Lon Las Cymru

[Plax]

I'm very tempted to do this myself (I'm basically at the Northern start anyway!). However none of my friends would do it with me (most are married with kids, too lazy etc), and my boyfriend refuses to look at a bike let alone get on one. So has anyone done this on their own, particularly if they are a lady? I don't really have all that much or a problem doing it myself but know that my boyfriend would near enough refuse to let me out of the house and have the backing of my dad if I said I was going off galavanting on my own on a bike for several days. It's bad enough when I go out after dark on my own (I get the "I wish you wouldn't do that it's not safe etc etc spiel from the pair of them). So if I can have some evidence to suggest the probability of getting knocked over / kidnapped / murdered etc is extremely low I might get a bit less nagging.

Hard to believe sometimes that I'm a full grown adult with my own home .

 

[Kirstie]

I'm very tempted to do this myself (I'm basically at the Northern start anyway!). However none of my friends would do it with me (most are married with kids, too lazy etc), and my boyfriend refuses to look at a bike let alone get on one. So has anyone done this on their own, particularly if they are a lady? I don't really have all that much or a problem doing it myself but know that my boyfriend would near enough refuse to let me out of the house and have the backing of my dad if I said I was going off galavanting on my own on a bike for several days. It's bad enough when I go out after dark on my own (I get the "I wish you wouldn't do that it's not safe etc etc spiel from the pair of them). So if I can have some evidence to suggest the probability of getting knocked over / kidnapped / murdered etc is extremely low I might get a bit less nagging.

Hard to believe sometimes that I'm a full grown adult with my own home .

I have toured on my own - did the C to C and it was fine when out on the road. B&B owners were very welcoming and caring - I told them when I booked that I would be arriving on my own and they generally looked out for me and helped me with things, and generally people treated me with respect. The scary parts were walking into pubs I'd never been in before on my own, but if I sat at the bar, I got chatting to the bar person and the people around me and it was OK. I surprised myself, actually. On one occassion I had to stand up for myself when some nutter threw my stash of painkillers onto the fire but i was polite and assertive and everything was OK.

The worst part was in Whitehaven when a restaurant refused to serve me and threw me out. I walked in on my own and sat in the reception of a near-empty chinese restaurant for 20 minutes, with staff ignoring me. When I walked to the back of the restaurant, the waiter promptly asked me my name and handed me a takeaway menu. I asked for a table for one. The (chinese) manageress snapped at the waiter and told him the restaurant was fully booked - it was practically empty - and then wouldn't look me in the eye. I could scarcely believe it. I think it was because I was wearing 'outdoor' clothes and no make up. Perhaps she thought I was lowering the tone or something. In any case I was treated like a leper.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

LMAO. I cycle through Merthyr quite a bit on the NCN 8 trail. I know what you mean.

Be thankful then that you didn't go through Merthyr Tydfil. Holyhead is luxurious in comparison.

 

[WelshYiddo]

Be thankful then that you didn't go through Merthyr Tydfil. Holyhead is luxurious in comparison.

There's worse places in the world than Merthyr; Helmand Province, Darfur, Chechnya......

Thanks once again everyone for advice/tips/encouragement.

At the moment training is non-existent apart from going for a run with the dog, and when I say 'run' I suppose 'gentle jog for a mile and a half' would be more correct. Just can't find the time/motivation to get the bike out. Sad and slack I know!

Still want to do it though and if anyone else has any comments I'd love to hear them.

 

[meic]

I intend doing it, I prepared a route last year. I would like to do it this year but not sure if I should take another 6 days off leaving the wife to look after the baby on her own.

 

[sadjack]

hi meic

I am going to do it again this year. Last year was a very wet and grey few days and I promised myself to do it again to see all the sights I missed!

Been thinking of doing it to coincide with the CTC Welsh Festival of cycling so that I have a distraction half way at Rhayader.

 

[Danny]

I intend doing it, I prepared a route last year. I would like to do it this year but not sure if I should take another 6 days off leaving the wife to look after the baby on her own.

