Bike Route: Cardiff to Cradoc 54mi 3250ft climb
Accommodation: Cozy Twin Room (Airbnb); host Edward. Twin bedroom in modern house with conservatory for guests to use and downstairs bathroom, overlooking the Cradoc Golf course. Cradoc is on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National park. Breakfast included.
Dinner: Brecon Tap. We had lamb and mint pie (me) and beef curry pie (Ken), plus chips and grilled vegetables. The food was excellent, the dinner companions (Vicky and Caroline) entertaining.
Our room in Cardiff was right on the Taff Trail, and our LONG ride to Brecon meandered up from the coast to Cradoc on the same trail. We knew the day would be a bit of a challenge with the distance and climb, but we expected that being on the trail would keep us out of traffic and lessen the mental stress.
That didn't work out exactly as planned. Two major road projects slowed us down, put us on a major freeway for a few miles, added several miles to the ride, and did their best to confuse us. But the weather was incredible, and we persevered.
Cradoc is a tiny village with a primary school and nothing else about 2 miles up a steep hill from Brecon. In the early afternoon, we messaged our host and asked for recommendations for where we might eat on our way through Brecon. He said there were lots of good places 😉. We checked Google and picked out the Brecon Tap.
With our fully loaded bikes, we needed a table outside. There were only two tables. One was full, one had two women and room for more. We asked if we could join the women, and they were very nice and said yes.
Vicky and Caroline were sisters, enjoying a few glasses of wine after dropping their mother off at a mindfulness retreat nearby. They would spend the weekend hiking in the area before picking their mother up again. We had great fun talking to them and hearing about their lives. Caroline has five children and works for the Royal Post, Vicky has a new grandchild and is a podiatrist. They were very generous in sharing stories and thoughts and time.
Our hosts have all been wonderful, and very different. Edward is a 71-year-old retired accountant who has traveled extensively in the past but slowed down the past few years. He lives alone with Milly the cat in a small, neat-as-a-pin house with two bedrooms, and also owns two rental properties in the area. At one time, he worked for 3M, though he never visited the headquarters in St. Paul. When he retired from his job in London, and sold his house there, he was able to afford his three houses in Wales. He rents a room on Airbnb to keep involved with people and have a reason to keep his house clean. A really nice guy.
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| We expected dark gray stone walls and green fields in Wales. We did not expect sunshine and blue skies. What a treat! |
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| It's so hard to capture with a camera the landscape as we are seeing it. The Taff Trail climbed steadily through farm fields, forests, villages, and towns. We appreciated the lack of traffic on the agricultural roads, but the rough surface slowed us down a little. |
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| We loaded the dictionary for Wales on Google Translate just in case. So far, we haven't had to use it. All the signs appear in both Welsh and English, and everyone we've met has spoken English--though sometimes the accent is hard for us to understand. |
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| Sisters Caroline and Victoria were kind enough to let us join them outside the Brecon Tap. They were gearing up for a weekend of hiking and wine drinking. What could be nicer? |
