My cycling guilty secret: I love gravel more than any other surface. Even more than cobbles, although it’s a close run thing.
I’m currently half-way through a project to find the best 100 mile ride in Wales containing as much gravel as possible: more on that as and when I complete it!
That’s not quite what this post is about though, although it’s related. It was late August 2017 and Tom and I had an inkling to try bike-packing. I suggested we ride Lon Las Cymru – Holyhead to Cardiff – in two days, with as many detours as possible to include gravel!
What ensued was an epic 2 x 215km days, starting early and finishing in darkness, with everything from sublime gravel to barely ride-able rocks in between. Four places stood out: the marginal passage across the flanks of Cader Idris, the remarkable 10.3km gravel climb of Myndd Graean, the wilds south of Devil’s Bridge and the Roman Road across the Brecon Beacons.
Enjoy the pictures. SGL, 2017.
