Midland Cyclist: Cycling up some Hills in South Wales

My wife and I had a long weekend away recently. She chose Wales (near Cardiff) as a location so we stayed in Port Talbot as its half way between Swansea and Cardiff. We actually stayed in the Best Western Aberavon Beach Hotel which was very pleasant, although the environs of Aberavon were not that great. Whilst we were away I negotiated an opportunity to take my bike and have a morning out.

I'd looked at the map and realised the Dragon Ride route that I'd ridden with Noel in 2010 was quite close, and whilst I was not going to do the whole route a possible few hours ride could be up and over the Bwlch and Rhigos climbs, and then back again. Whilst a there and back route was not quite as interesting as a circular route it would allow me to to these 2 reasonably big climbs from 2 directions. In 2010 we'd done the Bwlch from Pricetown (south to north), then down into Treorchy and up the Rhigos (again south to north), then down to the industrial park at Hirwaun, when we then turned off to the left towards Glynneath. The route I'd planned for this ride was from Pricetown to Hirwaun as in 2010, but then turn round and go back the same way - this would mean that I'd do 2 new climbs and 1 new descent - both the ascent and descent of Rhigos north to south and the ascent of Bwlch again north to south. The Bwlch descent north to south I'd done in 2010. Bwlch has 3 routes, and the other ascent (from Cymmer) I had also done in 2010 so this would mean I'd done all the climbs of these 2 hills.

In the 1st edition of 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs the Rhigos (from Hirwaun) is #98 and rates a 6/10 whilst the Bwlch (from Pricetown) is #99 and rates a 5/10.

I put the proposed route into Garmin Connect and got this:

The route came to just over 35 miles and about 4000ft of climbing. It also meant there were a number of bail out points as I could, for example, avoid the final descent of Rhigos and turn back having got to the top. A 35 mile route at home would be a non-ride - easy and nothing to to even think of, however the 4000ft of climbing was a significant challenge given the sort of riding I have been doing this year, but I was fully confidant that I could if necessary crawl up in the 34-28 gear.

In the week before we left the weather outlook was not great - rain and wind was forecast, but I knew I needed to wait and see when we got there. We drove down on Thursday afternoon and by keeping an eye on the weather it looked like the Saturday would be the best (or least worst) day. The weather was forecast to continue to deteriorate as the days went by to a huge storm forecast for the Monday.

I got up at 7am and had breakfast in the Hotel and then left just before 8am. It took about 35 minutes to drive down the M4 and to the Ogwen Valley. I wasn't exactly sure where I'd start from and didn't really want to start immediately at the bottom. I saw a free car park just leaving Ogmore Vale but was not sure how far it still was to the bottom of the Bwlch so carried on. About 2 miles further I reached Nant-y-Moel and found small car park just beyond the Pricetown clock tower, so decided to leave the car there rather than drive back and start from the first car park. I was a little concerned that it was too close to the bottom but decided I'd go with the decision - if I was tired, getting back another 2 miles might be the straw that broke the camels back.

Helping me make that decision was the fact that the weather at this point was absolutely foul - very windy and the rain was throwing it down. The forecast had been for wind but with the rain clearing up so I sat in the car for 10-15 minutes or so and luckily the rain did clear, so I got changed ready to go. I was not quite sure what the weather was exactly going to be but I expected to get wet so I wore a base layer, short sleeve full zip top, long sleeve full zip wind proof top and my ever reliable pocket rocket waterproof. I also wore shorts but with leg warmers and 2 pairs of socks and my BBB neoprene overshoes.

It was only about 3 minutes ride to the foot of the Bwlch marked by the clock tower at the roundabout:

Google Streetview of the Pricetown Clock

The climb starts from the road in the centre of the picture. The first straight part really got my heart going (and I regretted a lack of a few more miles for a warm up) so I selected a low gear to get to the left turn where I remembered it flattened out for a while and then slowly climbed past the houses to the cattle grid. Crossing the cattle grid marks the climb proper as it rises through the trees and then sweeps to the left before the hairpin that climbs up the side of the climb and then to the top. By the time I reached the cattle grid I had warmed up and my heart rate was more where it should be and I felt OK. It was drizzling and the wind was very variable. In the shelter of trees or hills it was OK but suddenly you could get caught by a very strong gust.

