Welsh weekend
Andy Jones is one of the UK's leading cycling photographers and his ace shots can be seen in Cyling Weekly and Cycle Sport. He's also a very fit bike rider and recently dropped a line to CAB about a weekend riding trip to Bala, north Wales

THE BALA weekend turned out to be a very good. With just four of us in the end it was perfect. So there was Steve Gibson, Simon Owens and Chris
Myhill and myself.
We set out at around half seven on Friday evening and got to the cottage at around 22:30. The cottage was a mile and a half out of Bala and down a farm track with a rather nasty gradient to negotiate. It took two attempts to get the car up it. Mind you with four of us in the car with all the kit and four bikes on the roof it wasn't surprising.
It was absolutely freezing there. With mist in the air the bikes were covered in a film of ice. They thawed out in the cottage kitchen and utility area, dripping icy water on to the slate floors. It was quite a character packed
cottage. Low ceilings and beams with not a straight line in the place.
It was also absolutely freezing. The first night I used my sleeping bag
and let the lads have the spare duvets. I was still chilly though and had cold feet by the morning and had to put my fleecy gilet on half way through the night. Much better for the second night once we cracked the
heating system.
Saturday morning dawned to haugh frost and mist pockets. Breakfast done and it was on the road for 75 miles in the saddle. The mist pockets and temperatures at around
28Fahrenheit meant gloves, sleeves and glasses were gathering ice.
We went over the Horseshoe Pass (see pics) and then did the
Bwlch Penbarras.
That was incredibly steep. 24% for
a good section. Frost and ice on
the road added to the difficulty. Dropped down to Loggerheads Country Park and had soup and
cake at the cafe there. Fab. The conditions had improved over the morning with blue skies and sunshine. The light was superb.
The roads were very quiet and it was like being in another world. Spotted
a couple of Red Kite drifting overhead as we headed back towards Bala at the end of the day. The air was so still and quiet. Beautiful.
Once showered and freshened up we went in to Bala to get a take away. Spent the half hour waiting for the meals in the Bulls Head on the main street. Very good. The Chinese we went for was a four person menu and it was truly monstrous.
The spring rolls were of epic proportions and a meal in themselves. Meal over we settled down to watch 'Enemy of the State' over a very good Tiramisu we bought
at the Bala Somerfields.

Sunday
Sunday and Steve and Chris had promised themselves a cooked breakfast. I could not believe how much they put away, particularly as Steve nearly burst with putting away huge portions of Chinese the evening before. Check out the portion control in the pics.
We aimed to set out for ten but it
was half ten once the washing up
was done and the cottage tidied
ready for the landlady to come in
to clean.
It was a clearer morning but still very cold. We headed for Lake Vyrnwy.
The route out was stunning and there
was one descent which was absolutely fantastic. Long and fast down to Llangynog. Could have gone faster but for some icy patches. All agreed it was one of the best descents they had done in Britain.
We got to Lake Vyrnwy and did a circuit of the reservoir before we had a cafe stop at the RSPB visitor centre cafe by the dam wall. Very good again. Check out the stained glass window pic from the cafe. Beautiful.
Cafe stop over we headed back up
the lake side and took the road over
to Bwlch-y-Groes(Hellfire Pass),
the main goal of the day and
the weekend.
The road from the back of
Vyrnwy came in just below the summit of the Groes.
We all rolled down the climb to climb back in stunning late afternoon light. Check out the pics of us descending. The climb was absolutely brutal. The hardest I have done anywhere! I only had a 39x23 which kept slipping. I had to hold the lever in to stop it dropping a sprocket. My lower back was trembling. I was almost at a stand still in places and had to weave across the road to keep going. Epic.
As we reached the point where we joined the climb earlier there was still a good distance to the summit. It also marked the snow line as slush added to the problems of gradient. It was all worth it for the views. Spectacular.
It was a cautious descent with ice
and snow for a while. Once down it was a quick blast along Lake Bala and back to the cottage. Nearly
58 miles.
Bikes back on the car, a quick towel down in the cottage and change of clothes followed by a couple of mugs of tea and we were back on the road home.
Home for eight o'clock yesterday evening.
Enjoy the pics from a great weekend of cycling.
Andy