25 years ago today I set
off with a good friend; Mark, on the fourth day of our attempt to
circumnavigate by bicycle Wales’ largest county; Powys. To add interest to the venture we planned on
visiting the highest point of each of the eight 2,000ft hill ranges within the
county, which are all situated around its periphery, bikes included. We were backed up by Hazel and Barry; without
whom our little adventure would not have taken place. Prior to setting off and during our trip we
raised money for the British Heart Foundation and the Ystradgynlais Mountain
Rescue team.
The following is an
account of this ten day expedition with each day’s journey appearing on the
Mapping Mountains blog 25 years after it had taken place.
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| The county of Powys with the eight 2,000ft hill ranges positioned around its periphery |
Day 4
29.07.90 – Pumlumon – Devil’s Bridge – below Drygarn
Fawr
It proved a struggle to
get out of the comfort of the sleeping bag this morning, and when I did the
previous evening’s beauty of clear skies had been replaced by mist and
wind. This was the third morning of our
trip and the routine was beginning to be set in place as it took an hour from
waking up to get going on the bikes, the same time as it had taken us yesterday
morning.
The route we had opted
for up Pumlumon followed the access track toward Llyn Llygad Rheidol, we’d
walked this route earlier in the year and met fierce winds as we crested the
ridge near to the summit of Pumlumon Fach, on that occasion the winds were so
strong that they blew us over and the only way to reach the high point of the
hill was to crawl. We had also walked an
alternate route up through forestry from the south-west, but it was this track
that gave best access for bikes.
We cycled the lower part
of the track past the small llynnau of Llyn Pen-cor-maen, and up towards the
larger lake at the base of the cirque of cliffs below the summit of Pumlumon.
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| Cycling up the access track to Llyn Llygad Rheidol |
The mist was down on the
tops and it was now raining and quite windy, not an ideal day to take mountain
bikes up a hill. Reaching the lake a
small path heads around its western side, we followed this and then carried the
bikes up a grassy runnel toward the summit of Pumlumon Fach, if conditions had
been better I would have dumped my bike and visited this hill’s summit but it
was cold and wet and we needed to press on up toward the main summit.
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| Our route toward the summit of Pumlumon took us up a grassy runnel into the mist and rain |
We reached the trig
pillar on the summit of Pumlumon and met Kevin Dawson at the top, we had a chat
with him for a few minutes and he kindly gave a donation toward our charities
that we were raising money for, two hills completed, six more to go. As the wind blew across the top we had time
for one quick photograph and then we were away cycling down the hill on a
compass bearing with Mark taking the lead.
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| At the summit of Pumlumon Fawr. Two down, six more to go. |
Cycling from the summit
was bliss as we hurtled downhill, the back end of my bike flipped on a couple
of occasions which was quite scary as it gave the immediate prospect that I was
going to be thrown head first over the handlebars, thankfully I remained intact
and on board.
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| Heading down Pumlumon Fawr toward Eisteddfa Gurig |
It took us 25 minutes
from the summit of Pumlumon down to Eisteddfa Gurig, we now had 3 miles
downhill on the A 44, this proved great when at the back slipstreaming Mark who
was in front, but it proved tiring cycling in front as the wind blew against
us.
We met Hazel and Barry
in Devil’s Bridge for a welcome rest and refreshments, before pressing on
toward Cwmystwyth. This road would lead
us into the heart of the mid-Walian wilderness and toward tomorrow’s slog upto
Drygarn Fawr, which was the one hill during the whole trip that I had worries
about. Although the mist started to
clear and the persistent rain had stopped, we still had intermittent showers as
we cycled up the road.
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| Feeding time in Cwmystwyth |
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| I've had my feed, now it's time for Mark's |
Beyond Cwmystwyth we
stopped for a number of minutes as Mark felt decidedly wobbly, we rested and I
encouraged him to take on food and water.
We continued at a slightly slower pace and were joined by Barry at the
top of the road for the last 12 miles past the Elan Valley reservoirs of Craig
Goch, Penygarreg, Garreg-ddu and Caban-coch toward the Rhiwnant where our camp
for the night had been planned.
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| Mark feeling decidedly wobbly |
This whole route was
proving to be a wonderful experience and the road from Devil’s Bridge to the Rhiwnant
was an ideal way to unwind after the exertions of getting the bikes up and over
Pumlumon. We’d now completed four days
with each being over 30 miles, after washing in the river and trying to
extinguish the local midges we set up camp, took on more food and settled down
for the night. As I lay in my sleeping
bag I hoped that the hills were clear of mist for the miles of moorland bashing
upto the summit of Drygarn Fawr that was in store for us tomorrow.
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| Taking a dip in the Rhiwnant |
Tomorrow: Drygarn
Fawr – Llanwrtyd Wells – below Mynydd Du
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