Going off on long cycle rides was one of the thing's I had to curtail when my son was little, but I always figured I would have plenty of time to make up for it later on. This was a good decision, as I would hate to have missed out on him growing up, and now he's bigger he comes cycling with me.

Personally I think that you should only go off cycle touring on your own for 6 days if you're prepared to let your wife have a holiday on her own at some point while you stay at home with the baby.

 

[Cranky]

I did this from Holyhead to Cardiff in 2007 in pouring rain. Like other previous posts I would say, without hesitation, that it was the hardest route I've done (including C2C) and probably would have been even without the atrocious weather. I'm fairly experienced with touring but even with mountain bike gearing and relatively light panniers I had to get off and push up some hills.

We stayed in guest houses which were, in general, hospitable. The final run into Cardiff was great (the only dry day we had), along the Taff Trail, and I can thoroughly recommend the Turkish restaurant on the marina.

If serious about doing this route I'd get some training in if I were you, it's not a beginner's ride and many stretches are very isolated.

 

[vernon]

I did this from Holyhead to Cardiff in 2007 in pouring rain. Like other previous posts I would say, without hesitation, that it was the hardest route I've done (including C2C) and probably would have been even without the atrocious weather. I'm fairly experienced with touring but even with mountain bike gearing and relatively light panniers I had to get off and push up some hills.

It's hilly there's no doubt about it as the route cuts through the Cambrian Hills, Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons. I only had to get off and push on the climb from Machynlleth to Llanlidoes - this was the toughest section of the entire ride. The compensations are the tremendous views and the subsequent descents.

 

[meic]

Dont worry Danny, I am a househusband. I am the one who gets to spend most of the time with the little one. Last month 2/3rds of my riding was with her in the trailer.
The wife has her little trips away too. 6 days is the most I could bear to be away from the little one.

 

[Danny]

Oops - sorry for my some crass assumptions

Funnily enough I was wondering whether you could take the baby with you in a trailer, but I suspect doing the whole route that way would be a little arduous.

You could do three days this year and then three days next year - which is what I'm considering, though mostly because of shortage of holiday time.

 

[meic]

Only four days of the six would be doing the ride. The other two would be getting there and back.
I have already cycled a few bits of it on different occasions, I wanted to do it as a unit.
When I did the Taff Trail part of it (Brecon-Cardiff) I was quite annoyed at the various bike traps and gates on the route. With the trailer, I would have to unhitch, unload, carry trailer and contents seperatly over obstacles then reassemble. Unless any passers by fancied helping me.

I think attempting that ride with a toddler in a trailer would be a real test of my hill climbing ability, even with my 20" gears.

 

[vernon]

When I did the Taff Trail part of it (Brecon-Cardiff) I was quite annoyed at the various bike traps and gates on the route. With the trailer, I would have to unhitch, unload, carry trailer and contents seperatly over obstacles then reassemble. Unless any passers by fancied helping me.

The bike traps are still there and they spoil the Taff Trail. I think that all the traps were installed at the insistence of the local authorities as a condition of them supporting the trail.

 

[JonWales]

Newport to Holyhead... lon las cymru!

Hi me and my brother have began training for this route. We plan to do it over 3 days, though to be honest we havent got any experience of it. We're doing this ride for 2 very worthwhile charities, and have got to get to holyhead in 3 full days cycling from Newport. Is 3 days possible?? Any training advice also would help, we re leaving on the 25th!!
Cheers guys.

 

[Banjo]

I am thinking of doing Lon Las Cymru North to south next year. I have done the Southern section a couple of times allready .

My question to those who have done it is is it better to stick to the route or just use iot as a guide and plan your own days? I klnow on the Southern bit there are some bits that you could avoid such as the diversion out into the woods by the Pontsticill Reservoir.

My plan is to do it in 5 or 6 days riding 40 0r 50 miles per day.I dont want it to turn into a long hard slog ,need a bit of time to enjoy the scenery ,have a beer etc.