Description: (From their site) An ideal holiday location especially for families or groups keen to visit The Black Mountains, Brecon Beacons, or walk the Offa`s Dyke Path. The village has The Skirrid Mountain Inn, which is the oldest pub in Wales and was used as Judge Jeffrie`s Court. The scenery is superb with The Skirrid Mountain behind and The Black Mountains just beyond the village.
Site visited: 8th of April 2010.
As seen on the blog: The roads have gone pots.
Pen-y-dre is a nice little site attached to the farm, which also is a self catering farm holiday cottages along with a farm Bed & Breakfast, so a bit of everything. We didn’t see the cottages or the B&B from the inside but from the outside they looked very nice.
I had emailed the owner to hear if it was ok to arrive a bit late since we would be on the train from London via Cardiff, which wasn’t a problem. We arrived around 19:30 and was greeted by a barking dog and a smile by the owner, the dog soon went quite as soon as we said hello, some guard dog :)
We where pointed to the campsite which is on the …

Since we had not been to the shops the night before and had that hairpin to start with we decided to have breakfast at the YHA.
In Croatia we were ready to go on the dot 9:30 every morning no matter how fast or slow we were getting ready. This trip it was a 10am start no matter how much we faffed.
We managed to cycle up the hill, it is amazing how steep things are when you are tired.
After two days of nearly hot weather and plenty of sun we had a bit of a cold start into the wind.
Even with our tired legs we then made good time to Newent where we had a long pub lunch and probably the best sticky toffee pudding with ice cream we ever have had.
Just as we had had enough of the busy B4241 we found a cycle route for the last few miles into Gloucester. Though there was a bit of confusion at the junction of the A40 and something other big road thing. But we managed to find our way via the “scenic route” which looked more like a left over building materials land fill.
In Gloucester …

As the reverse Newton law goes for cycling.
We had good night sleep bar one peak outside at midnight looking at the stars. The Trekmates mat, Mummy camper lite, I got yesterday did the job but I wouldn’t sleep on it for more that the two nights I’m doing now.
Got up to glorious sunshine and cooked our porridge and a cup of tea. This campsite is one that we come back to again and again. George the proprietor said that we were brave to do what were about to do.
We set out and climbed the highest hill of our tour at 542 metres, well the road next too it. At Whitney-on-Wye we paid 10p pet bicycle on the toll bridge over the Wye.
In Dorstone we had a splendid lunch, which confused the staff a bit. Since the were looking for a table for four. But is two mains, two side dishes along with a plate of chips on the side that much for two hungry cycle tourers?
If you should in Dorstone do make sure pop into the The Pandy Inn to try our their banoffee pie a true delight for a cyclist in search for some energy.
The …

Well the trip to Cardiff went well and I spent some time in the tourist trap that is Cardiff bay before I went to a pub for a quiet pint.
I met up with Peli at the station and after some delay and faffing around with the platforms we were on our way. Arrived in Abergavenny and made our way to the campsite. Pen-y-dre is a nice little site attached to the farm, but located right next to the busy A486 and the local road. Which made it a noisy night. Though that wasn’t the biggest problem, while pitching the tent I suddenly realised that I hadn’t packed my sleeping mat. So the night was spent listening to traffic fighting over space on our only mat.
The next morning we started of at 9:30′ish and headed for Hay-on-Wye over the Gospel Pass. Stunning weather made the journey. We passed the Llanthony priory which was started by two hermits back in 1108.
The Gospel Pass isn’t that bad but fully loaded and not in peak touring condition we found it hard. And the ice cream at the top was a nice treat that hit the spot. We even spotted some snow on Lord …

So I’m sitting on the train to Cardiff, Wales. I just managed to get on the train after a mad dash across town. I left home with plenty of time to spare and pootled across town, hey it is a beautiful day in the smog.
Then it hit me, the map the f#beep#ing map. Yes we are armed with two good mobile phones with gps and google map. But where we are going in Wales I really don’t think there will be a good mobile cover.
So back I sprinted on my fully loaded touring bicycle. The Surly Long Haul Trucker ain’t the fastest of things unloaded so I was glad that I had a tail wind back to the flat. but that just ment that I had to battle the wind to the train staion. Yes it is not that windy today in London town but you do feel it much more fully loaded.
I managed to throw my bicycle on the train, no time to lock it up, and run to the first and best carrage before the train took off. So I’m now looking out the windows every time we stop.
Now that my heart rate has come down …

