Lôn Las Cymru Trip: Abergavenny to Aberedw

It was a slow start today. I slept late the first few days, despite finding my camping mat uncomfortable (the downside of being a skinny, unpadded person), and since it seems to take at least an hour and a half for tea, breakfast and packing up, it was at least half past 10 by the time I started. On the plus side I feel like I’ve figured out touring breakfast now.

I tried making instant oatmeal for breakfasts on my first tour and didn’t enjoy it, so have since relied on flapjacks and cafes instead. The price racks up pretty quickly this way though, and needing to keep costs down, I did some research and found a different recipe. This time I added powdered milk and brown sugar, and have found a new love for it! Simple to make, actually tasty this time, and a great slow-release energy source for the morning without being too heavy early in the day.

Once ready, I headed back down to the canal and immediately made my first tour-friend, a lovely guy called Lewis, on his way to Green Man Festival. We cycled together to Abergavenny, via a few wrong turns brought on by good conversation, and lunched together at Mezze Me, a truly excellent Turkish cafe well worth a visit if you find yourself in the area.

Not far out of Abergavenny is a long and gradual climb up the Vale of Ewyas, through quiet farmland near the England-Wales border. It was here I really began to feel I'd found my flow, a steady cadence, and really comfortable in the saddle. I stopped for a quick wander and refuel at the medieval Llanthony Priory, then continued on up, herded north by the long valley sides.

The gorgeous ruins of medieval Llanthony Priory

After a couple of steep bits near the top, I paused to get my breath back, looking back at the winding valley below, the world I had crossed under my own steam. I often do this before I crest a hill and a new world opens before me. Gospel Pass, the highest point on my trip, did not disappoint, and as I followed the road the view in front quickly widened out to a vast 180º panorama of hills and lowlands.

Looking up at Hay Bluff, not far down the road from Gospel Pass

I was suddenly elated. Looking in front of me, I saw land entirely unfamiliar to me, beautiful land ready to explore. I think it was then I really began to settle into the journey, and myself. That crest felt like the boundary at which home and work, and the day-to-day concerns of each, became distant enough to slip out of mind; that Other Life. I sped down the hill, eager to explore, and to join route 8 itself!

Signpost at the crossroads of routes 42 and 8.

Having left way later than I’d intended, and enjoyed time chatting over lunch, I had to look for camping earlier than I'd hoped. On the way towards Builth Wells, keeping an eye out for farms I could ask for a camping space at, I spotted a pub marked on the map at Aberedw. Recognising that a Good Pint is just reward for hard work, I decided to try there, and was offered a spot wild camping in a field nearby.

When I found the field I was delighted: a road with barely any traffic, natural water source, and solitude in a small valley. Being genuinely alone in such a location is precious, though the lack of owls calling at night struck me as peculiar – I realise how accustomed I am to this sound at home now!

My beautiful and peaceful home for the night.