The ups and downs of Wales

Blind tandem cyclist Mandy Redvers-Rowe spent three days in the saddle touring North Wales with her friends Deni on the front of the bike and Fred in the support Land Rover. These are excerpts from her diary

Friday 29 July 2011
Wallasey to Llangollen
66.22 miles in 5 hrs, 30 mins & 28 secs • Average speed 12mph • Fastest speed 37.7mph

Start at 7.30 when Fred and Deni come and pick me up, Fred with the Land Rover to take my bags and Deni with the bike. Wear shorts, top, yellow jacket, summer gloves and helmet. The first 20 miles is to the Little Chef at Two Mills.

I’m a bit tired as I didn’t sleep well last night and Deni too seems low in energy. She says that she’s had a tough week with some long shifts.

We pedal steadily for about ten miles, with lorries and cars flying past us, but it’s flat and easy and we don’t care much.

At the Little Chef we tie the bike up to the sign and sit at a table where we can see it while we eat. I order griddled eggs on toast, which is beautiful, Deni has a teacake and Fred has a full breakfast. Feel much better now I’ve eaten. From now on the route is new to us. Although Deni has done this route once before now she’s in the lead so needs to refer to her map which she is keeping stuffed in her back pocket. Whenever there’s a turning in front of us we stop, Deni gets out her map, she works out where we are, she stuffs it back into her pocket and we set off again.

Beautiful countryside here, lots of stone walls, fields, large shady trees, traditional cottages with ivy growing up their walls with names such as Heather Cottage and Ivy Cottage, and large isolated brick-built houses with gates and drives and hidden gardens.

Cycle through Saighton, which we wonder how the locals pronounce. Is it the same pronunciation as the devil?

Past the Dee, which has lots of wild pink flowers growing along its banks, And there are swans swimming there too. Really, really beautiful.

As we cycle across the bridge, surrounded by yet more pink flowers, with yet more swans swimming in the river, we see a sign saying “Welcome To Wales”. Yes, we’ve made it, done the first 40 miles and are now in completely new territory for both of us.

As soon as we set off into Wales we have to start climbing. It’s not too bad as we go through Borris, then Marford then we hit our first big climb. It’s so steep that we have to stop and take a few minutes to get our breath back. Something absolutely unheard of for us. As we’re struggling up we hear a large wagon following us. When it gets the chance to overtake us it really has to struggle to get up the hill to get past us. As it happens, that hill was a mere appetiser compared with what was to come. For, from that moment on we do nothing but climb.

Up and up. Up through deeply wooded hills, climbing past fields of sheep, and fast-running streams. Up alongside cars and lorries, but no walkers, or cyclists. We keep thinking that around the next corner it’ll level out, or we’ll get a down, but each time we’re disappointed, for as we turn the corner we see in front of us yet another up climb and instead of it getting easier it gets tougher. Deni describes how looking ahead at an up hill, she can see where the trees have been cut away to allow tall vehicles to get through. We soon discover that cut- away trees is an indication of a very steep climb indeed. To get up such a gradient we have to go down to our lowest gear, a gear previously unused by us, have to stop frequently to get our breath back and drink lots of juice.

Eventually there is a small down and we’re able to freewheel, but the road is very twisty and Deni can’t see very far ahead so she keeps the breaks on. At the bottom of the down hill we are confronted by yet another very steep up. And this pattern continues, a climb, another climb, yet another climb, then a drop, a short freewheel, and then another sharp climb. It’s so bad, so unrelentless, that we begin to dread the down hills because we know that it will only mean another climb on the other side, and any height that we may have made prior to the down will be lost and have to be climbed again. It just goes on and on. And on and on and on. Later, we see a sign saying “Mount Zion” and for an instant I believe that we may have reached the top and that we’ll be able to relax, but almost immediately we start to climb again.

It is glorious up here though. There are moments of beautiful silence when far below I can hear fast-running water, trees rustling in the soft breeze and sheep bleeting in the distance. Then at last Deni sees a telephone pole in the distance that is no higher than the one in front of us. This could mean that we’ve reached the top. Then, amazingly, unbelievably, Deni sees Fred parked next to the Ponderosa Café which we know is situated at the summit. We’re there. We’ve made it. We’ve climbed to the top of Horseshoe Pass, 1,367 feet above sea level.


