Sunday 16th of November: We had a couple of dry days coming up and I was free so it was time to plan my challenge ride. The Monday looked the nicer day but the Sunday was less cold so I went for that. I've been wanting to get back to Lake Vyrnwy, which made the route choice easy.
Although I could have used the Raleigh I chose to take the Hawk, having fitted a new back wheel, chain and cassette onto it, and was out into a cool and overcast morning at a few minutes past seven. I took the slightly more roundabout route through Meole Brace, Nobold, Bowbrook and past Gain's Park to get to Bicton, Montford Bridge, Forton and Little Ness. After Storm Claudia a couple of days before I was a little concerned that there may still be standing water about but although the roads were wet in places, there wasn't anything that I needed to wade through, which boded well for the rest of the ride.
The high river level meant that I couldn't go anywhere near Melverley this time so I took the rather rough road to Kinnerley then Knockin and had to use the B4396 to Llynclys, which was busier than I thought it might be for a Sunday morning. I had someone shout at me from a passing van; I didn't hear what they said but could tell that it wasn't a compliment.
I had my first stop in the usual spot at Llynclys andset off a bit more refreshed to start up the Tanat Valley.
As usual this road starts off a bit busy but gets quieter as much of the traffic turns off towards Llansantffraid while I carry straight on to Llanyblodwel then up the Tanat Valley. There was a bit of traffic about, a lot of it with mountain bikes or kayaks being carried as they head into Wales for a day out. It was a slow but steady plod along the valley for me, not helped by temporary traffic lights just after the border at Pen-y-Bont-Llanerch-Emrys, then again just after Pentrefelin. Something else that didn't help was that I was having trouble with the indexing of the gears, which seemed to show itself most prominently on this stretch. I had a small pause at Pedair-Ffordd before tackling the short but sharp climb over to Pen-y-Bont-Fawr. For the first time this trip I had to splash through water running across the road - something that would become more common the further I went.
The climbing up to Hirnant went well. This starts off fairly gently but just after Hirnant there is a bigger and steeper climb before the descent to Abertridwr. This bit of road still takes a bit of getting used to due to the trees all having been removed after blowing down almost a year ago. The final climb up to the dam was quite slow and steady, having not really ridden enough lately (same as most of the year really) and due to using the heavier bike. I was rewarded with a fine view of the dam with plenty of water gushing over the spillways, followed by the classic view up the lake. Annoyingly I found that Strava had suffered a glitch and had straight-lined about 15 miles of the ride.
This did give me an average speed of 18.5 mph for the ride to this point though.
Another glitch was that the right hand bar tape had shifted and was threatening to unravel - I tried to sort it but it became apparent that the only option was to rewrap it, which I didn't fancy trying to do at the roadside, so it was a case of trying not to make it worse and hope it stayed put for the rest of the ride.
Beside the dam is always a good point to stop and have a bite to eat, which I did before proceeding along the nice flat road taking me to the other end of Llyn Efyrnwy. This was mostly pretty quiet - a few people walking, a few taking a leisurely drive and one guy treating it like a rally stage. He was going rather slower when I saw him heading back a little later on; maybe scared himself?
At the far end of the lake the road closure has been moved to the bridge before the car park, which was surprising. It looks like this is to allow clearing of the fallen trees at this end of the road though so I'm hoping that bodes well for the reopening of the road all the way round the lake in the not too distant future. In the meantime I had to retrace my steps back to the dam. I thought I'd try riding round the other side of the lake to see how far I am actually able to get and this turned out to be to the picnic site/viewpoint at Llechwedd Ddu. I did think about dropping in at the cafe but by now I'd spent a lot longer here than intended so I needed to do my second run up the lake and back then press on back. I seemed quicker on this lap but still got overtaken by two riders who weren't even trying. I did catch them again where the road was closed and had a quick chat with them - they were from Llanymynech and said "Fair play" when I told them my plan for the day.
I paused for my lunch stop back at the dam - by now almost an hour behind schedule - then set off again, passing the two riders again, who were stopped at the cafe in Abertridwr. The climb back over to Hirnant was hard work but went alright. I didn't take my alternative way this time but headed straight back to Pen-y-Bont-Fawr. The climb after the village was quite slow but my legs didn't cramp (although there were a couple of warning twinges that said cramp was an option) then I enjoyed the fairly fast bit to Pedair Ffordd and the nice flowing roads back down the Tanat Valley. The downside of doing this route on a Sunday is that on the way back I'm sharing the road with a lot of people heading home after a day out or a weekend away, even at this time of year. This means that some of the driving isn't as courteous as it could be, which always seems a little more of an issue on a road that is a bit narrow and twisty. I coped though and although I would have been faster on the Raleigh, made some reasonable progress back to Llynclys where I had my last snack stop with the sun setting behind the hills.
Thanks to the river flooding I knew I wouldn't be able to get off the main road until Knockin and this was probably the worse bit for the bad driving. It was good to get off this road onto the lanes back to Kinnerley, although the rough bits are worst in this direction. There was a gap in the clouds behind me though which I could get the odd glimpse of what was probably a wonderful sunset. I was pretty tired by this point so didn't feel inclined to try and get a photo of it.
By Pentre it was properly dark. I thought I'd vary the route by going through Shrawardine - a quieter road and it also avoids a climb that would have been tough on tired legs. Reaching Montford Bridge I couldn't avoid the climb on the way to Bicton and this was very slow and plodding. Again the legs warned me they weren't happy but I avoided cramping up. This bit of road wasn't too busy this time but the traffic on it was fast and quite a few of the drivers didn't seem inclined to dip their lights for a cyclist, so I retraced my route from the morning to Gain's Park and Bowbrook but took a shorter way along Mousecroft Lane to get to Meole Brace. The final climb was very much a plod but I made it alright.
107.32 miles for the day at 11.5 mph moving average. Just under 11 hours including all the stops. I'm pleased that the November ride is bagged and I had another session of fettling the next day including all new gear cables, cleaning and lubricating the derailleur and rewrapping the bar tape among other things. Hopefully the bike will behave itself on the next ride.
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A very full River Severn as I cross it at Montford Bridge.
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Just outside Knockin.
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A couple of shots as I make my way up Cwm Hirnant.
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The first view of the dam. Lots of water up here this time.
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........and the first view up the lake.
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As far as I am able to go on this occasion.
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Back round the lake and this is as far as I can go on that side of the closure.
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One of the brooks that feed into Vyrnwy as I make my second run along the lake.
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On my way back and having a break as the sun sets. Although not spectacular at this point, it did look better in real life than it does in the photo.
