Training weekend in Wales

Doom

Myself and a riding buddy are keen to head down to Wales for a training weekend mainly to cover off some of the longer climbs that Wales have to offer (Bwlch as an example).

Really we are looking for any information on good places to stay which would be close to good routes that we could string climbs together over the Sat and Sun returning to the base each day.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

chrisw12

For £1 million, you and your mate can stay in my house and I'll be your tour guide. For two million I'll be your bitch as well. :roll:

I love questions like this. People want to come on hollidays and ride the roads that I get to commute on. Makes me realise why I never change jobs.

When you looking to come by the way? Because at the moment the hills are pretty shitty.

oldwelshman

For the type of climbs you want, I suppose Bridgend woiuld be a good base, plenty of accomodation and several routes you could do to take in Bwlch from different directions and you could also ride other routes with many hills either side of Bridgend.
If you were really brave you could book a room in one of the "hotels" I think they claim to be anyway, in Treorchy, then you can choose Bwlch one way, Rhigos and Brecon the other, or several other climbs over the Rhondda valleys. Not sure you would enjoy staying there though, what you reckon Chris?
I rode through Treorchy last weekend and seen a hotel sign in large pub there.

chrisw12

oldwelshman wrote:

For the type of climbs you want, I suppose Bridgend woiuld be a good base, plenty of accomodation and several routes you could do to take in Bwlch from different directions and you could also ride other routes with many hills either side of Bridgend.
If you were really brave you could book a room in one of the "hotels" I think they claim to be anyway, in Treorchy, then you can choose Bwlch one way, Rhigos and Brecon the other, or several other climbs over the Rhondda valleys. Not sure you would enjoy staying there though, what you reckon Chris?
I rode through Treorchy last weekend and seen a hotel sign in large pub there.

I wouldn't suggest a stay in Treorchy to my worst enemy.

Bridgend's a good choice for a stay.

How about the mountain bike places at Afan and Glyncorwg, I don't know if they do accomodation but they'd be a great place for a base. I don't know any details, it just struck me as a good place to stay. They're obviously smelly bike friendly.

oldwelshman

From memory, Glyncorwg has one road in and one orad out and is sort of on the top of Bwlch even worse than Treaorchy!!
I think they would be better off staying near civilisation in Bridgend

Doom

chrisw12 wrote:

For £1 million, you and your mate can stay in my house and I'll be your tour guide. For two million I'll be your ***** as well. :roll:

Umm Thanks but in all honesty the only ride we are looking for is on the bike

chrisw12 wrote:

When you looking to come by the way? Because at the moment the hills are pretty shitty.

Plan is for late March into April popping down for the odd couple of weekends to get a bit of riding in with some decent long(ish) climbs in.

Doom

oldwelshman wrote:

For the type of climbs you want, I suppose Bridgend woiuld be a good base, plenty of accomodation and several routes you could do to take in Bwlch from different directions and you could also ride other routes with many hills either side of Bridgend.

Bridgend sounds a good idea. I was there for the Dragon last year so its obviously not far from some of the better climbs in the area.

Thanks for the info.

MartinL

Personally, I'd stay in Brecon. Plenty of B&B's and campsites. You'd then be bang in the middle of all the best riding. To the north, you'd have the Epynnt and up around Llyn Brianne and the Elan Valley, Devils Staircase etc. To the east are the climbs of Llangynidar mountain, the Tumble and the Gospel pass. The Bwlch and the Rhigos are about twenty miles away to the south, after a nice seven mile warm up climb to the Storey Arms

mozwyn69

Brecon would be a good choice as mentioned. Swansea would be great if your after some night life in the evening but would have to drive a bit to get near the Bwlch / Rhigos (as I do to avoid a very borning 15 miles). Treorchy would be brave, Glyncorwyg or even Blaengwynfi (both on the Bwlch road) would be very impressive.

Mike Willcox

Watch out for the nutters.

They're a strange lot over there.

SteveR_100Milers

Mike Willcox wrote:

Watch out for the nutters.

They're a strange lot over there.

<sound of shattering glass..... >

chrisw12

Ok to wet the appetite as we've got a good audience, a simple question, what is the best climb/journey in South Wales. Not necessarily the steepest, longest or hardest but one you'd advise a visitor to do.

I'd go with the Bwlch from the Neath side to the Rhondda. I'd include in this, the start at (is it) Ponthydyfen, the climb to Cimla, the bit in the valley and then the main climb. More or less all uphill.

sub55

in response to the first question on the thread, i think i`d have to plump for breacon being the place to stay , nice town and pleasant surroundings. as for chris w, question about a nice ride , think if i was starting in breacon it would be up to rhyader, then follow the elan valley,left at cwm ystwyth to tregaron ,take the mountain road back to abergwesyn via the devils staircase from the wrong side, from abergwesyn over epynt ranges back to breacon. probably talking there 80/100 miles, take your time ,say 10 hours and you`ve got some of the most acclaimed scenery and roads in the country. once you get into the mountains ,if you see 10 cars all day , you need to put it in your diary as a busy day.

