We were back in Aberdovey for another family get together, along with our bikes of course. Over our previous visits, we have discovered most of the local roads, so I was looking for somewhere a bit further off to explore. There were also a couple of extra considerations to take into account while route planning…
Firstly, was Colette’s wrist. She had broken it when riding into a giant pothole in February, and now, four months later, it was still giving her problems. After a couple of hours cycling, even wearing a splint, it would start to get painful. So we couldn’t go for much more than that, even with a lunch break factored in.
Secondly, we had to take the range of her e-bike into account. That would be about 45 miles distance or 3000 ft of elevation, whichever came first, in order to leave a bit of charge in reserve for emergencies.
Reading somewhere that Lake Vyrnwy was considered to be Wales’s most beautiful lake, it looked like a good destination. The plan was to ride there from Llanuwchllyn, do a loop of the lake including a stop near the dam for lunch, then retrace our steps to the start. According to the route planer, that would be come in at approximately 30 miles distance and 2900 ft of elevation. Perfect!
On arriving at Llanuwchllyn, we parked near the little railway that runs 4.5 miles alongside Lake Bala to the town of Bala. We had a nosey around the station, then set off on our ride.
Fairly quickly, we hit a steep ramp going out of the village, before turning right onto a single track road. This was steep in places too, as it undulated for the first couple of miles. We then hit the climb proper just as it started raining. I stopped and put on my waterproof, then we cycled on through lightly wooded hillside. Just as we left the trees behind, the rain stopped and the sun illuminated a stunning view of the steep-sided little valley, with a farm nestling in the centre.
After photos, we carried on upwards, with the gradient staying steady till close to the top, when it ramped up a bit more. At the top, we stopped for a mini-snack before heading down the other side.
A 17% gradient sign heralded a steep descent, from which we took a left turn after a few hundred yards, while the “main” road appeared to plummet even steeper into the valley beyond.
Our turnoff took us on an undulating narrow ribbon of road across exposed moorland, before dropping down into a valley. We had been benefitting from a tailwind so far, and I wondered how hard it would be climbing back up after our visit to the lake.
The descent to Lake Vyrnwy continued in steep steps, gravelly in some places, and by the time we got to the bottom, I was seriously not looking forward to going back up! We had arrived at a junction at the lakeside, where we were intending going anticlockwise towards our lunch stop. There was also a sign pointing left saying Bala was just 10 miles away.
Lake Vyrnwy
That got me thinking about an alternative, where we would head to Bala for a later than planned lunch, followed by the short cycle back alongside the lake. I tried my best to plan out the alternative route with the available “G”s and it came out as less elevation than our original plan. It was decided then, it surely couldn’t be as hard as the way we came.
So we ended up not doing the full circle of the lake. To be honest, we couldn’t see much of it was we rode along, just glimpses through the trees. I’m fairly sure you would need a drone for the best views. At least we had a respite of a mile or so of completely flat riding on the clockwise route round the lake till we reached the Bala turnoff.
The road was again single track, but with a few more passing places than our road in, and with a fair bit more traffic. It started off easily but soon we hit some hard kickers of climbs. Stopping for oncoming traffic on those steep sections made it impossible to get going again, so both Colette and I were forced to push for a short distance.
One good thing about our hastily revised route was that we were going through woods for most of the climbing, which meant we hardly felt any headwind. The uphill finally ended just as we came out of the woods, leaving us a long, easy descent to Bala, with the exception of a really steep ramp at Rhos-y-gwaliau.
When we reached Bala, the sun was shining and the place was full with Saturday afternoon cyclists. We stopped at a cafe and had a tasty, filling and pretty inexpensive lunch. Wales definitely is a more pocket-friendly place to visit than Scotland!
After lunch, we rode back out of town and past the Bala railway station as we turned onto the B4403. This road made for an easy short ride back to the car, running alongside the tracks and even giving us a view of the train as it passed, and Lake Bala beyond.
As we reached the end of the ride, Colette’s bike was flashing red, which she found quite alarming, but by the time we reached the car, there was still 18% left from a full charge at the start. This was the most charge that she has used on a single ride. The climbing had been quite taxing at times, but using the e-bike made it possible to contemplate this route, which would have been a big no-no on her normal bike.