We are about to go on a small tour of Wales and England this weekend. Taking the train from London to Abergavenny in Wales where we will stay at Pen-y-Dre Farm the first night. Then up and over the Gospel Pass to Hay-on-Wye, then over to the very nice Fforest Fields campsite near Hundred House. Then over and down the Golden Valley to Goodrich to camp at the YHA there. Then via Newent to Gloucester around 102 miles over 3 days.
So the last few days I have been studying the maps for a route we could take. I got a 4 miles to 1 inch (2.5km to 1cm – 1:2500,000) map that covers the whole of Wales and it is pretty good. We used it with great success when we last where in Wales hunting for Dragons. While planning the route Google map is brilliant since you can plot a route and if you don’t like it you just click and drag the route to where you want to go.
Since Google Street View is now nearly all over the UK it is very easy to see if your route will take you somewhere that can be done on a …

The early bird catches the Train.
We woke up at 5:45 and started to get ready, because we had 50 odd miles and 2 very steep bits to do and a train we simply couldn’t afford to miss (our tickets had cost 9.50 each but on the door would cost about a hundred each. :) . Tea and porridge this time with jam, banana and raisins were consumed. We got packed up in a slight drizzle, and after a last minute check at the very detailed map at the reception and the weather map, we were ready to go at 7:15.Since it was Bank Holiday Monday we hit the A roads to cut away some of the very steep bits and get some distance in us before traffic started to pick up. We made good time all the way to Llanidloes on the A470, with a 4 miles downhill from Llangurig. In Rhayader where we had a food stop and got some water, we meet 2 young lads who were clearly touring on their MTBs, complete with a Welsh flag. They tugged in behind us out of Rhayader only to disapear down a road marked for the national cycling route. But …

Hello Granny (gear).
We got up nice an early to a damp morning and cooked up some tea and porridge. We took our time but 1.5 hours later we were ready to hit the road, as we where heading out I over heard a little girl talking to her dad.
The dad was calling the child down from the sculpture garden where she was playing. The whole campsite is covered in sculpture of horses, deer and bulls, for the kids to play on. She came running down and grabbed his hand and said that she had just been up milking the cow. To which the dad said “I hope you didn’t milk the bull!” :)
The route took us south from Devils Bridge to Tregaron and then up and over couple chevrons to Beulah, one of them was 25%, fecking eh. Peli managed to do the climb with one stop, I stopped to have a rest and let a car go by. I started again but soon gave up and walked the last bit, which is quite hard with a fully loaded bike. On one of the other steep bits I was plodding away in my granny and was not looking where I …

Save your energy.
Traveling in true Peli and woolly style we hunted for maps on the day of departure. And while doing so I had a wee bit of panic since the maps didn’t show a road where google maps told me there was. So I spend an hour in Borders book store with 3-4 maps spread out on the floor comparing scale and routes. But after seeing the mountain roads in Wales and a look at very detailed map, I got a funny feeling that the road which wasn’t there would have been there and fine to ride along. If that makes sense.
With some train changes we arrived in Machynlleth in the dark, but we found the campsite, Llwyngwern Farm, very easily. Hunted around in the muddy field and found the least wet pitch we could find and made for bed. Only to be woken up a few times during the night by the owls twitting away ;) I wonder if they were following Stephen Fry?
We got up at around 8am and cooked up a storm on our newly acquired Jetboil. The menu was two teas, porridge with raisins and some quick noodles. Nom.
After packing up we headed to the …

Description: (From their site) Fforest Fields is a secluded seven acre rural caravan campsite a few miles from the market town of Builth Wells in central Wales. It is well drained and almost level with generous grass and hardstand pitches served by a circuit road. It is landscaped with lots of trees to provide shelter and screening. There is a central looblock with free power showers, which is always kept pristine.
Site visited: 30th of August 2009, 9th of April 2010.
As seen on the blog: Here be Dragons, Chapter II : Hello Granny (gear), The roads have gone pots.
We arrived around 1700 after a long day cycling in the wet, wet as a wet thing, to find this beautiful site. The reception empty and we were not sure what to do. A fellow camper told us to look out for a white 4×4 or just do as they did put the money in the honesty box. We filled in our details and left an envelope with our money in the box and went out searching for a pitch.
We were in the showers 20 min later, the joy of a tent with colour coded poles etc ;). The shower and toilet were …