The Pembrokeshire Freewheelers
2002 Annual Club Review: July
In early July we tried a different type of ride again, this time in the form of an Evening Dart. The idea was to ride from any starting point of one's choice and to meet up at the chosen destination of The Ferry Inn, in Llanstadwell.
Seven riders took up the challenge, Brian and Linda tandem'ed over from Roch, Mike and Christine from Port Lion, Wendy and Chris from Johnston, and Mark from Pembroke. It was a beautiful sunny evening on arrival at the pub, but unfortunately as we sat on the riverside picnic tables, the sun descended behind the building and it became quite cool. Not too many drinks were downed before the riders departed for home, riding back through Neyland, where most of them took the Brunel Cycleway before going their separate ways. It had been a novel experience and it was decided to try and have more, to try to increase the social aspect of the club.
The next Greenways ride in Tenby was the most disappointing of them all. The nominated leader Peter Brake arrived, to find that he was all alone, as no visitors had turned up at all.
At the end of July the Tandem Section of the club went away for a long weekend. There were two reasons for the trip: one was to enjoy the wonderful scenery of Mid-Wales, and the other was to use it as a shake down test for Syd and Jean's new trailer. They are planning to cycle in America and Alaska next year and wanted to see how different it would be to tow a trailer behind the tandem, rather than load up with panniers.
Syd and Jean met up with Brian and Linda in Crundale on the first morning and the two teams cycled around the Preseli's and had leisurely stops in Maenclochog, Abercych and Cenarth, before arriving at their B+B in Pentrecwrt.
The following day they cycled through Llandyssul, Llanfihangel, and Lampeter. Here they stopped before cycling up the beautiful upper Teifi valley. They were treated to an aerial display as a red kite circled above them just as they arrived in Llandewi Brefi, and then continued on to Tregaron, for a belated lunch stop. By this time the sun was blazing down and they tried to find somewhere shady in the town square.
From Tregaron, they knew the hardest part of the trip was to come as they crossed the Cambrian mountains. It was like a roller coaster ride as they went up and down many times, including the climb and descent of The Devil?s Staircase. The scenery here was spectacular and Trip Reason No.1 was achieved. Following this the gentle downward incline of the Abergwesyn Pass was much appreciated and they were mightily relieved to finally arrive at their destination of Llanwrtyd Wells. They just about had enough energy to shower and change and walk the 50yards to the nearest restaurant after 48 gruelling miles.
The next days ride was to be over Eppynt Mountain, and after passing through Tirabad, the climbing again started. As the road passes through the Army firing range, Syd had enquired whether the road would be open, and was told that they would let us through even though some firing may occur. As we entered the open roads the sounds of distant firing rang out and we hoped we wouldn't be in the middle of it. From the top of one of the hills, we could see troops on either side of the road ahead, and realised we would indeed be in the middle of it. Fortunately we weren't shot at, but were surprised when some previously unseen heavily camouflaged soldiers popped their heads up to shout "good morning" to us. We stopped at the top of the mountain, from where we could see the mock alpine village that had been built for army training exercises.
It was another hot and humid day, and after dropping down the hill to reach the A40, it was decided that rather than do the planned climb up over the Black Mountain, we would leisurely cruise down to Llandovery and have lunch there.
From here we took the old road alongside the River Towy to Llangadog. Here the locals were stunned to hear Syd and Jean singing Christmas carols, as they struck up on seeing the sign to Bethlehem. We stopped under some trees for a rest in the shade and on setting off again Trip Reason No. 2 occurred. Syd discovered that one of the trailer tyres had punctured. How long it had been flat was not known, as Syd had not felt any drag or swaying of the trailer prior to stopping. This then had given him something further to think about for their forthcoming American tour.
Syd soon had the repair sorted out and we carried on along the valley to Llandeilo, where we sought refreshing drinks, before pressing on for our B+B in Felingwmuchaf.
The farmhouse accommodation was absolutely wonderful, as was the evening meal that we had asked for so that we wouldn't have to venture out again in the evening.
The final day entailed a return home. We again took the quiet old road until we reached Carmarthen, from where we cycled on the A40. Although the trunk road is very noisy with all the passing traffic, most of the drivers gave us a wide berth, especially once they saw that the bicycles up ahead looked somewhat wider than normal, with the two trailer wheels giving an unusual rear profile. We stopped in St. Clears for lunch before rejoining the A40 back to Haverfordwest, where the two couples went their separate ways home.
We had achieved our 2 aims, climbed 3 mountain ranges in 4 days, and had cycled 190 miles in the process, in good weather and in great company. A most successful weekend by anyone's standards!