Cycling in Wales

Conor20

Hi,

A group of us are getting the ferry with bikes to Holyhead with the intention of cycling to Snowdon. It's about 60km as the crow flies by the looks of a map but has anyone tried this cycle before? Are there any good routes to take / routes to avoid?

There's the A55, which looks to be a motorway and the A5 going parallel to that and then the B1059 which is close enough to that again. Does anyone have experience with cycling on A routes in the UK? Is it more advisable than the Bs?

Thanks,
Conor.

mo_bhicycle

You should have a look at some of the Sustrans routes and see if they are of any use to you.
I think they're of benefit to some cyclists and not so much to others. If you're taking your time and want to avoid traffic they're great. However if you like to cover a decent amount of ground and don't mind cars so much then you might be best skipping them.
I cycled from Swansea to Holyhead via Snowdon in August and it was great. We took the Sustrans route as rough guides and hopped on and off them depending on how fast/slow/hilly they were.
Great country for cycling though. Looking forward to going back sometime.

csb1989

I was over there for a week of cycling recently- based in Bangor and went from there each day.

Theres some fantastic climbs in the area, including the Llanberis pass which takes you up to the start of the Snowdon ascent

Very beautiful country with far better roads than we have over here, but also loads more traffic and people..

As regards A and B roads, I found the classifications were very loose- at one point I was on a 'B' road that was barely a lane with most of the road covered in chipped wood from nearby deforestation, while other 'B' roads were massive high traffic roads..

To get from Holyhead to Snowdon the nicest but still very direct route would probably be;
-A5 to Valley
-A5205 to Llanyghenedl
-B5109 to Llangefni
-B5420 and then across the Menai bridge
-then A5 to A487, onto the B4547
and that takes you onto the B4086 (Llanberis pass) which takes you up to Snowdon

^All roads which are fine by bike

Other places you dont want to miss in the area if you can stretch that far; Beddgelert and Betws-Y-Coed

paddymacsporran

A55 is basically a motorway, so best avoided (in my opinion) if you can. Great cycling around Bala, but a bit further in.

Try Bike route toaster for alternative routes?

thebouldwhacker

My 2c, not long back from touring around south and mid Wales and what I learned is always go for the lower roads. I only saw 3 potholes while we were over there (their roads really are great quality) and we took a fair few scenic routes, the lower roads are very quiet. . The larger the road the busier it is. If in doubt go low... watch out for the hills though, they're steep and long but worth every meter:)
enjoy it

Did this during the summer: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67208940&postcount=129

Though went the opposite way you're planning. I know there's a cycle route through Anglesey which we avoided as we were heading for the boat, but it might be worth looking at. The A5 was grand, little bit busy but plenty of room. Most folk went on the A55 anyways as mentioned.

Conor20

Thanks for all the replies, and especially for the route csb1989.

I'll reply with how it went after the weekend.

Conor.