If I was riding a race, you might class this as a classic mountain stage. 69 miles. Flat start with a hefty dose of eye-candy landscapes and sea views to ease me in before the brutal end of the day I’ve given myself.
3200m of climbing. Fully loaded. 3 days in. (gulp)
Machynlleth to Bala isn’t that far if you go direct. I wanted to ride to the seaside in my original plans for the tour so I’ve planned plenty of seaside today.
Its a flat start hugging the estuary around to Aberdovey. I skirt Tywyn where I have a lot of memories holidaying there as a kid with my parents. Up the coast and then onto the Mawddach trail for a bit of soft offroad. Its an old rail track which is now a cool cycle trail. Great views of the estuary and Barmouth on the other side. I’m planning a stop in Dolgellau before I attempt some ridiculous climbing up and out of Dolgellau and finally Bwlch-y-Groes before the descent into Bala for the night. Its the 2nd hardest climb I’ve ridden in this country. Enough said.
I will be drinking some beer tonight to celebrate getting through to this point.
