Over the Hills part 4 - A recount of the Bristol to Colwyn Bay bike ride, July 2013

Day 4 – There and Back Again

The day started in the worst possible way – with the wind hammering the rain into the side of the tent. This was the last day of the ride and the forecast was mixed. If we got soaked, we would have to pack our wet kit into the van, as we were going home the next day.

Lazily, and hoping to avoid the inevitable, we stayed in bed until late. The previous evening we had planned the route for the last day. I had wanted to cycle into Snowdonia for the final leg, but the rest of the team wanted to follow the Sustrans route up the west coast and along the north coast to our destination. The coastal route was longer but flatter and followed many off road tracks. It would also take in many impressive sights along the coast and be much safer, as we would be avoiding the majority of the busy ‘A’ roads. Obviously, I lost the vote - but that was no bad thing. We would have the wind behind us up the coast and spend many miles off road on the Sustrans routes.

Jonny, Tom and I prepared to ride off in the rain, with Fabian and Liam breaking camp. Surprisingly, though, the rain stopped and we started our journey dry and relieved. We followed the coast up to Porthmadog and then joined Liam on a main road on the west side of Snowdonia. The roads up until this point had been busy and so stressful, but we joined a great off road trail that took us all the way to Caernarfon. The sun was now shining and the wind was behind us. We sped towards our lunchtime destination, chatting and pleased with our choice of route.

We arrived at Caernarfon which was soaked in sunshine. The castle looked magnificent and we stopped at the bridge, taking photographs with Anglesey Island in the background. We rested and enjoyed lunch together at a pub which sat at the foot of the castle and basked in the relaxing warmth. Unfortunately, we may have relaxed a bit too much and starting again was difficult.

After a while, though, we built up momentum again and started making progress towards Bangor. The view continued to unfold as we met Bangor and caught our first view across the north coast of Wales. What a wonderful day! What had started as grim and depressing was now anything but. We travelled onto the north coast and continued using Sustrans's great off-road routes.

We passed along the north coast with Snowdonia looming to our left but had to stop as I was suffering from back pains. After a brief rest, I felt much better and we continued the last stretch through the beautiful town of Conwy and on to our eventual destination of Llandrillo-yn-Rhos, a mile or so away from Colwyn Bay.

Fab greeted us at the campsite with a celebratory drink and we sat exhausted in a large field surrounded by happy campers. We were exhausted but quietly proud of what we had achieved: 250 miles through the constantly changing Welsh landscape, battling through wind and rain and meeting the challenge together as a team.

Later we ventured into the quiet town and celebrated with a pizza. Tomorrow we would begin the long journey home, but this time we would be driving!