Manon Lloyd: Today, I wanted to take you on one of my favorite rides here in Wales. This
is where I grew up and where I started riding a bike. There are some beautiful roads to ride on,
and if you like climbing, this is a great area to ride a bike. Now, I'm not a massive fan of climbs,
but the best views are always at the top of the climbs and they are really nice climbs to ride
up. As you all know, Wales has a little bit of a reputation for being quite rainy but today,
it's a miracle, it's not raining, it's not the warmest, it's 14 degrees, and it's quite cloudy,
so I've got my arm warmers on, just in case. I've just planned my ride on Komoot and uploaded
it to my Wahoo, it's going to be around 50 miles, around 80K, and we're going up quite a big
mountain called the Black Mountains. I'm going to head off towards Porthyrhyd then at the National
Botanical Gardens of Wales, over to the Dryslwyn Castle, down the Towy Valley and up at the Black
Mountains. We're going to have a few stops in the way, some viewpoints, and a few little stories
on the way too. Going to get my bike ready, grab some food, and we'll be off. Let's go.
[music] Windy.
Now in a lovely little village called Llandeilo.
More sheep. I've just set off and I'm already on my first stop, I just wanted to show you
some of the nice country roads at the start of my ride. Literally not a car in sight, and some
really nice views. Not sure if you can see but you can see some mountains over-- quite far away,
and that's where we're going to be heading first. I'm now we're going to carry on down this road
until we reach a little village called Porthyrhyd. [music]
I just had to stop because the sun's come out.
It's great. [music]
Now, I just jumped on a bike path just off Porthyrhyd that actually runs next to the National
Botanical Gardens of Wales, which I'd really like to show you. Let's carry on on this bike path.
Just behind me, you can probably see the National Botanical Gardens of Wales,
that big glass dome that has loads of flowers from all over the world in it. I've had many
weekends out there with my grandparents when I was younger, really fond memories, and
it just looks-- it's just in the middle of nowhere and then there's just this big glass dome. It's
pretty cool, I think. Blinking glorious. I thought I was going to be too cold but
I reckon I could take my [unintelligible 00:02:54] off on my arm warmers. I don't know if it's just
me or if it's everybody but the sun literally puts me in such a good mood when I'm on my bike,
and if it's raining, complete opposite, I'm a little bit grumpy on my bike when
it's raining. [music]
Oh, Paxton's Tower, that's another first castle in Wales. It's not
famous, it's just a castle around here. [music]
What goes down must come up. Can't go very far without having to go up a hill here.
[music] On a nice day, this
is definitely my favorite spot to stop, or not even to stop, just to pass on a ride because the
views are always stunning here. As you can see in the background, that is Dryslwyn Castle built in
1220 I believe, so quite a long time ago and as you can see there isn't much left of it but
you can actually walk up to the castle and the views from the top are absolutely stunning. I
do like to come here just to take a nice picture for the gram. Rest my bike against the bridge,
and a nice stream in the background with all the greenery does make for a very good picture.
In Carmarthenshire there are loads of castles, you've got Dryslwyn Castle, Dinefwr castle, you've
got Paxton's Tower, not far from here, so there's loads to see. It makes a really beautiful riding.
I know it doesn't actually look that sunny or warm on the camera but honestly,
it's really sunny when the sun-- when the sun does come out, it's gone kind of cloudy
but it's actually a really nice day. I think the camera's making it look a bit dull and gloomy, but
it is beautiful. There are lots of these short, sharp, steep climbs, that I absolutely love,
definitely really enjoy these. [music]
There are also quite a lot of these in Wales, little sheep. Oh,
they don't want to be my friend. That tends to happen a lot, bye.