Mark Alexander

Bridgend is fairly close to the Bwylch etc it is by the coast so any way north is up and towards hills. It's not the most Picturesque of towns.....
Brecon is in the beacons National par, is much more pleasant on the eyes and can be tough on the legs. much recommended.

webbhost

Umm Thanks but in all honesty the only ride we are looking for is on the bike

For 2 million he could be the village bike for you Lmao

Mark Alexander

webbhost wrote:

Umm Thanks but in all honesty the only ride we are looking for is on the bike

For 2 million he could be the village bike for you Lmao

We could conduct a study, Which is best for training, riding a bike or being the bike!! :twisted:



check out some rides around Brecon on www.bikely.com

webbhost

lmfao... As long as I'm not one of the subjects.....

Mark Alexander

scary thought. I hear some people are into that sort of thing. eek

nolf

Anyway....

First Question-
I would definitely go for the brecon beacons as a base- almost certainly Brecon as near there you have a whole host of very good quality climbs, beautifal countryside, and in contrast to bridgend there are lots of easy to navigate minor roads that are relatively well surfaced.

From Brecon you can head South and go down the A470 to Merthyr and then back up to Brecon on the other side of the mountains past Talybont reservoir- a shorter ride with stunning views and a lovely ridiculously steep climb!

North East is Hay on Wye with the possibilities of Gospel pass (east) and a trip down to Abergavenny (south east).

South West are some lovely minor roads that take in some decent climbing and can incorporate the route back to Merthyr and Talybont Reservoir.

North theres unlimited possibilities- i'd recommend taking the B road North of Brecon and then heading North on B roads and minor roads loop back East and then South.

The Rhigos isn't too far away- (maybe 20 miles?) and the Bwlch is right next to that so as close as bridgend is tbh.



Best climb- well as for character building- go for a long ride (say 100km+ in the mountains) then go South past talybont reservoir and try to get up the 20% climb right near the end. It's about a mile long and a total and utter B4ST4RD!!!

I found the Bwlch a different challenge. It's easy to get up, but it's difficult to go fst up. So bottom gear spinning is fine, but trying to do more than 11/12 mph all the way up is quite a challenge!

oldwelshman

nolf wrote:

Anyway....

First Question-
I would definitely go for the brecon beacons as a base- almost certainly Brecon as near there you have a whole host of very good quality climbs, beautifal countryside, and in contrast to bridgend there are lots of easy to navigate minor roads that are relatively well surfaced.

From Brecon you can head South and go down the A470 to Merthyr and then back up to Brecon on the other side of the mountains past Talybont reservoir- a shorter ride with stunning views and a lovely ridiculously steep climb!

North East is Hay on Wye with the possibilities of Gospel pass (east) and a trip down to Abergavenny (south east).

South West are some lovely minor roads that take in some decent climbing and can incorporate the route back to Merthyr and Talybont Reservoir.

North theres unlimited possibilities- i'd recommend taking the B road North of Brecon and then heading North on B roads and minor roads loop back East and then South.

The Rhigos isn't too far away- (maybe 20 miles?) and the Bwlch is right next to that so as close as bridgend is tbh.



Best climb- well as for character building- go for a long ride (say 100km+ in the mountains) then go South past talybont reservoir and try to get up the 20% climb right near the end. It's about a mile long and a total and utter B4ST4RD!!!

I found the Bwlch a different challenge. It's easy to get up, but it's difficult to go fst up. So bottom gear spinning is fine, but trying to do more than 11/12 mph all the way up is quite a challenge!

What is this 20% climb for a mile? The only climb I know near that grade id Defynnog but thats 25% and not a mile long.
While Brecon is picturesque it depends what doom is looking for, it is very remote so not everyone would like to stay there.
If I was to take them I would take them over Bwlch and Rhigos and a few lesser know nast climbs, like the climbe from Pontypridd to abertridwr, then over senghennydd mountain (views of cardiff, rhondda valleys and beacons from there) then across ponty and over trebanog to tonyrefel to bridgend.
After doing the Bwlch and Rhigos you would need to be very strong to get over the other 3 without walking at some point 8)

MartinL

oldwelshman wrote:

nolf wrote:

Anyway....

Best climb- well as for character building- go for a long ride (say 100km+ in the mountains) then go South past talybont reservoir and try to get up the 20% climb right near the end. It's about a mile long and a total and utter B4ST4RD!!!

I found the Bwlch a different challenge. It's easy to get up, but it's difficult to go fst up. So bottom gear spinning is fine, but trying to do more than 11/12 mph all the way up is quite a challenge!

What is this 20% climb for a mile? The only climb I know near that grade id Defynnog but thats 25% and not a mile long.
While Brecon is picturesque it depends what doom is looking for, it is very remote so not everyone would like to stay there.
If I was to take them I would take them over Bwlch and Rhigos and a few lesser know nast climbs, like the climbe from Pontypridd to abertridwr, then over senghennydd mountain (views of cardiff, rhondda valleys and beacons from there) then across ponty and over trebanog to tonyrefel to bridgend.
After doing the Bwlch and Rhigos you would need to be very strong to get over the other 3 without walking at some point 8)

It's on the road from Talybont-on-Usk to Ponsticill and it is an unrelenting 20% for almost a mile. To make matters worse, there's a cattle grid 3/4 of the way up it and the bends at the top at the steepest part. One of last years sportives (Iron Mountain IIRC) went down it.

nolf

Fair enough Brecon is the back end of nowhere- but as such it is very good looking with relatively little traffic- especially as soon as you leave the A roads.

Doom

Thanks for all the info Guys. I think we are going to stay in Bridgend for a weekend and try and hit some of the climbs. Might even try out the new Dragon route which has made its way onto bikely Dragon Route 2008