Pembrokeshire hills

A family holiday out in Pembrokeshire provided the opportunity to try out the Preseli hills. None of the climbs are particularly steep but they are longer than the hills around the Stroud escarpment.

Trying to fit in a three hour ride and satisfy the demands of a "family" holiday can be a tricky balancing act. Luckily the appalling weather provided a convenient cover for my extra curricular activity. No one was in a rush to leave the holiday cottage while the wind outside was howling and the rain was coming down in sheets.

I set out at 6.15 am with my full winter gear on. Visibility from the outset was down to 30 metres and I was cursing myself for not bringing my lights. The route started out just north of Haverfordwest and headed northwest up to the start of the Preseli hills. From there is skirted the National Park up to the start of a long downward descent into Fishguard - a picturesque fishing village.

There is a sharp climb out of Fishguard and then a long undulating section on the busy A road to Newport. After Newport there are many different routes to choose to head up the Preseli hills for the real climbing. I chose the main B-4329 route that goes over the pass. The climb starts at Crosswell and, though not overly steep, proved to be a tough climb due to the heavy head wind and stinging horizontal rain. For the last 1 kilometer of the climb I was down to a derisory 5 or 6 kph bent over the handlebars trying to keep the bike upright. The conditions were very similar to Snowdon in a gale. This was perhaps the only time in my cycling career that I wished I was riding a steel frame bike with sandbags hanging off the handlebars. Several times I pondered flagging down passing cars to get a lift as it seemed like an extremely foolhardy thing to attempt to keep going. Visibility was now down to a few feet and I was extremely concerned about the ability of cars being able to see me before I was plastered over their front windscreen.

I finally made it to the summit and the descent proved to be just as tricky. The more speed I gained the less stable the bike became due to wind shear. I had to apply the brakes for most of the ride down and was most relieved to finally reach the relative protection of the hedge-lined roads at the bottom.

The rest of the ride was stress free apart from the occasional seat of the pants scare when large trucks passed me and gave me cause to grip the handlebars with maximum torque.

Foolishly I repeated a similar ride two days later in even more atrocious conditions. I would love to go back and ride those hills on a clear sunny day. I am sure it would be an amazing ride.

The Ladder

My new favourite hill is The Ladder.

It rises out of Nailsworth up to Minchinhampton Common. The road has been newly resurfaced and is super smooth. There are several switchbacks that give you the feeling of being out on the Alps and then it summits into an awesome view of the common. The total distance is not more than 1.5 kilometres and a rise of only 140m or so which means the pain is fairly well contained.

The great bonus though is that once you have climbed it you can turn around and come back down. The descent (http://app.strava.com/segments/720237) is probably the best on the Escarpment. The smooth tarmac allows speeds up to 80kph, although you have to brake hard for the sharp bends.