Getting closer and closer to the Black Mountains, I've still got just under 50K left of my ride, and
I just thought I'd stop and show you this quite nice view here. I'm just on a nice quiet country
lane, and just down here is Bethlehem Hill, which I really want to show you too. It's a nice
little kicker of a climb, which actually, the Women's Tour of Britain came on last year, came
on this very road actually and there was a QOM at the top of Bethlehem Hill and I managed to get up
in the peloton, which I was quite proud of. We all know I'm not a massive fan of hills, but it was
quite a short, sharp, steep one, which suited me a little bit better. I didn't win the QOM, but I got
up it and that was a win for me. We better go. [music]
Just stopped here because this stream is the stream that runs all the way up to the Black
Mountains, and it is a really pretty place to stop. I just wish I had a picnic because
this is the perfect picnic spot. I'll have to come back again, maybe with some friends. Even
though this all looks so pretty now I actually had probably one of my worst rides on this very road.
I remember it was a good few years ago now and I was home for Christmas and it was Christmas Eve,
and me and my friend Amy Roberts, we always went for a ride on Christmas Eve, and we did pretty
much this exact route. We got to the bottom of the Black Mountains, and it just started hailing,
but it was pure ice. It was so cold and so windy at the top of a mountain,
and I remember I definitely wanted to cry, and we were still like
40K from home at that time. It wasn't very fun but now we can look back and laugh at that,
but I'm just glad it's a lovely day today. [music]
Those mountains up there, that's the Black Mountains.
I finally reached the bottom of the Black Mountains. Now, for a good 15, 20 minutes,
probably 20 minutes climb all the way up to the top. As you can see it is just beautiful,
I'm sorry. It's so open and you've got a stream running all the way down from the top, you've
even got roaming sheep on the mountain, what more could you ask for? I'm also going to give myself
a little challenge on the way up. As you know it's quite a long hill and might get a little bit bored
so I'm going to give myself a challenge. I'll let you know what it is in a minute.
More sheep. Hello. [music]
I don't know if many of you know but here in Wales, we have our own language.
I thought I'd challenge myself whilst climbing the Black Mountains.
Chat some Welsh to you. Let's do it. Another pretty waterfall. [Welsh language]
Oh, sheep crossing the road, get that here a lot in Wales. Traffic. Hello. Oh, hello.
Okay, back to the Welsh. The Welsh alphabet. Let me clear my throat. [Welsh language]
God, out of breath. All right, let's take in more views.
A lot of sheep on this mountain. Call it sheep mountain, not Black Mountains. Hi, huns. Right.
Don't be fooled. Even though it is a beautiful day today. It's not always like this. I've been
on many rides in the freezing cold up here. [music]
Come on, out the road.
[music] I've reached the top and it's pretty windy up here
so I'm not going to stay here for too long, but now it's time for my favorite part, the descent,
all the way down to there, you can't even see the bottom from here because it's so far away
but on a day like today, it's so clear that you can see the sea all the way over there,
it's very far away but you can just about see it.
[music] I'm nearly at the end of my ride and
I would love a coffee stop at about now. Here in Wales, not all the coffee shops are open yet and
you can get takeaways but obviously, then, you haven't got anywhere to sit.
I don't fancy riding and trying to drink a hot coffee, that wouldn't end well. That's
not going to stop me. I went to the local shop and bought some Welsh cakes and some Bara Brith.
Now, if you're ever in Wales and you see these, you must try them because they are delicious.
I'm going to somehow carry these home and have a coffee stop when I get home.
This could he interesting. I really don't want to squish the cakes. Don't really know
where to put them. Maybe in my back pocket or down my jersey or might have to rest on
my handlebars somehow. They'll fit quite nicely in my back pocket, Welsh cake is nice and round.
I reckon I'm going to prioritize the Bara Brith there. Let's see how this goes.
Oh, it's working quite well.
[music] Manon: [sings] Heigh-ho,
heigh-ho, Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, Heigh-ho, it's off
home we go. [music]
You'll be glad that my Bara Brith and Welsh cakes made it back in one piece and I didn't
even eat any of them on the way home. Save it all for this moment here. Got my Bara Brith,
got my Welsh cakes. The perfect coffee stop at home. Oh, if you do try the Bara Brith
you have to have butter on it, always, makes it so much better, mmm. That was one of my
favorite rides here in Wales. Let me know where [unintelligible 00:11:47] your favorite riding
in the Comments section below. [00:11:50] [END OF AUDIO]