Like golfers with their hit list of courses they want to play, so cyclists have areas they want to ride or mountain cols they want to target. In café chat or beer bravado you hear talk of alpine cols, visits to Mallorca or challenges in the Dolomites. What you don’t often hear is talk of trips within the UK.
Now we all know the British weather can be unpredictable but with Covid hampering our efforts to go abroad, there has never been a better time to reassess and look closer to home. Ask most riders for preferred destinations and they would immediately suggest the Lake or Peak District, and certainly we have ridden in both these areas and they are beautiful and challenging.
Less often suggested is an area of Wales which is generally overlooked. The Elan valley and Llyn Brianne are two reservoir systems lying north of the Brecon Beacons that provide the most extraordinarily beautiful backdrop to a few days cycling.
Our intrepid ride leaders searching over hill and dale for beautiful places to take you cycling.
Having decided to take a closer look, four intrepid Viva Velo Ride Leaders went off to test their legs, their bikes and ogle at the views. No one had any desire for an early morning depart, after all, there is no traffic one has to get out early to avoid. In fact, there was barely any traffic period. And the relatively short 120km route lulled us into a sense of security that meant we set off at 10.30. By 12.30 we were sitting down for lunch having only completed 30 km. Now none of us are that slow, but with a mechanical, photo op’s happening every few kilometres and two of Simon Warren’s 100 greatest UK climbs occurring in the first 20 km, it wasn’t surprising that we hadn’t gone that far.
After lunch our speed increased, well it was flat for 10 km! Then the views changed as we climbed a couple of short sharp shockers before cycling up the valley to our first sight of the reservoir system. Following the lakes we crossed the dam, took more photographs and slowly made our way home. By the time we settled down to a well-earned drink at the pub in town, we were all happy to say this had been one of the best days any of us had had on a bike. Little did we know that the following day a ride around Llyn Brianne would have us making the exact same statement again.
Elan Valley and Llyn Brianne reservoirs lie at the heart of this stunningly beautiful area.
Our routes certainly included some tough climbs and the last twenty kilometres of the first day had us going up and down some short sharp bumps at a time when our legs were fairly spent but a great deal of the riding was accessible to all and different routes could be designed for different abilities. Without doubt, the scenery held its own with any place we have ridden in Europe.
Editor’s note: Our Fabulous Foursome of ride leaders stayed in self-catering cottages just outside Llanwrtyd Wells and rode 128km and climbed 2,500 metres including the Devil’s Staircase and Gamalt on their first day. On the second day they rode 56km climbed 1,100 metres and managed to ride the reverse of the Devil’s staircase without realising it! For more information on these climbs check out Simon Warren’s 100 greatest, and another 100 Cycling Climbs.
If you are interested in visiting this area and would like us to organise the trip for you, please get in touch.
Our ride leaders testing a route in the Elan valley. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it!