Lon Las Cymru

[robing]

I just cycled Lon Las Cymru from Holyhead to Chepstow and it was superb! Hands down the best shorter tour I've done. You may remember I set off to do this tour a year ago but got knocked off my bike. Well the gods were smiling on me this time because everything went perfectly. The weather was aboslutely amazing, wall to wall sunshine and got back before the thunderstorms arrived! The route and scenery was fantastic. Road and cycle path surfaces were excellent - I barely saw a pothole the whole trip - puts the rest of the UK roads to shame. I camped all the way and all campsites bar one were superb - very friendly and laid back and of course not too busy at this time of year. Highlights for me were the Barmouth rail bridge, Mawddach trail, Hafr Forest (source of the Severn), Wye Valley and the Gospel Pass. I thoroughly recommend it and it's right on your doorstep - easy to get to the start/finish points.

[honesty]

Good job! Love that route and mean to do it again soon. Was planning to this July until money put a stop to that...

Where did you camp?

[PH]

Glad it went well for you this time, Gospel Pass was the highlight for me, it wasn't the first time I'd been over it but the conditions were perfect.
I don't often repeat routes, but I've done this one twice and I shall do it (Or at least sections of it) again.

[robing]

Camped at Bangor, Barmouth, Pennal near Mach, Llanidloes - the best site with camper's kitchen, 3 Cocks, and one near Chepstow which was rubbish - basically a wild camp in a garden with no facilities. It's certainly a route I would do again. I'll post a few photos.

[Sweep]

Thanks for the post, look forward to the pics. Virgin sometimes does sale seats london to holyhead.

Can I ask how much you paid for camping?

[robing]

All sites were 8 to 10 pounds, except the wild camping site which was £6. I'd rather have paid a couple more quid for showers, or nothing and just wild camped

A couple of sites you had to pay extra for a shower, but that was maximum of £1.

Milton Keynes to holyhead was £59 advance. Chepstow to Milton Keynes was £42 advance which I only booked the night before .

[Sweep]

Many thanks for reply rob.

Train fares look pricey.

I reckon there will be another virgin sale, maybe 50 per cent, forcseats early summer. Probably a slack period for them.

[videoman]

Look forward to the photos as well as it's a ride I would like to do but would probably start from near Caernarfon as at the moment we have a static caravan near Llanberis. Finish for me would be Chepstow as my sister lives in Lydney, 10 miles north.

[1982john]

Would love to do this route.

Can I ask what bike did you use and did you find it appropriate?

[robing]

Would love to do this route.

Can I ask what bike did you use and did you find it appropriate?

I used my touring bike Dawes SG which was perfect. 32mm Schwalbe Marathon tyres. I did sometimes question how much I was carrying when I had to get off and push up the steepest hills, but then I needed all the camping gear! It's my standard touring set up, whether for a week or a month.

Photos won't load unfortunately, as files all too big. I'll put them on my blog and will post when I've updated it.

[honesty]

I did it on a audax bike with 28mm tyres. Apart from the south end of the old coach road north of Newbridge on Wye I had no problem with the surface on this route.

[PH]

Many thanks for reply rob.

Train fares look pricey.

I reckon there will be another virgin sale, maybe 50 per cent, forcseats early summer. Probably a slack period for them.

Depends what you mean by pricey, it is a long way!
A quick look on a split ticket search found London > Holyhead for £35 and Chepstow > London for a bargain £16
http://www.splitticketing.com/

I thought they'd be some bargains, I wouldn't be surprised if you could improve on the outward journey, I just put in a random date. The key is to go via Birmingham and get one of the £6 advance fares.

[Sweep]

yes ph, but I'm mean

and super bargain fares are often available if you just wait for the frequent sales on either west or east coast.

In any case I try to minimise my cycling use of what used to be called inter city trains these days because of the cycling booking mess.

[robing]

I could have got a cheaper MK>Holyhead ticket if I'd split the journey. But with the bike, I just wanted to have a direct journey to Holyhead with no changes. The change at Birmingham to catch the London bound Virgin train was bad enough! The train manager is the only one who can open up the 'guard's van' for you. The station staff are supposed to assist you but are never around.

[robing]

I've updated my blog and there is a link for the LLC tour with photos.