I was also struggling with maintaining a sensible body temperature. I was getting too hot from the level of effort but when I unzipped my tops I was then too cold and getting wet. The best compromise seemed to be jerseys undone and pocket rocket done up.

Despite the temperature issue it was not really too hard to spin up to the top - I think I was in the 34-21 (3rd gear) almost all of the way up. When I got to the top rather than go straight on immediately I turned left as I'd remembered that the 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs claimed that the top was actually about 1/4-1/2 mile further on. It's pretty featureless on the top so I made a guess and claimed the top. When I turned around I realised how strong the wind was - I was being blown pretty strongly across the road in the gusts. I had some doubt then whether or not it was sensible to continue, but decided that I'd give it a go on the descent. It was less windy on the lea of the hill but still gusty enough to make caution the order of the day. This was a pity as the road is really fast and the bends sweeping. On the Dragon Ride I probably was in the high 30mph zone, on this descent it was more like high 20mph but riding on the brakes to keep the speed manageable - this was more than fast enough. The cattle grid at 25mph in the wet was also a tense moment. At the very bottom it was left and into Treorchy and Treherbert and a few miles to the bottom of the Rhigos - its an odd climb as one moment you are in a village with houses and the next its onto a steep climb. There are a couple of switchbacks in the first mile (and a green micro bikini top on the road!) and then the fairly level climb up the side of the valley to the top. The gradient is fairly constant ad again for almost all the time I was able to plod up in the 34-21 again. There were just a couple of points where I used 34-24 (2nd) and this was mainly due to the climb being more exposed to the wind. Despite being at the top it is still a bit of a drag across to the descent. It was still quite windy so the descent from the top was again cautious but when I got to the long straight stretch down to the roundabout for the Hirwaun industrial park it was a dead headwind and I got up to 40mph. Just before this I saw a few cyclist climbing including one chap in shorts and short sleeve top - must not feel the code!

At the roundabout I stopped to eat a cereal bar and then got ready to cycle back. Up to this point and I cycled the roads before but from now they were all new.

The climb back up Rhigos was quite hard. The wind was more of a headwind and the climb was longer. First there was the drag up the dead straight section then a left kink, then a right through some stunted trees up to the hairpin and the probably the steepest section to the top. I rode a lot more of this climb in the 34-24 to spin a bit. It was probably harder than the 2 climbs I'd already done but not difficult. The drag over the top was again windy and the very top of the descent also care but as I got lower the wind started to drop and I built more speed. I dropped back into Treherbert and Treorchy and set bat off for the Bwlch. Again the climb was not difficult but it was the last of the 4, and I was reasonably tired by this point. I think I did most of it in the 34-24 and was starting to think I might need the 34-28 given the wind, but when I pulled round the hairpin and could actually see the top I carried on in the 34-24. It was a tiring climb but I found it harder mostly because it was the last. I went straight over the top and down to Pricetown. It was really windy at the hairpin and it almost blew me to a complete stop. As I was rolling down through the tree zone I saw 2 cyclist climbing up who didn't look as though it was the most enjoyable ride!

I had had a daft few thoughts to climb up again but the weather was not great and I had been slower than planned and didn't want to abandon my wife for what would have taken another 40 minutes or so of very hard work, so at the clock tower it was back to the car, into dry clothes and back to Port Talbot.

Here's the Strava data:

I was quite pleased when I looked at the data - for the climbs I was in the top 1/3 of all the riders (at the bottom of the top 1/3 admittedly) but I was please with that. It was hard work but not a lungbuster, I had at least 1 gear in hand even at the hardest place, and again my Scott perfomed well and was comfortable.

We actually drove back home over the same route on the Monday so I irritated my wife and stopped to tale some photos.