An outstanding turnout for our latest special ride; just about filled the library carpark. After much deliberation of how many layers we’d need, most riders opted for the (slightly) less demanding mod ride, with just Clive and myself on the superior ‘plus’ ride. Not sure how my name got to be on the ride planners list though. All I did was ride it with the Hughes’s last year, so a big thanks to them.
After a nice flat wind-assisted run up to St Asaph, we started to climb up to Cefn, past the impressive and isolated St Mary's church, and down to the Elwy valley. Conscious of the fact I was riding with an avid history buff, I just had to point out the Neolithic caves in the cliff face.
Then the lane ramped up sharply, and found that surprisingly Clive didn’t disappear from sight. Luckily for me Clive had not been out riding for several weeks, so, was off ‘brisk’ for the day! The hills just kept coming after Henllan, but was still enjoyable on mostly well-surfaced lanes and stunning Welsh countryside.
Our main objective was to push on and beat the mods to the lunch stop. This we achieved as neither of us wanted to be behind Dave H ordering his 3 course luncheon!(lol). They arrived soon after, and thanks to Megs, shepherding at the rear, no one was missing!
The return leg along the Clwyd valley was thankfully flatter, albeit into a cool headwind. A few more climbs took us up to Rhuallt and on to Cwm with cracking views to the west. Here we took a diversion and dropped down into the valley. Just had to show Clive the ‘bridge to nowhere ‘. Pont Dafydd is a four hundred year old bridge that is now land-locked due the river being diverted during the construction of the A55.
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| Sitting on the side of the Pond Dafydd |
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| By Eirian Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25541593 |
A challenging 3900ft of climbing over 43mls, and thanks to Clive for his always interesting and pleasant company.
See route map and/or gpx file download
AO
CA: Many thanks Alan for leading this ride and especially pointing out the churches, cliffs and for the interesting diversion to Pont Dafydd.
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