Pembrokeshire
Spending the night with Sally in a layby close to Red Roses may sound more like something I would have done in my twenties but don’t fret Sally was my good friend Troy’s motorhome and would be my mobile support wagon for the next stage of this challenge in Southwest Wales.
With a late arrival there were no campsites willing to accept us, Troy told me he’d found a safe spot to stop provided it wasn’t a local dogging spot. Not to worry he said, he would deal with any enquiries, “you’ll get a full night’s sleep” he promised!
I did indeed get a decent night’s kip and with my soigneur for the next three days handing me a perfect mug of tea, apple juice and bowl of granola at 6:30am I was ready and away from our drama free lay-by campsite just after 7:30am.
Little more than fifteen minutes relaxed riding downhill into the cool late September air brought me to the first of many picturesque coastal villages that would be a feature of the ride. Amroth was deserted but for one solitary dog walker and I briefly stopped to take in the 14ft long sea bass sculpture fabricated in stainless steel and filled with plastic removed from the sea. #CleanSeas is a campaign to get us all making changes to our lifestyle to turn the tide and limit the pollution in our seas. Hopefully this striking sculpture keeps the #CleanSeas message alive for years to come.
The numerous pebble cairns built on the beach were a great memory jogger for the hours spent building similar cairns and skimming flat stones into the sea on family holidays to North Wales.
A very short distance along the coast lay a town close to my heart, filled with happy memories of family holidays with parents and siblings in the 80’s and then with friends and our kids since the noughties. As I passed through the tunnels on the coast path into Saundersfoot I knew I would get emotional, I wasn’t wrong. Memories of my goddaughter Jasmine who had suddenly and tragically passed away a year ago came flooding back, it was here we had spent many hours on the beach, in the shops and cafés chuckling with her and her family, it was here where we had celebrated her life and spread her ashes just a few months earlier.
With a cold tear trundling slowly down my cheek I stopped briefly to send hugs via text to her mom Marie, my mind troubled by thoughts of how vulnerable we all are and how cruel fate can be but, at the same time buoyed by the beauty amongst which Jazz and her memories are now free to roam. I cracked on determined to enjoy every adventure and challenge as if it’s my last in her honour.
The popular holiday resort of Tenby was next up along the coast and was reached riding through Kiln Park Holiday Park which again brought childhood holiday memories flooding back. It was great having the roads and the seafront virtually to myself at this early hour outside of the peak holiday season and brought home just why the resort is popular with it’s expansive sandy beaches, harbour providing day trips and fishing trips and many pubs, cafes and shops amongst the brightly painted Victorian buildings.
I’d arranged to meet Troy for an early coffee at the Cornstore Cafe in Pembroke so pressed on heading slightly inland along undulating rural lanes looking forward to a caffeine fix to set me up for the day of short but repeated steep climbs that awaited me.
Disappointingly the cafe was closed on Sundays so coffee looking out at the impressive Pembroke castle, birthplace of King Henry VII was forsaken and plans changed to meet up at the halfway point at Newgale sands instead.
Cleddau bridge spanning the broad, deep estuary of Milford Haven was completed in 1975 replacing the ferry service, shortening the road distance from Pembroke Dock to Neyland by some 28 miles. The construction was not without tragedy as four workers lost their lives when a sixty meter cantilever collapsed on the south bank.
Open to all traffic with a well segregated cycle lane it is subject to strong winds and is closed to cyclists when gusts exceed 50mph.
The conditions for my crossing were breezy enough to confirm that a crossing in gale force winds would indeed be a nervy experience!
Cafe #1 in Haverfordwest proved too tempting to pass by with it’s prime location on the river Cleddau offering a few minutes break for me and judging by the celebrity mugshots on the wall for many others too, however, in this instance I imbibed my cappuccino alone on the patio overlooking the ancient bridge around which the town has grown.
A few spots of rain accompanied my return to the saddle as I headed west back towards the coast and another trip down memory lane. I pedalled happily along spectacular cliff tops and gloriously empty sandy bays at Broad Haven and Nolton Haven where twenty years previously I had taken the plunge with my first open water scuba diving lessons.
