10.30 am Rhyl promenade Wednesday was brighter than Tuesday and a lot less
windy. Leaving Prestatyn on NCN5 by the beach the wind was south westerly,
so still a stiff headwind for cycling west. The path follows the beach on
the seaward side of the dunes, while the road is further inland. This means
that a lot of sand is blown onto the path. So progress involves a fair
amount of wiggling around puddles, driftwood and piles of sand. Even at 7
miles per hour I passed a couple of other cyclists who were ploughing
through all the piles of sand. I suggested that the tarmac was easier, but
when I looked back they were still in the sand.
After 2 miles open to the sea there was a wall to the side of the path. 3
feet of shelter from the wind was worth an extra mile per hour. After 3.5
miles I was pleased to find that Rhyl was alive and open for business so I
could get a cup of coffee and find a nice clean public loo. <rant> If
little towns and even villages in Wales and Scotland can have clean and
open public loos, why can't England manage this even in big cities?</rant>
15.00 pm Rhos on Sea
After Rhyl Kimael Bay consists of sand dunes and caravans, with a
convenient Asda for buying lunch. Nothing for the caravanners to do though,
apart from the one kid who had a kite.
At Abergele there were 30 or so cyclists sat outside a cafe, so I bought a
cup of tea and sat down for a chat with Colwyn Bay's Wednesday CTC group. I
assumed that being slow anyway and fully laden I'd be left behind smartish,
but to my surprise caught up with a group of 3 people going to Colwyn Bay.
I really enjoyed having company for a while, especially as they walked up
the same little inclines as me. Thanks to Gwen, Brian and Brian's wife
whose name I didn't catch.
After the Asda sarnie and a cup of tea it was decision time - stay in
Colwyn or press on to Llandudno. By this time the sun was out, the sky was
blue and even stopping to write this hadn't got me cold so it's too nice a
day to waste.
23.00 Llandudno
After Penrhyn the cycle path turns inland to climb over the Little Orme.
Amazingly the red paint and edge markings of the path continue across the
side roads with give way markings for the cars! I can't remember ever
seeing this in UK before. I wonder if the cars do actually give way to
bikes? There wasn't any traffic around for me to put this to the test.
The path does some crazy to-ing and fro-ing with lots of dismount signs to
avoid going round a roundabout. Then there's a bit in a cutting adjacent to
a dual carriageway where it becomes steep uphill. I had to get off and push
again, but did at least stay on as far as the youths behind and in front of
me. A nice long descent leads to the end of the path at the start of
Llandudno's promenade. I rode along it towards town - it's as wide as a
dual carriageway - but found out later that in theory cycling is banned on
the promenade. There was loads of room and plenty of other cyclists though.
Total for the day 27 miles.
Steph Peters
delete invalid from <[email hidden]> Wed, 15 Sep 2004 23:35:23 +
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