Hi all. Off to Wales for a delightful couple of days. Been quite a few times, normally stay near Bala, so have a reasonable knowledge of the roads there, but would love to know about nice roads south of Rhayader as we will will stay there this time. Also seems an opportunity to find something new for me. I know you folk have expert local knowledge so TIA.
Nobody? Ok, I will have a go… What do you like? Main roads or lanes? For main roads, the run from Rhayader to Aberystwyth (A470, A44) is good. Or south to Newbridge on Wye, then right onto B4385 and right (Beulah) onto A483 and on to Llandovery. From there you can get join A40 to Llangadog and then over the mountain road across the Brecon Beacons (or whatever they are called these days). Lanes? Try the road up the Elan valley and Claerwen dams to Devils Bridge. Or go down to Llanwrtyd Wells and turn right onto the lanes towards Abergwesyn and wander through to Tregaron or Llyn Brianne reservior. Kington, Knighton, Clun, Bishops Castle in the Shropshire hills is nice too! Have fun!
Well got to my mate in the Peak District, only to find a small rock I tried to avoid had hit the sump and punctured it, looks like not going anywhere fast.
Luckily it happened about a couple of miles before I got to my mates house, I didn’t know till I stopped. Very lucky as the right hand side of the rear tyre was soaked in oil and there were no right hand bends after the hit, I had been cracking along at a fair pace too, so would have been off at the first right handed.
And Hay on Wye with it’s newly restored castle is worth a visit, so is Llanthoney abbey near hay in a spectacular hidden valley, lunch at the honey cafe in Bronllys is a must, llangors lake and the little church in llangasty on the other side off the lake is a gem
Postponed trip is happening soonish now. Many thanks for all the previous replies! Many years since I have been to Breacon beacons(mushroom picking) and I imagine the roads have a few more restrictions on them now. Can anyone suggest nice roads in the Beacons without cameras etc that will bring a smile to our faces? I imagine everyone goes to the Top Gear roads?
I'd suggest heading North from Brecon, something like this, and then from Rhyadder head West and up the Elan Valley over to Devils Bridge. Could post a full circular route coming back to Brecon if that's where you're going to be based.
The top gear road has average speed cameras along it now so it’s ruined it. Elan valley road and devils staircase road are well worth a ride along though.
Many thanks. I am fairly familiar with the roads between crossgates to Bangor etc, I was just thinking is it a nice ride across and around the beacons or is it a lot of traffic etc. I love to be on roads with quite a way between villages etc.
The route from Brecon to Rhyadder above is, in my experience, devoid of traffic of any significance. With the exception of the lower Elan Valley, road past the reservoirs rather than the mountain road, can have some traffic. From the top reservoir to Devils Bridge it's pretty clear. Devils Bridge to Lampeter via Tregarron and then Lampeter to Llandovery all clear. The stretch from Lampeter to a A40, that leads into Llandovery is now limited to 50mph, its a great twisting road so just keep your eyes peeled. That's the route I'd be riding. All of this has little in the way of villages and towns. Brecon itself, Rhyadder, Lampeter and Llandovery are the main ones but really no bother. Bank holiday weekends, if that's when you're going, traffic will be worse. Ideally mid week and you'll not have any traffic problems.
Thanks for that. Will arrive on a Thursday evening. Probably do above Rhayader Bala etc Friday and Brecon area as you described on Saturday. Will ride back Sunday avoiding the unruly lot who are arriving. Thanks for the info
