Until January of this year I didn't know that the Taff Trail, a mixed use path running between Cardiff and Brecon following for the most part the river Taff, existed. I mean I knew it was there but in the sense I could not point it out or tell you anything else about it is true. Since January and getting into cycling, first mountain then road, the Taff Trail has become one of my favourite routes to take and - for me - further illustrates the point that 5 minutes from Cardiff you can be in the Country side. During the early days of my cycling a trip up to Castle coch in Tongwynlais and back was a bit of an effort (think roughly 10miles in total), so over the following months I steadily picked up the distances progressing onto a road bike and then the distances really took an upward trajectory.
This brings me to the
Beacons Bus . The Becons bus is a bus service being trialed by Cardiff Bus, in conjunction with several other Local Authorities, which runs from Cardiff to Brecon and tows behind a bike trailer. Some friends and I have been planning on getting the bus to Brecon and cycling back for some time now (the bus only running on Sundays between June and Sept) and ever attempt ended in disaster for one reason or another, never leaving Cardiff. Last Sunday with the cold air and looming rain clouds was going to be different. I have to say before going on that the bus service put on by Cardiff Bus was very good; left on time and got there early £12.25 for a one way ticket, including bike. We rocked up in Brecon around the eleven o'clock mark and set off for the Brecon - Monmouth canal. The early stretch of the Taff Trail from Brecon follows the canal before turning off for Aber and then eventually Talybont reservoir. The route thus far is highly enjoyable and mostly flat on quiet, single lane, roads. Following a small break at the reservoir (pictured above) the hard part started! The climb over the mountain behind Talybont reservoir is a 20% gradient and is long - now the actual trail leads up the left side of the Reservoir, we decided to take the road to the right leading to a much steeper climb. Needless to say I had to get off and push quite a bit.
Once over the climb there is a nice downhill towards Pontsticill, with a slight climb just before another downhill - there is at this point a may add a T-junction where you need to turn LEFT towards the Mountain Railway. I made the mistake of turning right which leads you up to Neauadd Reservoir and a dead end - the sign has been twisted around by some funny sod. Whilst this route is quite scenic I don't recommend it as it's an extra 4-6 miles to your journey. This stretch of the route is by far your biggest "hill to get over" and is for the most part downhill after to Cardiff. Once we got to the top of the mountain however, it started to rain - not heavily just the type of rain that hangs in the air and makes you wet from all sides. A little wet and cold, and with a break in the rain, we decided to stop for a cup of tea and cake, as you do, at a nice tearoom next to the "workers Bridge" hump-back bridge near Quaker's Yard (picture 2). Very nice it was too. We then also decided to stop for a pint in the Bunch of Grapes, Otley Brewery's flagship pub right on the Taff Trail. Here the rain got heavier and heavier and we lost one of our group to the train as he was getting a little too wet. With the daunting prospect before us of a drudging ride back from Pontypridd in the rain with, by what can only be described as excruciatingly, sore bums we decided to get a shifty on. Going from the Bunch of Grapes in Pontypridd to Bute Park in Cardiff in roughly 25 mins - when positively hanging out of my derriere - was by my standards quite impressive.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the day, fully recommend people get out and try the Taff Trail and kudos to Cardiff Bus and its partners for organizing the bus which I can only hope continues and becomes a more permanent fixture. Needless to say I was buggered for a couple of days after!
