The Lon Cambria is a cycle route starting in Shrewsbury and crossing the Cambrian Mountains to Aberystwyth on the Welsh coast designated as National Cycle Network Route 81.  Those taking part on the trip were to be Mick, Mark, Peter, Rod, Richard and Alistair with Laurie and Chris, who now live near Shrewsbury, joining us for parts of the ride. Richard's wife Sylvia was driving along the route, providing luggage transfer and emergency backup.

As Laurie and Chris are sharing the riding each day changing over at the lunch stop, the non-rider was driving along the route and also providing a backup. As it turned out, Richard had a bad accident on his bike three days before the start of the trip and had to cancel.  As Richard and Slyvia were taking Mark and his bike to Shrewsbury, Rod organised another roof mounted bike carrier to take Mark as well as Mick to Shrewsbury whilst I took Peter in my car. 

Monday 12^th August

We loaded up the bikes and left Basingstoke separately around 8am. We kept in touch with Laurie and Chris via Whatsapp on the way so that we all met up at the Abbey Foregate car park in Shrewsbury between 11:00 and 11:30. After unloading the bikes and transferring the luggage to Laurie’s car we cycled through Shrewsbury to the Wetherspoons for lunch. Laurie was doing the first part of the ride and we would meet Chris in Welshpool.  The weather was warm with a gentle westerly breeze as we headed over the river on the route proper by 1pm, cycling through Shrewsbury, some parts on dedicated cycle lanes but most on minor roads along the River Severn valley.

We crossed the Severn into Wales at Crew Green and immediately started climbing up Pritchards Hill and then Middletown Hill. The first bit was an average of 10% then easing off to 7% over about 1.5 miles before a downhill section to cross the A458 then the climb up Long Mountain at an average gradient of about 10% for 2.5 miles and a maximum of 18% - a good introduction to welsh hills. The route ran along the ridge for about a mile before the very steep descent back down to the Severn Valley again.  The extensive views over the Cambrian Mountains was well worth the effort. The road was twisty with some blind bends but so steep that we were braking downhill for large parts of it – maximum gradient over 20% when I could dare to take my eyes of the road to look at the Garmin. We were all thankful that we had recently replaced our disk brake pads! From the bottom of the hill it was flat along the roads into Welshpool where we met up with Chris for coffee and cake in the Morrisons café.Montgomery Canal Lock

Wildlife on the canalLaurie and Chris swapped and we set of again, this time along the Montgomery Canal towards Newtown. The canal is one of the most beautiful stretches of waterway I have ridden along with most of it an SSSI. As it is cut off from the navigable section towards Llangollen there were no boats and it was taken over by wildlife. The canal towpath was upgraded and surfaced with fine gravel in 2013. The towpath finished at Berriew where we turned onto the road and the final short climb into Montgomery and our overnight stop at the Dragon Hotel. Laurie was there with our luggage as we checked in. We logged 37 miles and 638m of ascent. After bathing and changing we met up again in the hotel bar for our evening meal – the Welsh Lamb was very nice.Dragon Hotel

Tuesday 13^th August

After breakfast, we set off on a sunny morning back down the hill again to the canal towpath whilst Laurie was taking the car to meet us at the lunch stop in Llanidloes. The route again followed the canal towpath until the outskirts of Newtown where it picked up the cycle path following the Rivern Severn. We opted to go into the town for a quick look around and stopped in the Market Hall for coffee and cake. At the edge of Newtown, the route was back on minor roads that climbed steeply through Stepaside and on to the summit three miles on, at gradients up to 19% and averaging 8-10% - hard going. The downhill run to Caersws was again steep with a hairpin bend in the middle.  The road then climbed out of the valley and over a series of shorter steep hills before descending back to the river again at Llanidloes where we met up with Laurie.Rolling Hills

Because of the hills it had been slow going, so we only had time for a quick sandwich before continuing, this time with Laurie whilst Chris would drive on to meet us at Rhayader. The climb out of the Severn Valley was long and steep up to the top of the pass with a good downhill run into the Wye Valley at Llangurig. Again, it was very scenic in the warm sunny weather. From Llangurig the route runs on a minor road on the west side of the River Wye down the valley – probably the prettiest part of the whole Lon Cambria route.Wye Valley - Llangurig to RhayaderFeeling sheepish - Wye Valley On this road we encountered two flocks of sheep being herded along the road which were very reluctant to come past us. The road was very undulating all along the valley to small town of Rhayader that we passed through and onto Gigrin Farm to the Red Kite Feeding Centre. We arrived there just after 3pm at the start of the feeding frenzy with hundreds of kites swooping down to pick up the meat in front to the viewing hides. We stopped for a coffee and then rode back through Rhayader and down the cycle path to the Elan Valley Hotel for our overnight stop.  We logged 46 miles and 1050m ascent.Red Kite Feeding Centre - Gigrin Farm, Rhayader

Over our evening meal we discussed the weather forecast for the following day which was continuing to be fairly dire with heavy rain forecast all day and what our options would be.  Given that we were booked on trains for the return journey from Aberystwyth, the first at 13:30, Laurie and Chris were concerned that they would slow us down and would skip this section and return home dropping our luggage off at my car in Shrewbsury.

Wednesday 14^th August

We opted for an early start, missing out on the cooked breakfast. As we assembled outside the rain increased in intensity for a short time but as we set off it had almost stopped. Rather than follow the cycle path, we took the road up the Elan Valley, past Elan Village and the Caban Coch Dam just beyond. We continued on the road as it climbed up this scenic valley, past the Pen y Garreg Dam and the Craig Goch Dam. The rain was light and intermittent, but the views even then were spectacular, as we climbed the last steep bit to the Mountain Road leading to Aberystwyth.

The road undulated to the top of the pass about 14 miles in, then descended down the Ystwyth valley to just after the small village of Cwmystwyth. The rain had become steadier and sometimes it was hard work cycling into the wind as it was funnelled by the valley.  The route ran through the Hafod Estate on an off-road trail that became ever rougher.  Exiting the estate back onto the road we came to the village of Pontrhydygroes where there was the Cwtch café where we had a welcome coffee and bacon roll. The café was very busy, and it took some time to be served, but OK as we only had about 17 miles to go.Wet landscape on the last day

We set off again in steady rain that lasted for the next 4 miles or so where there was a choice of routes – follow the road or stick to the NCN81 – we chose the NCN81. This follows a rail trail, but to get there it was a very steep off-road climb on a narrow track through the woods. Once on the trail it descended gently for a bit before going then a section on road before picking up the trail again closer to the river. This second section was wider and better surfaced as it descended gently and entered Aberystwyth. We headed for the seafront for the obligatory photo – 39 miles and 690m ascent logged. There was just enough time for us to cycle to the station where Mark, Mick and I caught the 13:30 for Shrewsbury whilst Rod and Peter stopped and had lunch at the Wetherspoons beside the station platform.Finish in Aberystwyth

Once on the train we changed out of our wet gear and settled down for the two hour journey back to Shrewsbury. After checking in to the Premier Inn we walked through the town to drive my car to the car park adjacent to the hotel and take all the luggage into the hotel. When Rod and Peter caught the 15:30 train, two other cyclists were refused boarding as we had booked the only bike spaces - just as well we had booked the bike spaces!. In the evening we headed for the Wetherspoons but there was no food as the kitchen had been flooded but we had a nice curry at an adjacent Indian restaurant instead.

Thursday 15^th August

In the morning after breakfast we loaded the bikes and luggage and headed home.

Video

Photos taken during the ride have been compiled into a short video clip - unfortunately due to storage limitations online access to these has had to be removed. If you are a group member, these can be made available to you.