It was a bit cold.
This was to be the second bothy trip
that Dave and I had done by bike, carrying the minimum of equipment
that we could get away with. Train tickets had been booked as Dave
was coming from the Midlands and I from South Wales we aimed to meet
in Shrewsbury, on the train to Newtown.
The forecast had been getting slowly
more pessimistic as the week had gone on and with the expectation of
it being around freezing if not a little colder we dressed
accordingly, with spare dry and warm kit stowed away. Routes had been
discussed by email in the months preceding and although we
anticipated staying the night in Lluest Cwm Bach bothy we had packed
bivvy bags in case it was full. As it was, it turned out to be empty
but I’ll come to that. The route planned was a mix of lanes, access
roads, bridleways and hike-a-bike, with the occasional main road
thrown in where unavoidable.
From Newtown we headed South East
briefly on the A489 before climbing quite sharply along the C-roads
towards Bronyvastre and then to Lower Wig. Taking the bridleway
through the farmyard and across fields we first rode and then walked
as the slopes became too steep and boggy to climb on the bikes.
All warmth
generated on the climbs ebbing away. Continuing South along the
access road past Banc Gorddwr we found the surface to be surprisingly
good, due to the wind-farm development. As yet we hadn’t
encountered much in the way of proper Rough stuff! The pub at
Llanbadarn Fynydd was closed so lunch would have to wait. Using a mix
of access roads and Glyndwrs Way we arrived in Abbey Cwm Hir. There
wasn’t much life to be seen in the hamlet, and again the pub was
closed. Continuing along the access road that had been adopted as
part of the NCN as 825 we encountered a bridge with a small ‘Danger’
sign nailed to a post. The danger being the bridge was without sides,
and missing some useful parts of its structure with gaps where the
wood surface had rotten and fallen into the water below.
Despite
being paved originally, the surface along here was more mulch, mud
and holes than bitumen and we quite enjoyed the stiff climb and quick
descents as the lane followed the natural topography. Red Kites
emerged from the tops of hedges as we passed, and with the clear blue
skies above us they joined several others circling on the developing
thermals.
Arriving in Rhayader we finally found
an open pub to have lunch, at almost 3pm. Chatting in the pub we were
told the weather forecast had changed and the light snow that was
blowing around was as much as was going to fall. This cheered us.
After a drink and plates of fish and chips and ham, egg and chips we
carried on out through Elan village and then into the Elan Valley.
The dams were all as grand as ever, with spray hazing around from the
overflows as we passed. Truly grand engineering.
We rode along the access road around
Caban-coch and Garreg-ddu reservoirs and then at the Northern tip of
the latter we forked right and rode along the bridleway above
Penygarreg reservoir. The NCN81 continues on a paved section a few
metres down all the way along from the Visitor Centre before it bears
off West across the Craig Goch dam and continues away North. Our path
took us along the bridleway East, climbing steadily along a mixed
surface of rock and grass as it contoured around Rhiw Caws and Cwm
Garw. We broke off and headed North shortly after crossing the ford
where the two tumps meet. We were able to ride the sheeptracks for a
while, despite some light snow underfoot and then in a moment a cloud
of snow enveloped us as the wind blew hard up the valley. Five
minutes later it had passed but we were now finding the surface more
slippy and the sheep track less easy to follow. We used the bikes as
one might use trekking poles to aid our crossing of Nant Gors-y-nod
and then once around the bulge of Cefn Cwm we were able to glimpse
first of all the trees that stood proud of the bothy, and then down
into the gully we saw the bothy itself.
Refurbished in 2013 by the Mountain
Bothy Association and Elan Valley Trust the bothy was very
presentable and a good size inside; 10-12 could sleep on the raised
sleeping area with more on the floor if needed. Reading the bothy
book we found out that the table and chairs we were sat at had been
made from reclaimed timber from the building. Water was taken by
filter from the water butts on site using a small MSR filter and
bottles topped up. The stove was lit and warmth began to emanate
forth whilst I cooked up dinner. We’d taken in fire materials so
were able to leave some behind as well as taking advantage of some
coal that had been taken in by a previous occupant. Bed was taken at
around 9pm and we looked forward to the next morning.
Overnight the snow arrived quite
heavily and after a breakfast of coffee and flapjack we set out into
continuing heavy snow fall with around 8-10” underfoot. Due to the
gradient we were always going to have to hike-a-bike out from the
bothy. The plan had been to hike North-Easterly up Waun Fign and
rejoin the bridleway across Esgair Perfedd. However as we continued
to climb up with the bothy disappearing behind us the conditions were
worsening. Around 30 metres from the top and struggling to hold
ourselves and bikes upright as we waded through the deepening snow we
made the decision instead contour around towards the bridleway lower
down, descending gently as we did so. The snow was drifting in places
and at one point as I found a rocky edge with my boot sole I took
another step and found myself down in snow up to my waist. There were
numerous slides and stumbles, with the wheels of the bikes rendered
immobile by the snow gathered around the tyres and tubes. Carrying,
dragging and sliding the bikes along, we continued around Cefn Cwm.
