Vale of Glamorgan

Somewhere near the dreaded stepping stones, I had entered the Vale of Glamorgan. First impressions are good. Rolling green countryside and pretty villages.

The camp site turned out to be well appointed, with a cafe, WiFi and showers. I had a very good evening meal in the pub up the road, gotvfully rehydrated, and met a local who very quickly became my new best friend. "That's awesome!".  "You can stay at my place if you like", "Want a joint?" I politely declined and went back to a good night's sleep. The forecast thunderstorms never happened, there were only a few spots of rain and just a bit of wind, but that could have been the lasagne. In the morning, the campsite cafe was serving a full English breakfast, so, out of politeness, I had one.  Delicious.

Today has been a much tougher day than I expected, but not because of the hills. So much has happened, it's difficult to remember.  

I thought it would be an easier day, so I decided I could aim to ride a bit further. Options were Cardiff, 40 miles, or Chepstow, 75. Chepstow it was. The die was cast.

Just a house ...

Rolling Glamorgan roads. First town: Llantwit Major. Nice. Llan... refers to a saint, so, Saint Twit, Major? That was me today, or rather my route planner (also me).

From my notes: "cycle track along cliff 5km, first 1/2 km not marked cycle track" . Had I learned from yesterday? Unfortunately my sheer joie de vivre, or maybe joie de vélo, got the better of me, and I headed down a narrow, nettle- bordered path through woods.  I was committed.  A sign said South Wales Coastal Path, and led onto the stony beach.  Huge stones.  

Coast path

Better coast path

Walkies time.  Luckily for me, after about half a mile, the path went into a field, and was just about rideable.  This led to West Aberthaw power station  where I gratefully escaped onto the road. 

Just after Rhoose (Cardiff) Airport, another note: "200m cycle track, unsurfaced, avoidable by road".  How bad could it be?  Well it was just rideable, but very steeply downhill, so some walking was required  again.  I had to recover with an 11s stop at Porthkerry Country Park, near a giant railway viaduct.  It rained, but I didnt  care.

And then, time for something completely different: Barry Island.  It has a lot in common with Blackpool, on a smaller scale.  It's not an island,  just as Blackpool is not a pool.  It's loud, brash, full of fun and amusements.  Unlike Blackpool, it has a wicked one-way system  and it's very hilly.  I did about five laps exploring all the coastal extremities,  which took forever:;   much like this blog post.  

Batty Island

Barry Island beach

Barry Island from one of its many hills

After the non Island, Barry Docks: massive, empty, redundant from what I could see.   Some nice redevelopment under way along the waterfront. 

Barry docks

Cardiff was just round the corner, but first, there was Penarth, a micro Brighton, complete with pier, and very attractive  except for its hilly one way system, based on Barry Island.

Penarth, from the pier

Cardiff is another story, one I can hardly bear to recall.