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dominiquenortheast · 5 years

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An okay(ish) weekend. On the plus side I avoided most of the Bank Holiday weekend madness.

I have been looking at the options for pedalling cross country up to the Elan Valley area via Llyn Brianne and Teifi Pools for some time and it seemed a good opportunity with most of the population getting lobstered on the Pembrokeshire beaches to head up there this weekend. In the end I only achieved a part of the intended circuit, due to a bit of stupidity on my part.

The ride up from Carmarthen to Llyn Brianne is pleasant enough and the scenery north of the reservoir spectacular with the rolling single track tarmac following the contours around the reservoir complex and cutting up through the hills following the course of the Afon Tywi. Eventually the route branches off onto an unsurfaced byway (open to all traffic....).

What this means in reality is a warzone of 4WD desecration. The track, rough and strewn with with large rocks but at least partially rideable at first, soon deteriorates into a series of thigh deep ruts filled with murky brown water crossed by fords every few hundred metres and with the peaty ground to either side cut with further ruts as drivers attempt to avoid the ruts of the main track. I met one group of ‘offroaders’ with 4 Landrovers, all in their mid 20s / early 30s. Where they get the dosh from for these shiny toys I’ve no idea! They were friendly enough mind and appeared to think I was completely bonkers to be attempting the route on two wheels rather than four.

Dragging, carrying and wading with the bike through mud and water was filthy, thankless work and by the time I reached the junction to the bothy I was heading for I was in no mood to risk spending the night with more 4WDrivers discussing differentials, gear ratios and tyre tread patterns, plus I wanted beer...badly.

Carrying on to its end, the track eventually emerges in the forestry above Strata Florida and, after stopping at a small stream to clean the worst of the filth from myself and the bike I dropped down into Pontrhydfendigaid (try saying that after a couple of beers!) and enjoyed a couple of swift ones.

With these sitting in an empty belly I wobbled back to Strata Florida, safe in the knowledge I’d be able to pronounce that, and find a place to pitch up for the night. A small wildlife sanctuary on the way offered the luxury of benches to sit at and cook supper so I stopped to prepare some nosh first.

Too many dog walkers around to risk pitching up in the woods here though so after a pot of veg curry and rice and feeling a bit more steady on my pins I headed up to an area of deciduous woodland I’d noticed earlier, well tucked out of the way.

A good spot to pitch the basha and I was quickly asleep with the sound of the brook a few yards away in my ears, burbling in the background.

In hindsight, having walked in this area quite a lot and having seen the amount of vehicle traffic that uses the byway running between Teifi Pools and the Claerwen Reservoir I should’ve known better than to attempt the track up to Strata Florida, there are other, better, options than this route. I’ll head back to explore them.

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