About the Author
After years of road running and mountaineering wreaked havoc with his knees, Richard Barrett returned to long-distance cycling in his fifties when he bought himself a classic British-made touring bike. Now in his sixties, he rides a handmade bike from one of the great British frame makers that have appeared in recent years. Combined with walking, cycling allows him to continue his love affair with the more mountainous parts of the UK, which he first visited as a teenager.
Richard spent his career in marketing in a number of multinational organizations in the UK and abroad, but he now lives in West Cheshire and rides two or three times a week with groups on both sides of the border.
Other Cicerone guides by the author
Cycling in the Hebrides
Cycling in the Lake District
Cycling Lôn Las Cymru
The Hebridean Way
Walking on Harris and Lewis
CYCLE TOURING IN WALES
A TWO-WEEK CIRCUIT AND SHORTER TOURS
by Richard Barrett
JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS,
OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL
© Richard Barrett 2019
First edition 2019
ISBN 9781783627622
Printed in China on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated.
© Crown copyright 2019 OS PU100012932. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Mr Edward Wood and his orthopaedic team at the Countess of Chester Hospital, who had me back in the saddle a mere 12 weeks after fitting me with a dynamic hip screw to repair a fractured hip that resulted from foolishly venturing out when there was still black ice about. Don’t worry, I won’t be doing it again.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Jonathan and Joe Williams of Cicerone for commissioning this book and introducing me to wonderful parts of the country I had never previously visited. I should also like to thank my copyeditor Victoria O’Dowd, Sian, Verity and the production team, who once again made the process such a pleasure.
Updates to this Guide
While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/988/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops, locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time. We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL.
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Front cover: The outwardly impressive Caernarfon Castle, which dominates the town (Stage 7)
CONTENTS
First and last nights in Cardiff