Simon Warren - Cycling Climbs of Wales

A ROAD CYCLISTS GUIDE

SIMON WARREN

Frances Lincoln Limited

A subsidiary of Quarto Publishing Group UK

7477 White Lion Street

London

N1 9PF

Cycling Climbs of Wales: A Road Cyclists Guide

Copyright Frances Lincoln Limited 2016

Text, photographs, design and illustrations copyright Simon Warren 2016

First Frances Lincoln edition 2016

Digital edition: 978-1-7810-1214-7
Softcover edition: 978-0-7112-3703-2

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the United Kingdom such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Barnards Inn, 86 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1EN.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Thanks to my family and friends for their continued support and patience while I persist in riding every hill in Britain.

Thanks to all the Strava users and my Twitter followers who have suggested climbs for me to seek out, especially Dan Evans and Jack Thurston, whose local knowledge was invaluable.

And finally to everyone else who helped bring the book to life.

L ets get straight to the point: there are too many hills in Wales. Yes, you read that right TOO MANY. Impossible! you cry. Well, not when you have to narrow them down to just 75... Continually having to choose between climb A or climb B because theres only room for a finite number is like being asked to choose between chocolate and crisps. Everywhere I went, whether on a tip off from a local or on the hunt for a legend, I found at least five more killers along the way almost equal in stature. Some even tougher or more beautiful than the original climbs Id been seeking out, and some hitting me like a bolt from the blue. Worse still, those I had initially missed as they were so well concealed had me re-tracing my steps time and time again to bag them. I also realise that there will be gems out there that I never found, because even those Ive included were very difficult to find. Climbs like The Rhyswg Road or Nant Gwrtheyrn are, to say the least, off the beaten track hidden treasures begging to be found and conquered.

Having visited Wales in the past to research the climbs for the original 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs and its sequel, Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs, I knew I wasnt going to enjoy the best weather on this next round of hill hunting, so I made sure to pack almost my entire cycling wardrobe just in case I advise you do the same!

I began this particular research trip with a day based around Llangollen followed by three days out west in Snowdonia. On the first day I met up with two of my riding buddies, Nick and Owen, for one of our annual get togethers. We could not have picked a worse day for riding the weather was apocalyptic. A loop that started up the Old Shoe soon became a farce as we fought driving rain and gale-force wind, as well as challenging road surfaces that resulted in a flurry of punctures. At the base of the final climb, up and over Llantysilio Mountain, my companions said theyd had enough and returned to the car, leaving me to tackle the climb solo. Fittingly, it has been named The Grim on Strava, and boy did it live up to the name it was simply horrendous.

Back in Llangollen, sodden and miserable, I was close to calling the rest of the trip off. Was this what I was going to have to deal with on the mountains of Snowdonia? Mercifully, no. Over the coming days, I hardly saw a cloud it was a miracle! Basking under a clear blue sky, Snowdonia had never looked more magnificent. I was in cycling paradise.

Over three days I rode some amazing routes; they all but broke my legs, but I didnt care. The triptych of The Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen, The Eigiau and The Colwyld, which I rode one after the other, will live long in my memory, and even longer in my legs. The Colwyld was particularly brutal; the ludicrously steep slope goes on and on until you get to a stage where if you dont laugh, youll just break down and cry. But it still wasnt the highlight of this trip. That was the one and only climb up to the Stwlan Dam. Oh what a road those bends, those glorious bends! Id seen photos of them in a magazine some time before and couldnt quite believe they were to be found on the British Isles, but there they were. And its not just the fact that there are eight tightly packed hairpins the scenery that theyre set in is also incredible, and all of it laid out under the gaze of the towering dam. I knew as soon as Id ridden this climb that it was very special, and one that you all MUST ride.

A month later, back on the road, I spent a glorious weekend around the Brecon Beacons, again under clear blue skies how did I get lucky twice? Perhaps all the rumours of dire Welsh weather have been fabricated to scare away tourists, ensuring the locals get to keep their quiet roads to themselves. But of course they havent, and on my final day of research along the bottom of the country I was, fittingly, absolutely soaked; it didnt stop raining for a second. I went through every piece of clothing I had packed at least once if not twice, frantically drying stuff in the car between climbs. It was miserable, as you will see from the pictures in the last chapter. Nevertheless, nothing could, or will ever, dampen my affection for the climbs in this great country, and the continuous surprises they deliver. It was simply a joy to research, and I hope youll find the same pleasure riding all these spectacular roads yourselves.

I n the original 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs and its sequel, Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs, I decided that two of the climbs were so outstanding, so utterly awesome, that they would be awarded the Spinal Tap-esque rating of 11/10. They were the toughest hills in the books, yes, but a lot more goes into the ratings than just how hard a climb is to ride; its an amalgamation of the length, height, toughness, and overall climbing experience. So with two mega-climbs found, I was on the look out for a third, and Wales, with its bounty of little-known and first-class climbs, seemed the perfect place to direct my search. Some came very close; The Colwyld (see ) could have been the third, but I thought it lacked something: the vital X-Factor that the other two had. And so the quest continued, but incidentally just for one more day It was at this point that I arrived, nerves tingling, at the base of the Stwlan Dam.