Wales Rides 3 - Cwm Rhaedr and the Doethie Valley

Today I am continuing the round-up of Welsh riding. This post should be about the fabulous singletrack of the Doethie Valley in mid-Wales, but it’s mostly not. This is because the ride in question became something of a failure and it’s still frustrating to talk about it.

Suffice to say a number of compounded navigational errors, not in anyway helped by an impenetrable and monotonous Forestry Commission woodland, left us well off track and tired and in the end missing the main point of the ride due to another error.

Instead let me talk about Cwm Rhaedr. This small Forestry Commission site was, for me, the biggest surprise. I hadn’t even realised it was only a mile or so from our (very organised and a bit full of older people) campsite until the staff mentioned it and I was in two minds about riding there. However with time to kill before the pub opened I rolled up the road to check it out.

Cwm Rhaedr only offers a small loop and frankly no-one is likely to go far to get there, but if you’re in the area it’s more than worth it. A 3km fireroad climb gets you a whole load of height in an efficient way, and there’s plenty of distraction as a typically Welsh valley with dramatic waterfall opens up in front of you. Once at the top you enter a path which is banned for walkers and horses and climb a bit more on switchback singletrack, but from there it’s a 4km tumbling, flowing, fast singletrack to the bottom. The trail is littered with berms and jumps which make you want to go again and again and don’t let you even consider slowing down. It’s intelligently built and amazing fun.

4km later you’re back at the road with the option of doing it all again. I decided to leave it at one loop, with the promise of a long day in the saddle the next day. In light of what happened, I wish I’d gone round another couple of times.

As for the Doethie Valley? Well, some of the riding we did there was very good, and I’m sure the famed singletrack is as good as it is supposed to be. We’ll be back, but this time with a compass to try and avoid the over-an-hour-long carry over boggy moorland and with an idea of where we went wrong.

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Lost and Secured in Soho

It seems that some users of the London bike hire scheme are having a fair amount of trouble finding their way around. This seems to mean that they entirely rely on a map to navigate and ignore the evidence of their own eyes when it comes to no-entry signs and one-way streets. It seems like the scheme must be doing ok if all anyone can find to moan about is people getting lost in the capital’s streets.

Perhaps what’s needed is a tube-style, like one that’s been developed in Edinburgh. Although now I suppose there will be a rise in people complaining that the roads are the wrong colour or not in the exact right configuration.

Once you’ve found your way to the centre of town you will soon be able to park your bike securely at a new gym in Soho which is planning to provide a couple of hundred parking places with showers, catering for commuters who don’t have those facilities at work.

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