| Where | From Cardiff city centre to Craig yr Allt (Brecon Beacons and South Wales) |
|---|---|
| Date | 20 July 2003 |
| Duration | 2 hours |
| Distance | 18 miles (~29 km) |
| Weather | Mainly sunny |
| Trail conditions | Dry, but a bit muddy off-road |
| Rider | Age | Bike(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Poole | 31 | GT LTS 2000 (CP) Apollo Terra |
| Mark 'Tarquin' Wilton-Jones | 23 | Apollo Terra GT LTS 2000 (CP) |
Trip report
Description by Mark 'Tarquin' Wilton-Jones
This started off with Chris cycling from Penarth. As he was running late, I cycled into Cardiff city centre to meet him. The trip started by the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.
Chris stormed off up the Taff Trail. I just about managed to keep up. We cycled to Tongwynlais and headed up the road past Castell Coch. After being overtaken by a jogger (oh, the shame) on the way up the hill, we eventually reached the picnic area half way up. I tried Chris' bike for a while, and we started along the track to the castle. After a quick look at the flooded mines, we swapped bikes again and sped back down to the railway line part of the Taff Trail.
At the first overhead bridge, we turned right onto the start of the Craig yr Allt mountain, with my back tyre having absolutely no grip on the mud. At the junction with the main bike trail, we headed left, me having to walk the bike again because of the lack of grip (and the pain from having cycled too quickly into the city centre). We turned right over the stream and up the track with me managing to cycle only half of the distance to the next downhill. We swapped bikes before starting down the other side.
We reached the road and headed towards Caerphilly, turning right at the next two junctions to head back down the hill to Tongwynlais. Finally, we headed back to Whitchurch to finish the trip, and Chris cycled back to Penarth (showing that he clearly has too much stamina).
