B2Y2: Dolgellau to Oswestry

Two of Wales's biggest passes this morning: Bwlch Oerddrws and Bwlch y Groes, both of which sound like someone being sick, which is appropriate.



I don't know how high Bwlch Oerddrws (above) goes, because the Wikipedia page suddenly switched from English into Welsh when it knew I was reading it.






Bwlch y Groes I do know. It's the highest tarmac road in Wales, at 545m / 1809ft, thanks to someone chalking those very figures at the summit (above two). Wow: 545m, and I didn't get off and push for one of them.



That one was the very last one, when the road levels out. The approach from the south really is a pig (above), a mile and half of at least 1 in 7. The OS map is just a mass of arrowheads, an explosion in a shelf-bracket factory.


From the summit I headed east and downwards, across fantastically remote mountaintop country.

I was sped by a big tailwind along the shore of Lake Vyrnwy and ultimately to Oswestry Travelodge (above), booked back in December through their release of £12 offer rooms.

I'm quite a fan of the in-room bike parking.

Miles today: 50
Miles since Barmouth: 61

SP2HM 4: Ferriby to Hornsea (to Ferriby)

I stayed at my mum's in Ferriby, and those of you who who have done similar will smile at the memory of the hospitality blitzkrieg: mountains of food, oceans of wine. No mountains here of course - after Ferriby it's the plain of Holderness, sprawling east to the North Sea, and the nearest you get to ocean is the grey expanse of the Humber Estuary. At least the TPT runs alongside the water, with an impressive view of the Humber Bridge's austere grandeur, and on a sunny day it was quite pleasant.



The TPT takes you parallel to Hessle Road, not Hull's wealthiest suburb, along well-chosen traffic-free cycle paths such as this, where, er, cycling is prohibited.



The TPT ploughs determinedly through Hull's north-eastern estates such as Sutton and picks up the old Hull-Hornsea railway, another Beeching casualty, for its final stretch. Ten rather uninspiring miles north from Hull is Hornsea itself; the lake, Hornsea Mere, is a convenient rhyming endpoint but you don't get to see much from the trail. You do, however, go past this pet shop which splendidly embraces local dialect ('bod' is 'bird'; in Hull it would be pronounced more like 'baaaiiirrrd', but this is East Yorks).



A tad further on is the old Hornsea station, site of a TPT end marker that echoes the one in Southport...



...and a few yards beyond it is the beach, with a complementary tower thing to Southport's. It was a lovely sunny Sunday, with lots of cyclists finishing their day ride or the complete trail. I had an ice cream and a series of pleasant chats, and then turned round to bike the 20-odd miles back to Ferriby...

Miles today: 50ish (inc backtracking to Ferriby)
Miles in total: 200ish (Southport to Hornsea) 225ish (in total)

SP2HM 1: Southport Pier to Altrincham

OK: so this is the Trans Pennine Trail, stretching 215 mostly offroad miles or so from Southport, on the Irish Sea, to Hornsea, on the North Sea. I've contrived to include this in the 'rhyming towns' series by thinking of it as Southport Pier to Hornsea Mere - the pier (above) being where the trail does, almost, start, and the mere being a large puddle near where the trail ends.



There's a very helpful and friendly bike shop right by Southport station. They suggested that after the initial run through the dunes (above) - Dunes Help You Breathe More Easily - I ignore the official route, and follow bridlepaths nearer the coast to Crosby beach, site of the superb Antony Gormley work, Another Place.



The work (detail, above) consists of a hundred life-size naked bronzes (of Gormley himself) staring out to sea. Depending on the time and tide, you see them submerged, hovering above the sand, covered in barnacles or slime, sunlit, rained on, blasted by storms etc. And depending on the proximity of bike bloggers, you see them grasping cycle handlebars. It's excellent; go and see it.



After hacking through Liverpool's backside, on a rather dull railtrail, you get to Speke. And the words you speke are unprintable, because you keep losing the trail thanks to patchy signposting. Here (above) is an example. Note that you're already *on* the TPT route. So what to make of this Janus-like sign, when there are no visible roads off right or left? The addition of a direction ('east' or 'west', as most of the signs in the western two-thirds have) would help here.



Having found your way out of Speke, thanks to the chirpy and friendly locals (who all knew where the bike route is, incidentally) you sideline the Mersey before a railtrail to Lymm and Altrincham. Nothing can stop you now. Except perhaps the hundred-step wood-staircase ascent up this hillside.

After much asking in hotels I found a just about acceptable deal in Best Western in Altrincham. Do you like Altrincham? I don't know, I've never wanted to change them, to be honest.

Miles today: 60 (inc getting lost in Speke)
Miles so far: 60