noon. I then got up for a couple of hours, but by 3pm, I’d had enough and went back to bed to sleep until 6pm.
I enjoyed a hot cross bun and a cup of tea before crashing out again until Sunday morning when I got up feeling almost back to normal. I’ve no desire to get back on a bike any time soon, though.