As I neared Newgale the fresh sea-salty aroma was corrupted with a feint whiff of burnt wood, rounding the hillside obscuring Newgale’s expansive sandy beach the source of the aroma was revealed. The hillside adjacent to a popular lodge site was black from top to bottom where the gorse and bracken had burnt wildly during the hot, dry summer.
Troy was waiting for me at Newsurf, the surf school and cafe right on the sea front. Whilst enjoying a well earned pasty and a coffee another cyclist joined us, being an owner at the Newgale Campsite he gave us the inside story of how an uncontrolled BBQ had led to the fire and described the nerve wracking few hours waiting for the fire service to control the fire and prevent it’s incursion onto the site.
As talk moved onto cycling it was clear this was a rider with vast experience of racing in Wales and he counted Luke Rowe’s dad, Courtney and Aussie Shane Sutton amongst his ride companions over the years.
The UCI World Road Championships had been won by young Belgian Remco Evenepoel in Australia during the early hours and we flicked through the results looking to find Luke’s position but unfortunately he failed to finish.
The news about the World’s was dominated by a developing story surrounding race favourite Mathieu van der Poel’s arrest for an altercation with two local teenagers who had kept him awake all night before the race banging on his hotel bedroom door!
Solva harbour, a busy commercial harbour in the 18th century is now mainly home to leisure boats, with it’s row of lime kilns and colourful houses it makes for an engaging stop en-route to Britain’s smallest city St David’s.
Sitting at the base of a small valley the views of the mighty St David’s cathedral are superb, the cathedral and it’s grounds were easily accessible by bike and were being enjoyed by only a sparse few independent tourists rather than the coach-loads I was expecting.
The hamlet of Porthgain was deserted and warranted only the briefest of stops before I rejoined route NCN4 eagerly looking forward to the views at Strumble Head.
The lighthouse at Strumble Head perched on a small islet, connected to the mainland by a suspension bridge was in full working order, it’s automated warning beacon shining in regular pulses out towards Ireland from this northern point of Pembrokeshire.
A noticeable strengthening of the wind added an additional element of remoteness to the dramatic coastal views surrounding me.
The Ocean lab Coffee shop on the front at Goodwick was an opportunity to meet up with Troy and his faithful cockapoo Milo again before the last leg of the ride through Fishguard and on to the campsite just outside Cardigan. The coffee and rocky road served up were just fine but the atmosphere and surroundings had a somewhat clinical grimness rather than a homeliness about them resulting in a pit stop experience rather than a chill out by the sea relaxation. Perhaps tiredness and the autumnal weather had clouded my opinion.
The coast around Fishguard was the scene of the last invasion by a hostile force on British soil.
In February 1797 a three-pronged attack on Ireland and Wales by the French was scuppered by ill discipline and adverse weather resulting in only the briefest of skirmishes with British soldiers following the landing at Carregwastad Point close to Fishguard.
The battle is commemorated with a series of mosaics depicting the battle inlaid in the Goodwick promenade.
The remainder of the ride was spent trying my best to save my legs for the next two days especially with a warning of strong winds to come. The terrain in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park was not exactly conducive to the leg saving plan with a steady succession of short steep climbs and descents taking their toll.
Thankfully the terrific scenery and surprisingly good tarmac saw the last thirty km pass quickly. Save for the obligatory goat photo stop I barely put a foot down and with the entrance to the Cardigan camping and caravan site catching me unawares on a fast descent I was nearly cursing an unnecessary climb back up the road to meet Troy and Milo.
With the first of three centuries in Wales complete, Troy turned camp chef and rustled up a fine camp stew which in tandem with the beer and a hot shower had me ready to hit the sack. As I got my kit ready for the next day’s ride around the Cardiganshire coast the motorhome swayed with the buffeting winds whilst the unmistakable and unwanted drum of rain on the roof had me contemplating a difficult day ahead.
The ride in numbers
163.34 km Distance
Elevation Gain 2636m
8hrs 1 min moving time (20.3km/h)
3 SIS Tropical Fruit gels
1 Torq Rhubarb and Custard gels
1 Cornish pasty
1 Rocky Road
3 coffee stops
5 bottles of water
0 cans of Beer – TBC
No punctures
16 categorised climbs (relentless!)
Finally if you’ve got a spare quid in your pocket my justgiving page to raise vital funds for the Midlands Air Ambulance is now live Keith Jones is fundraising for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (justgiving.com)
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