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squiz
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Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071
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15th June 2018
Mt. Biking: Llanfairfechan to Penrhyn Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: cloudy and cool then sunny. Max Speed: 23.26 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 21 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Friday 15th June – bike ***** Llanfairfechan to Penrhyn – cloudy and
cool then sunny.
Another good night on Llanfairfechan seafront but woke to a cloudy and
cooler day, Mag still managed to do her exercises on the beach. The WSW
winds were filling in as the tide came in but after two days of windsurfing
it was time for a change so after breakfast I sorted the bikes out while
Mag made tuna rolls. Mag’s bike has a broken spacer on the handle bar
stem which is making some amazing creaking sounds and she can’t get into
her low gears so it is in need of a bit of a service but it should be OK
for this ride. Set off at 11.15 past our two camper neighbours who were
fishing from the prom, to the small boat yard where with the tide
approaching high three more were fishing for bass! We then joined the Wales
Coastal Path just past the café and were riding straight into a cool
headwind! The nice tarmac path soon became a rougher footpath through the
Nature reserve with bird hides. We speak to a lovely local taking pictures
of a famous globetrotting Ringed Plover apparently! Via his leg ring he
has been tracked all over Europe and into Morocco! The path meanders in
and out along the pretty Estuary past Laven Sands. At low water the sea
completely disappears here but the tide is high now. A small wooden bridge
takes us over the stream coming down from the well-known Aber Falls and
comes to a small reserve carpark with a height barrier which leads to a
section of farm track which ends abruptly as the sea has eroded a couple of
hundred metres of track. Luckily, we can push our bikes to re-join the
path. As usual the scenery is stunning with high mountains to the left,
the estuary and Anglesey to the right with the impressive looking Penrhyn
Castle coming into view:) Then at Ogwen you come to the end of the path by
another reserve carpark, this time the barrier has been left open and it
would be a nice place for an overnight spot being right by the water, shame
the local oafs have left all their take away rubbish, a world wide
problem:( Our original plan was to bike into Banger, but Steve Carter said
it was rubbish there and try the old railway line turned into a bike track
heading up into the hills but we had come far enough so headed for the
castle to find somewhere for our picnic. After a mile or so of roads we
came to the grand entrance to discover it was another National Trust
property which meant a large entrance fee! We followed the three quarters
of a mile road to the pay kiosk with some really impressive trees and you
only got brief glimpses of the castle. In the end we went down a no entry
road at the back of the castle and found a seat to eat our rolls,
unfortunately it was right in the cool breeze and we got cold! As for the
Castle well, it’s not really a castle at all just someone with loads of
money in Victorian times out to show off so just a little odd! We decided
to take the road back which is easier said than done with the busy A 55
running along the coast. It is a cycle free road as it’s nearly a
motorway but you just follow the Number 5 cycle route instead. It’s still
an interesting way though as you pass under the busy road, then go along
the old road and up onto a very lovely narrow overgrown road leading up
into the hills - popular with road bikers! We have been very impressed with
the lovely slate fences – making the most of local resources and very
unusual :) It was worth the climb as the views down to the sea were lovely
and when we came to Abergwyngregyn we saw the sign to Aber Fall so turned
steeply up to investigate and bumped into the man we saw earlier taking
pics of the plovers who would have invited us in for a cuppa but was just
heading out:) After a mile of climbing along side the river we came to some
£2 a day to park at the start of a circular 3-hour walk taking in two
waterfalls. Perhaps we will do this another day so we just sat by the
stream for our chocolate bar. The sun had come out now making things look a
whole lot better as we completed the journey back to the van which
included a very scary part of the cycle track alongside the dual
carriageway! We were surprised to learn we had been out 4 hours 30
minutes, covering 21 miles with a top speed of 23.26. While Mag was making
a cuppa, I noticed that Steve Carter was out windsurfing with 7.5 on his
big board but had to call it a day as the tide was dropping. I biked up for
a word and we are hoping for a sail tomorrow. Then after yummy bacon,
scrambled eggs and potato fritters we walked up to the Co-op to replenish
supplies. A couple more campervan arrived at the carpark, one with
windsurfers so might be busier for the weekend!
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