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Irish Sea Tour

Day 22 – Aberdaron to Caernarfon

The forecast rain hadn’t appeared as I sat eating breakfast. My new plan was to get a shift on, riding as much as possible in the dry. I couldn’t leave without visiting Aberdaron’s beautiful church.

A steep climb out of Aberdaron and I was away. The wind was up and going my way. Where yesterday I was hunkered down trying to keep low, this morning I was sitting up in the saddle enjoying the extra push.

The lanes here should have been quiet, but there was traffic squeezing along. I kept slowing or stopping too allow cars and farm traffic to pass. Then signs, stewards, vehicles parked in a field and a marquee being erected. Something was happening. At least the traffic wasn’t queuing up to pass me now. I could see it coming and there was more of it. I was glad to get out on the bigger road.

Coffee and bara brith at Porthdinllaen cafe felt rewarding and entirely unearned. I drifted down into Nefyn, took in the view from the old watch tower. I stopped at this little village’s Maritime Museum. What a treat. This old church is packed with the area’s history.

With the museum manager going off for lunch, there was nothing else to distract me from the challenge ahead. Bwlch yr Eifl, the mountain pass on the north coast of the Llyn, nearly 1500ft above where I was starting from. I pushed on, plugged away, pressed and pedaled, and all the other things I usually do. I paused too. Frequently. The wind was helpful, but there’s only so much it can do.

The drop into Llanaelheaern was glorious. I was concerned about the brakes, so took it easy. The A499 was busy. It didn’t matter, I was the only one on the cycle way that follows it into Caernarfon and the wind was with me.

St Beuno’s well sits by the roadside just before Clynnog Fawr. So obvious, its almost forgotten. The chapel Beuno founded and the impressive church that stands with it in the village are a sight to be seen. The church is open. Inside, the simplicity of the plain limewashed plaster and rustic timberwork challenge the expectations of opulence the external architecture might have raised. There are refreshments for weary travellers, as there will have been here for pilgrims for many centuries.

The rest of the trip along the A499 was functional. It got me to where I was going: Glynllifon Country Park and its lovely cafe. After a late lunch, I crossed into the coastal lanes to make my way round Foryd Bay and the Menai coast.

This gentle, wind assisted bimble along the gusty coastline, led me right into the heart of Caernarfon.

Day totals: 41 miles, 2,313ft of elevation gain

Tour totals: 1,133 miles, 47,215 ft of elevation gain

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