We did a tandem ride in north Wales last week!
My husband Chris had business meetings in south Wales on Wednesday and Thursday, and we tacked on five days beforehand so we could do a little roaming, including this tandem ride on the Isle of Anglesey. Anglesey is an island off the north tip of Wales, across the Menai Straits in the Irish Sea. We rented a tandem online—and learned a lot about the need to be pickier up front, since it was not a very good bike (in fact, anyone with experience in renting from a distance who would like to offer advice, please please do!). It was a mountain bike—very few road bikes to be seen in north Wales, which is pretty hilly. Its brakes and shifting were really, really bad, so we were thrilled that it got us where we wanted to go and didn’t leave us stranded among fields of sheep (MANY, MANY sheep in north Wales. MANY sheep. Way more sheep than people).
We got a car at Gatwick, drove to the Cotswolds to stay overnight (see picture of Glass Studio bike from the Cotswolds village of Chipping Camden). The next day we drove all the way north to our hotel on Anglesey, then took a cab back across the Menai Bridge to the mainland town of Bangor, where our rental tandem was waiting. Rode the tandem back over the bridge and 11 miles back to our hotel. The next day we rode a 36-mile beach loop tour, one of many Anglesey bike trips kindly posted online by a north Wales bike club. The first beach, Llandona, was down a 35% grade hill, which we tried for about two minutes---quickly realized our bad brakes weren’t going to do it for us (not that any brakes on a tandem would work well on such a hill)—had to actually run it, gently, into the hillside to stop it!--and walked it down the rest of the way. Bravely tried to ride back UP a 25% grade hill—which also lasted for several hundred feet, and then we said, “Um...guess we’ll have to walk it up the rest of the way too,”, since it was a very LONG hill. The next beach, Penmon Point, came complete with lighthouse and view of nearby Puffin Island. The last beach was a totally delightful surprise—Beaumaris, with castle, seaside town full of pastel houses, and festival including traditional Welsh music.
After the couple of days on Anglesey and the tandem ride, we took two days to drive down the west coast of Wales. Spectacular, gorgeous, unspoiled, unpopulated beaches! And then on to Usk, a beautiful little village near Newport where we've stayed before when he has meetings there.
Pictures:
Best bike materials prize winner in Chipping Camden, in the Cotswolds, on our way up to north Wales. http://home.comcast.net/~deenaheg/glass_bike.jpg
Me gazing out over the inevitable pasture of sheep on the ride to the hotel on Anglesey, after picking the bike up in Bangor. http://home.comcast.net/~deenaheg/deena_anglsey.jpg
Llandona Beach.
http://home.comcast.net/~deenaheg/llanddona3.jpg
Chris with the tandem in front of an old church, on the way back up that long hill from Llandona. http://home.comcast.net/~deenaheg/llanddona_2.jpg
The MOST beautiful beach, Broad Haven, on the Pembroke (west) coast. http://home.comcast.net/~deenaheg/broad_haven2.jpg
Wales is an incredibly gorgeous place.
