Well after a good night sleep at the Gwernan Hotel at Dolgellau, (I can recommend the accommodation as 5 Star B&B. The food, beer and breakfast were just the order of the trip) we left in the driving rain with a quick descent into Dolgellau. An instant climb out of Dolgellau followed with an ascent of 1,300ft according to the Garmin Forerunner. The roads turn into lanes and a slow descent to Machynlleth. Here we managed to stop and dry our clothes and fill our stomachs with some mushroom soup and a cup of tea in a café. A quick trick was to use a newspaper to dry our cycling shoes. We then visited the bike shop and bought a dry pair of socks and some jelly beans. As soon as we left Machynlleth we were challenged by the highest ascent of the trip, a gradual climb of 1,650ft according to the Garmin Forerunner. We carried on cycling through the bad weather and arrived at Llanidloes. Here we had a late lunch (4pm), to my surprise we walked into a vegetarian café. I asked a question
“Are we in a veggie café ?” Steffan
“Yes, they don’t serve meat” Huw
So I ordered some veggie salad and I must admit I enjoyed every fork full. We then carried on and came to a mutual decision to continue on the A470 as some of the guys we’re flagging. We formed a team formation and did a quick 30 miles into Builth Wells. I think we arrived around 7pm just in time to watch the footy. We stayed at shocking accommodation called Cedars Bed and Breakfast in Builth Wells, the guys reminded me of it throughout our stay. Entering the accommodation you’re struck by an old building stuck in the 1970 in décor, the bedrooms are very small and have little visitors as we found some evidence in our beds. The final reminder is the smell that strikes as soon as you enter of deep fat fried food. We had some good food out in the centre of Builth Wells and several pints and wine. This helped with the sleep although I decided to go and find some water and ended in the bar with a pint of Stella.
My Garmin Forerunner 205 kept the data of day 2. To view on motionbased click here.
