DAY TWO
After a good nights sleep I awoke around 08:30, the sun had been shining and had warmed the tents up. Nick however had found his tent and Thermorest mat very comfortable indeed as he did not wake up until 10:00. We ate some breakfast and we were then faced with the climb over the Bryn-y- Fedwen mountain at 509 metres. The day was overcast and we had a strong head wind, but this made exhilarating riding over the top. We were greeted with a spectacular view of the Cadair Idris, a range of mountains which dominates this area, especially Penygaider at 893 metres and Myndd Moel at 863 metres. These two peaks stood ominously with their summits in the clouds daring anyone to tackle them! The ride down the mountain is nine mile descent without any up hills at all and before long, after some wonderful scenery, we were in Machynlleth the ancient capital of Wales. We saw the mediaeval parliament buildings where Glyndwr held court. It felt that really this was the capital of Wales in this small town deep in the heart of the country, much more so than Cardiff so far to the south. We had a bite to eat here and stocked up with supplies, after having a brief look around this pleasant town we set forth in to the Snowdonia National Park.
After cycling a few miles through pleasant scenery we arrived in the village of Corris, this is an old slate mining town and the houses looked so different in this northern part of Wales, with their grey hard finish. Our ride took us on and on deeper in to the heart of the country. We arrived at the village of Aberllefenni, here we turned up the lane that would take us on one of the greatest ascents of all time, into the Dyfi forest. This unknown lane goes through some spectacular scenery, up a steep steep beautifully surfaced path, completely devoid of traffic. We climbed in the late afternoon over the Cwmgerwen Mountain at 469 metres. The weather was warm with the sun trying to breakout but the most important thing was that it was dry. As we went over the summit, we looked back and saw the mighty Cader Idris high above us. The drop down the other side was steep and fast, this lane had taken us over the ridge of the Cambrian mountains, these traverse Wales form north to south.We have cycled over this range many times, including last years ride over to Strata Florida, but we have never been so far north. Aberangell was reached by about 20:00; from here we were to ride to Cemmaes. Nick however cycled off ahead and missed the turning. I was informed by a young couple in a car that they had seen a cyclist a couple of miles down the road. I sped off trying to catch him fortunately he had stopped; we retraced our steps back to Cemmaes. From here I had spotted a shortcut on the map that would send us in the direction of Rhayader and hopefully a good campsite for the night!
However, this lane proved to be a climb in its self over Myndd Camais a mountain of some 464 metres. On top was a massive wind farm, all over we had seen these white structures, but we had not been so close to them as we were here. Spare rotor blades lay in a compound on the side of the mountain, it is only when you get so close to them you realize their huge size. Many people are up in arms about these wind farms, but I can only say I do not find them that offensive, unlike the many reservoirs in this area which have completely scarred many valleys in Wales.
We looked at places to stop up here, but I felt bad weather coming in and I wanted to get off the mountain and seek shelter in the lowlands. We cycled down the hill and then joined a lonely road that follows the river Twymyn. A few miles along the road there was an old bridge and a dead-end road with a field along side. This was a perfect site! It was 20:30 leaving us plenty of time to strike camp and cook our food. Along side the river there were many insects so we repelled them by surrounding the camp with burning incense sticks.
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