vernon
Harder than Ronnie Pickering
- Location
- Meanwood, Leeds
Day One Holyhead – Criccieth
The start of the day saw me waiting for the train at Leeds with two train changes ahead of me at Manchester Picadilly and Chester. The train journeys were uneventful apart from occasionally appealing to the semi dormant interest in all things trains. I spotted a Ruston Hornsby class O7 shunter and a few other industrial diesel shunters in a yard just past Manchester Deansgate station which had me pondering upon the possibility of a preservation society in central Manchester. I've subsequently found out that they are the property of a railway loco leasing company. Onwards to Holyhead and a straightforwards ride down the island initially using the official Sustrans route. As with the starts of all of my tours, my spirits soared as I pedalled the first few hundred yards or so as I headed into the fug of uncertainty that is a feature of all of my rides. I have no idea when I'd call it a day for the day and what distractions that I'd find en route. The uncertainties add a frisson to all of my touring rides.
The planes from RAF valley were a major distraction as they chased each other across the skies. The quality of waymarking was a bit variable and I joined the A5 heading eastwards to remove the delays caused by uncertainties at unwaymarked road junctions and crossings. The A5 was very quiet as most of the traffic was found on the parallel, newer and faster A55. The A5 is the historic route from Holyhead according to the roadside brown heritage signs and sure enough the historic nature was reinforced by the presence of old milestones and several tool keepers houses along the way. The ride out of the island was marked by a visit to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch railway station which is a bit of a hoot as the station name boards are so long , it's next to impossible to get far enough away from them to take a photograph.
An uneventful crossing of the Menai suspension bridge and the official route was picked up again in the guise of the Lôn Las Menai and Caernarfon was reached fairly quickly. The castle was a very impressive structure and I paid a quick visit to the terminus of the Welsh Highland Railway where I joined the Lôn Eiffon cycle route which followed the Welsh Highland Route. The cycle route was lined with blackberry bushes heavily laden with ripe berries. I relieved the bushes of some of their burden and enjoyed the experience. Not far out of Caernarfon was the locomotive depot of the WHR and I stopped for a while to watch the articulated stem locomotive being cleaned and its bunker being filled with coal. The Lôn Las Cymru went off on one of the typical Sustrans' illogical loops at Bryncyr where I took a more direct route to Criccieth for the overnight stay. There's plenty of camp sites on the approaches to Criccieth and it was just my luck to get one run by a couple of eccentric women who could not decide whether I qualified for motorised transport rates, a motorcyclist rate or something else and whether or not I'd need a tow out of the campsite the following morning as vehicles were getting bogged down in the softened grounds caused by almost incessant rain for the past month or so. I paid my seven quid, beat a retreat, pitched my tent and rode into Criccieth to purchase some cider and bits and pieces to eat. I slept soundly having woken up with excitement much earlier than was good for me on day one of the tour.
The start of the day saw me waiting for the train at Leeds with two train changes ahead of me at Manchester Picadilly and Chester. The train journeys were uneventful apart from occasionally appealing to the semi dormant interest in all things trains. I spotted a Ruston Hornsby class O7 shunter and a few other industrial diesel shunters in a yard just past Manchester Deansgate station which had me pondering upon the possibility of a preservation society in central Manchester. I've subsequently found out that they are the property of a railway loco leasing company. Onwards to Holyhead and a straightforwards ride down the island initially using the official Sustrans route. As with the starts of all of my tours, my spirits soared as I pedalled the first few hundred yards or so as I headed into the fug of uncertainty that is a feature of all of my rides. I have no idea when I'd call it a day for the day and what distractions that I'd find en route. The uncertainties add a frisson to all of my touring rides.
The planes from RAF valley were a major distraction as they chased each other across the skies. The quality of waymarking was a bit variable and I joined the A5 heading eastwards to remove the delays caused by uncertainties at unwaymarked road junctions and crossings. The A5 was very quiet as most of the traffic was found on the parallel, newer and faster A55. The A5 is the historic route from Holyhead according to the roadside brown heritage signs and sure enough the historic nature was reinforced by the presence of old milestones and several tool keepers houses along the way. The ride out of the island was marked by a visit to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch railway station which is a bit of a hoot as the station name boards are so long , it's next to impossible to get far enough away from them to take a photograph.
An uneventful crossing of the Menai suspension bridge and the official route was picked up again in the guise of the Lôn Las Menai and Caernarfon was reached fairly quickly. The castle was a very impressive structure and I paid a quick visit to the terminus of the Welsh Highland Railway where I joined the Lôn Eiffon cycle route which followed the Welsh Highland Route. The cycle route was lined with blackberry bushes heavily laden with ripe berries. I relieved the bushes of some of their burden and enjoyed the experience. Not far out of Caernarfon was the locomotive depot of the WHR and I stopped for a while to watch the articulated stem locomotive being cleaned and its bunker being filled with coal. The Lôn Las Cymru went off on one of the typical Sustrans' illogical loops at Bryncyr where I took a more direct route to Criccieth for the overnight stay. There's plenty of camp sites on the approaches to Criccieth and it was just my luck to get one run by a couple of eccentric women who could not decide whether I qualified for motorised transport rates, a motorcyclist rate or something else and whether or not I'd need a tow out of the campsite the following morning as vehicles were getting bogged down in the softened grounds caused by almost incessant rain for the past month or so. I paid my seven quid, beat a retreat, pitched my tent and rode into Criccieth to purchase some cider and bits and pieces to eat. I slept soundly having woken up with excitement much earlier than was good for me on day one of the tour.