Wales

[Tashkent Terror]

Does anyone know of some hilly routes, places to stay and how to get to Snowdonia National Park? (travelling by public transport)

[the other Steve Dennis]

Ok so actually my parents are from Liverpool but I'm a welshy!

So there are two ways to get close to Snowdonia.
a - Train from Euston to Holyhead. But get off at Conwy or Llandudno and get another train or coach south to Betws-y-coed.
b - Train from London (?) to Wrexham, changing at Telford or somewhere onto a local nah sod that too complicated.
c - National Express coach. I have never done this but Coach from Victoria in the early hours takes 6 hours for only about £12 to go through England and wind up through the centre of Wales, stopping everywhere. This has no choice but to get close, they may even have one that goes to Betws-y-coed.
d - I never expected the Spanish Inquisition.

Betws-y-coed is the place you want. The heart of activity sports in Snowdonia. Many offroad routes start here and all are clealy marked and really hit the mountains. Good for road rides too, roads can be a bit busy in the season at this point but you are only 10 miles from Snowdon itself and the roads are great.

And its so darn beautiful.

The YHA will have properties in Snowdonia and I am sure some will cater for cyclists.


Nos da.

By the way I would like to distance myself from the claim that 'I am indeed faster than Ullrich'. I can whip Lance's ass but Ullrich is the man!

[Tashkent Terror]

Cheers,
I'll be sticking to the road and wanting to do at least 5 to 6 hrs per day.

Unalble to do any of these fancey Spanish training camps, so I thought i'd do 4 to 5 weekends in Snowdonia to compensate.

Will there be enough routes to keep me busy?

Surrey and Kent are getting rather boring and there aren't too many challenging climbs.

[Marek]

Aren't too many challenging climbs, what are you on about there are loads, or maybe its just me who finds them tough. If you go down to Dorking and Shere area you will find some nice climbs. Also if you go over to Kent, Westerham, Hever Castle way there is Ide Hill, Star, Toys etc. All pretty challenging.

If you have not done the Tour of the Surrey Hills route then that is well worth a try. I am pretty sure you could get a map of this route off the internet but am not sure where. Just search in Google and I am sure you will find it. That is a nice hilly route and will take you to the most challenging climbs in Surrey.

Anyway, hope you have fun in Wales the climbs there are probably a lot longer so will be great training.

Cheers

Marek....

[Rob]

or maybe try ide hill etc once you've already got 80 miles on the clock...makes things alot harder!

whos tashkent when hes at home?

[Tashkent Terror]

Titsey hill didn't seem too hard after 90 miles last Sunday, so maybe i've peaked a little early!

Like I said, getting bored with all the above mentioned mounds.

Rob, I was formally known as the Tashkent Express until I caused two of the most spectacular crashes in the history of the Tour De France. The peleton then changed my name to the Tashkent Terror.....

Oh, and I won a my fair share of Green Jerseys too!

TT

[Rob]

you sound good, but i still havent got a clue who you are....maybe we'll meet one day.

if you stick around long enough on these mounds and dont drop me, i'll look forward to meeting you.

[Jon H]

If it's hills you want and somewhere within reach of public transport I would suggest the Yorkshire Dales. Get a GNER train from Kings Cross to Leeds (approx 2-1/2 hours) and a local train to Skipton - I think some GNER trains might even go direct to Skipton. Plenty of hills to go at for a weekends riding and fantastic scenery. A good bet for starters would be to do the Yorkshire Dales Cycleway which would be good for your 5-6 hours on the road on both days, staying at a YH or B&B halfway round.

Also don't miss out on the road over Fleet Moss (from Hawes to Langstrothdale), and Park Rash (from Kettlewell to Coverdale). Both are "challenging" routes.

Try to avoid the A65 because it's a busy through route from West Yorkshire to the Lake District and packed with caravan drivers, and the Skipton-Grassington road on a weekday because it's full of lorries going to and from the limestone quarries. Apart from that the roads are pretty quiet.

[Tashkent Terror]

Thanks Jon, I shall be exploring soon.

Rob, I've dropped you on more climbs than I can remember..... so stop worrying about who I am, get out of that big chain ring and start focusing on winning!

See you tomorrow!

[SimonH]

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov is the last stage winner in Lyon, the "Tashkent Express" outsprinting the best in 1991. ??

[Tashkent Terror]

Correct Simon.

My favourite memory is of him hitting the metal footing in the sprint on the Champs Elysees and bringing down half the peleton!

Gotta love a guy who's got no regard for his of anybody else's safety

[Rob]

national express allow two pieces of luggage per person. its then up to the driver whether he lets you take on extra dependong on how full coach is...and just because the outward driver has let you, doesnt mean the return coach driver will let you..