At some point along the section the map on my handlebars was blown
away down the valley. I hadn’t noticed it as the snow whipped
against my face and the wind threatened to unseat us from the valley
side and down towards the reservoir below. We disturbed a Peregrine
Falcon not ten feet away as we used Gorse bushes proud of the snow as
stepping stones to guide us. It burst away from the ground and in a
beautiful flash of greys and creams flew down the valley away from
us.
There were moments where we
contemplated leaving the bikes and trekking back to the bothy but we
could see the dark outline of the bridleway not too far ahead.
Rejoining at the ford, the dark line of stone was clear against the
white background of snow due to the water flowing down the path of
least resistance. With joy we remounted and began riding along. Not
100 yards later there as a crunch as my ice-laden chain and cassette
bound up the rear derailleur and it bent up into the wheel. I was
bemused as to how it had occurred as I hadn’t touched the shifters.
Still that wasn’t going to help reconcile the problem. With the
snow up past the axles I shifted the bike around until I was able to
split the chain and remove the derailleur. Now able to push the bike
we continued until we reached the toilets and the NCN section at the
dam. I busied myself bending the hanger out from the cassette, and
removing the cable and tying it up to the chainstay. Then measuring
the chain up and removing a section in order to create a length
suitable to singlespeed the bike. Once that was done I was able to
enjoy a chocolate mini-roll that Dave kindly thrust into my hands.
Spinning the cranks by hand it became clear the chain was bowstring
tight. This concerned me as there was only a narrow 11-speed chain
on, not the usual 1/8” chain of a singlespeed or fixed gear. But it
did mean I was now mobile at a pace quicker than walking.
Re-tracing our route out, I was
minimising pedal efforts and walking on the steeper climbs to
minimise risk of chain snap. To our amusement this created a
‘tortoise and hare’ all the way to the Visitor Centre as Dave
would ride past me on the ascents, and I past him on the descents;
more confident due to the years of cyclocross racing, that and I was
really looking forward to a cooked breakfast! We met a lone walker
above the Visitor centre who confirmed it was closed so we were then
committed to heading into Rhayader to find some food. A friendly café
on the corner provided a large plate of hot food whilst we reviewed
our options. We were behind time by some margin; it had taken us
three and a half hours to get the 9 miles to Rhayader from the bothy,
and the planned train home from Newtown was at 14:50. With my
singlespeed gear inch of just 44” our top speed on the flat was no
more than 12 mph and on the climbs it was walking pace.
We made the decision to head towards
Pen-y-bont station to try and make the train to Shrewsbury for our
connections from there. This meant using the A44 although due to the
weather it was mostly quiet. We were passed by maybe 10 cars by the
time we had made the station. There was a suspicious lack of visible
rail showing, although the train we planned to catch was the first of
the day so we tried not to draw pessimistic conclusions from that.
After a half hour wait and a couple of phone calls we found out that
train had been cancelled due to frozen points at Craven Arms. The
options left now weren’t very palatable but we decided to ride the
23 miles from Crossgates to Newtown along the A483. I have to say
Dave was stoic in his decision and leading on, and as the miles
passed by, and I ate more jelly babies I felt stronger. Traffic again
was very quiet on the trunk road and we took turns in the wind with
the other rider following on the wheel. It was with some surprise
that we rounded a corner near Dolfor to see cars stopped in the road,
and pedalling up to the head of the queue I could see cars at odd
angles in the road along the snow, and a plough trying to clear the
way. Near the front was a Traffic Police car so I pulled alongside
and asked if the road was closed, to which the officer replied that
no; it was just this section that was difficult. We shared a joke and
then they kindly gave us some hot water in our bottles to defrost the
iced slush that the water had turned into. We rode on and carried our
bikes around the plough and stranded cars before remounting and
carrying on the last few miles into Newtown which thankfully were
gently descending. The police car passed us shortly before Newtown
with a flash of blue lights and a wave.
After a warming tray of chips at
Genie’s opposite the ginnel to the train station we were finally at
our destination. It turned out that the earlier train we had been
booked on had been cancelled and so the approaching 16:40 was the
first one we would have been able to board. Before it arrived we
chipped off the accumulated ice and snow from our bikes in order that
the melt water wouldn’t cause an issue on the train.
A tough 85 miles, and whilst not to
plan it was still an enjoyable experience. There are still many
byways and bridleways yet to be ridden in that area, and a couple
more bothies to try out so we will return.