Saturday 30 July 2011
Llangollen to Llanrwst
Distance 38.01 miles in 2 hrs, 55 mins & 49 secs • Average Speed 12.9mph • Fastest speed 33.4mph

We set off from our lovely B&B after a beautiful breakfast of fresh fruit followed by bacon, eggs, mushrooms, fried potatoes, tomatoes, beans and toast. Manna from heaven, which I #normally deny myself because of the calories, but when I know I’m going to be cycling all day I actually need to eat this much.

Bottom sore but legs are fine as we leave and turn left, left again and up. And up and up and up… of course. Straight into a climb. Just like yesterday, it gets very steep at times and we have to stop and take a moment before we carry on. Below we can hear a train, it keeps tooting its horn playfully, staying with us for some time, just behind or just in front, overtaking us then waiting just to speed past us again, as though it’s glorying in its own speed and laughing at our slowness. I wonder if it’s a steam train and imagine that I can smell that lovely smoky smell rising up through the clean air.

As we reach the top everything thins out, the trees disappear and the landscape becomes just grass and sheep and clouds. Then down, and down, and at the bottom we turn, cross a bridge and see an old fashioned train station nestled deep in amongst the mountains. We take a break and stand on the bridge for a bit and look down at the station which we now know to be Carrog station. Deni and Fred describe it to me, the neat little platform, the old station house festooned with flower-filled hanging baskets, and the two or three old diesel trains parked up… not steam ones… offering tourists short rides between Llangollen and Carrog. Truly beautiful. The quality of the sound here is dense, muffled, softened by the enclosed space created by the magnificent mountains. We discuss our day ahead; we need to make it as easy as possible as we cycled so hard yesterday. Deni suggests knocking off ten miles and staying on the A5 to make it a bit easier on the legs. I agree, without any hesitation… after all, tomorrow we have to cycle home and we know it’s going to be well over 60 miles, and we suspect that there are going to be a few hills on the Welsh side of the border so… why wear ourselves out today?

The next place along the road is Pentrefoelas and we consider stopping for coffee here but decide to keep going until we get to Betws-y-coed.


Sunday 31 July 2011
Llanrwst to Wallasey
Distance 68.33 miles in 5 hrs, 57 mins & 10 secs • Average speed 11.4mph • Fastest speed 39.4 mph

Leave after good breakfast, another grey day but not cold at all. Bottom still tender but my legs are fine. Cycle past the shops, the small bridge we stood on last night, past the station then uphill for at least two miles. A steady climb though, quite manageable; yes we do have to stop and drink juice a few times but it all seems fine.

Then some downs and some ups to Llansannan. Here we turn right and go across a little bridge and up. Very steep, so steep that we actually wobble. As we’re taking a stop for some much needed juice a couple with a dog turn into view up ahead; they laugh and stop for a short chat. As we take off we can hear them laughing behind us… we must look terrible as we zigzag across the path to try to get up this mountain. Carry on, but eventually have to get off and walk, mainly because after one of our stops the gradient is so severe that we estimate that before we get our first pedal stroke in the bike would start to slide back down the hill uncontrollably.

The higher we get the more barren the landscape. At the top we are surrounded by tiny droplets of rain, darting about; we think we must be inside a cloud. Then down, and down and down, Deni with the brakes on because she’s unable to see very far ahead due to all the turns in the road. We’re still going fast though, and then, we suddenly go very fast indeed as we drop down out of the sky, it’s like a rollercoaster. I scream like mad… don’t get me wrong, I was already screaming, but when we drop, go faster than I think I’ve ever gone in my life before, I scream even louder. Wow. It is a bit scary. What am I saying, it’s very scary… but fun too. I tell Deni that she is very brave, seeing such a drop and calmly steering, and I have to admit that I feel brave too, for simply hanging on, staying upright, not fainting or anything.

The ups are tough though. We go from speeding along down to the valley bottom and for a while as we begin to climb the cycling is relatively easy, but then we get slower and slower until once again we’re going no faster than a Welsh snail. We have problems with the chain coming off and have to stop to fix it.

As we begin to climb Deni says that it looks as though we’re cycling across the moon as everything is so barren. Flat, no trees or bushes, all bare, bleak.

Going through Flint, past shops and people, we have to stop at pedestrian crossings and for traffic lights. It’s busy and noisy and much more familiar than the peace of the mountains. We’re leaving Wales behind us, leaving it’s beauty and its challenges. I’ve absolutely enjoyed every minute, every pedal stroke, the hard bits, the scary bits, the joyful bits, the fun, everything, enjoyed sharing it with my friend Deni and her lovely husband Fred. Enjoyed it very much, but at this moment, I have to say, that I’m very glad that we’re on our way home … because I am very tired.