Penrhyndeudraeth to Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll

Monday September 20, 2010

My campsite for the night, in an actual campsite for the second time of the trip.

I had a decent sleep in, but as soon as I was out of the tent, the caravan park manager was onto me. He only had a little car, yet it still sounded like a diesel engine! He was a good bloke though, I said I'd come and find him on the way out to pay him for camping.
The sun was just peeking through the clouds today, and I was so happy to see it. I gave the bike a bit of a service and fixed a puncture in the front tyre.

My first puncture of the trip, in the front tyre.

Thought I'd take a few macro shots: some kind of pink/purple flower.

A struggling bumblebee. 

It was just a slow one that I'd been putting off fixing for a few days, because I could get away with pumping it up a couple of times a day, and it's really not much fun fixing punctures in the rain. It was just one of those niggling problems that you tend to put off, just like when you're hiking and you have a little stone in your shoe, you don't take it out straight away, hoping it will somehow go away on its own, but of course it stays there and keeps annoying you until you unlace your shoe and shake it out. So yes, I fixed this puncture after it'd been there for a few days, first puncture for the trip.
On the way out, I found the caravan park manager who was doing some whipper-snipping. He reckoned it was a 3 day job to whipper-snip all the grass there.
It cost me 8 pounds for camping, which I thought was a bit steep, you can stay in a hostel for 8 pounds a night sometimes!
We had a bit of a chat; he reckoned it was the first time the sun had come out for 4 days. He also reckoned he'd had quite a few cyclists stay there in the past, mostly from European countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Eastern European countries. He also reckoned route 82 (which was the alternate route I could have taken over the mountains instead of along the coast) is a tough 5 mile climb and then a 3 mile descent on the other side. He also reckoned a place nearby beginning with "C", Coed-y-Brenin it could have been, was supposedly one of the best places in the world for mountain biking, that it had it all, and that mountain biking is really taking off in the area. I'd like to have had a few spare days there and a good mountain bike!
Although it was a late start, I was feeling really good on the bike today, it could have been the sunnier weather that helped motivate me too, and maybe that the roads were flat. I followed route 8 to a town called Caernarfon.

Porthmadog

The tourist railway at Porthmadog

Boats at Porthmadog

A bike path out of  Porthmadog

North-west Wales

North-west Wales

Riding along a bike path in north-west Wales

There was an impressive castle there at Caernarfon.

Caernarfon Castle

Caernarfon Castle from across the River Seiont.

The River Seiont and Caernarfon Castle on the left.

Caernarfon.

A local I was talking to reckoned it was where Charles was crowned Prince back in the twelfth century. He said the locals also called it the most expensive round-about in the world, because you can only drive around it in one direction. Bit of a local joke I guess. He was a friendly bloke and gave me a tip off on where I could camp for free in the town I was aiming to get to that evening.

Lunch by the water at Caernarfon.

I had a pleasant lunch and continued on to the first bridge that crosses over onto the island of Anglesey, near the town of Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, and tried to find the camping spot the bloke in Caernarfon had been describing.

The sun setting at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll

The bridge at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll near where I set up camp for the night.

I thought I'd found the place, turning left after the bridge, down a steep hill towards the water, then another left and he'd said it was back towards the bridge. I actually crossed under the bridge and found what I thought must be the spot on the other side of the bridge, quite secluded in amongst the pine trees, and set up there. I think it was the first time I'd managed to set the tent up before nightfall, and even then it was only just before dark.
As it turned out, the bloke in Caernarfon had actually been talking about a spot near the second bridge a few kilometres further north, not the first bridge where I was. I discovered this the next day, but I think the spot that I found was much better than his suggestion anyway.

Ride Stats
Distance: 55.87 km
Average: 17.0 km/h
Maximum: 54.3 km/h
Time: 3:17:15