tour reports » Weekend tour of the Brecon Beacons and Cambrian Mts Wales

With a good weather forecast and a weekend to kill, I decided to do a quick tour of the Brecon Beacons in Southern Wales and the Cambrian Mountains in the centre.

I completed an 80 mile lap of the Brecon Beacons by bicycle (a crazy sponsored ride organised by workmates!) two years ago, starting and finishing at Talybont on Usk. The route took me through stunning scenery, mountains, forest and some of the old coal and steel towns at the head of the valleys. I was that impressed that I decided to re-trace my route (and more) from the comfort of my RS, trusting it to be versatile enough to handle motorways, sweeping A roads, mountain B roads and single lane tracks. I was not to be disappointed!

I planned on camping out at Pencelli (at the excellent Pencelli Castle campsite), travel down Friday after work (150 miles or so), spend Saturday in the Beacons and take a detour on my way home to the Cambrian Mts and The Elan Valley reservoirs https://www.elanvalley.org.uk/discover/reservoirs-dams, then back to Leicester via the Welsh Marches, staying off motorways as much as possible.
I
Left after work on Friday for a quick 2.5 hr blast (which included a run across the B4560 mountain road from Ebbw Vale to Talybont-on-Usk, a lucky wrong direction on the satnav as I think this is one of the Top. Gear/Evo routes) arrive in time to put the tent up before it got dark then a short walk down to the pub for steak and chips and a couple of pints of local IPA.

Woke up to a clear Saturday morning and set off on single track road up past Talybont and Pontisticill reservoirs, some great climbs (1:4 or 25%), down through Merthyr Tydfil then picked up an old military road to Devils Elbow and on to Brecon. Left at Brecon, west to Llandovery to pick up the A4069 Black Mountain road back across the Beacons. Stunning road through forest and then up with the sheep on the mountain, west across The Valleys and on to the A4067 to Brecon then a quick run south on the A470 to Merthyr and back to the campsite. Pretty well traffic free, a real mix of roads and surfaces.

Set off n Sunday, heading north on the A470 via Builth Wells and Rhayader to the Elan valley. Again, great weather, stunning scenery, very little traffic and an RS that demolishes fast A roads.

The route back was a stunner, cross country on the A44 via Crossgates, Clun, Much Wenlock and up to Telford (and the M54 zzzz). One of those rides that will stick in my memory for a long while!

All in, around 425 miles covered flawlessly on the RS. What really impressed me with this bike is it’s versatility - it can handle anything from gravel forest roads through to fast moving busy motorways in a totally relaxed way. Loaded up with all the gear it will handle 5mph feet up filtering on a busy motorway or instant overtakes on a winding B road equally well......and it’s all day comfy!

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Zitat von GordonH im Beitrag #1

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With a good weather forecast and a weekend to kill, I decided to do a quick tour of the Brecon Beacons in Southern Wales and the Cambrian Mountains in the centre.

I completed an 80 mile lap of the Brecon Beacons by bicycle (a crazy sponsored ride organised by workmates!) two years ago, starting and finishing at Talybont on Usk. The route took me through stunning scenery, mountains, forest and some of the old coal and steel towns at the head of the valleys. I was that impressed that I decided to re-trace my route (and more) from the comfort of my RS, trusting it to be versatile enough to handle motorways, sweeping A roads, mountain B roads and single lane tracks. I was not to be disappointed!

I planned on camping out at Pencelli (at the excellent Pencelli Castle campsite), travel down Friday after work (150 miles or so), spend Saturday in the Beacons and take a detour on my way home to the Cambrian Mts and The Elan Valley reservoirs https://www.elanvalley.org.uk/discover/reservoirs-dams, then back to Leicester via the Welsh Marches, staying off motorways as much as possible.
I
Left after work on Friday for a quick 2.5 hr blast (which included a run across the B4560 mountain road from Ebbw Vale to Talybont-on-Usk, a lucky wrong direction on the satnav as I think this is one of the Top. Gear/Evo routes) arrive in time to put the tent up before it got dark then a short walk down to the pub for steak and chips and a couple of pints of local IPA.

Woke up to a clear Saturday morning and set off on single track road up past Talybont and Pontisticill reservoirs, some great climbs (1:4 or 25%), down through Merthyr Tydfil then picked up an old military road to Devils Elbow and on to Brecon. Left at Brecon, west to Llandovery to pick up the A4069 Black Mountain road back across the Beacons. Stunning road through forest and then up with the sheep on the mountain, west across The Valleys and on to the A4067 to Brecon then a quick run south on the A470 to Merthyr and back to the campsite. Pretty well traffic free, a real mix of roads and surfaces.

Set off n Sunday, heading north on the A470 via Builth Wells and Rhayader to the Elan valley. Again, great weather, stunning scenery, very little traffic and an RS that demolishes fast A roads.

The route back was a stunner, cross country on the A44 via Crossgates, Clun, Much Wenlock and up to Telford (and the M54 zzzz). One of those rides that will stick in my memory for a long while!

All in, around 425 miles covered flawlessly on the RS. What really impressed me with this bike is it’s versatility - it can handle anything from gravel forest roads through to fast moving busy motorways in a totally relaxed way. Loaded up with all the gear it will handle 5mph feet up filtering on a busy motorway or instant overtakes on a winding B road equally well......and it’s all day comfy!

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Zitat von andygriff im Beitrag #2

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[quote=GordonH|p17266]With a good weather forecast and a weekend to kill, I decided to do a quick tour of the Brecon Beacons in Southern Wales and the Cambrian Mountains in the centre.



You, Gordon, make some f**kin' excellent decisions - and take some great photos

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Gordon

You covered a number of roads I've done in the past 12 months (and enjoyed) but you also covered a few I haven't and they've been added to my 'to do' list, thank you, I'm looking forward to going back to Wales :-)

Jason.

Zitat von wessie im Beitrag #5

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I used to live in Abergavenny and that area was my weekend play area. I still visit Mid Wales a couple of days a month, often on a Monday when fewer bikes are around and my favourite chip shop in Talgarth is open for lunch (closes Sunday). It only takes an hour or so to get to the border at Chepstow, Monmouth or Leominster.

I could be persuaded to organise a bank holiday weekend staying in a B&B or pub next Easter or May and take people over some of the roads mentioned above and a myriad of other goat tracks I have found over the years.

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