I’ve just done Lon las Cymru. I started from Fareham, near Southampton. The first 2 days – from Fareham to Chepstow – were fast and easy, since it is a relatively flat portion. From Chepstow it started to be very hilly. It was my first bikepacking trip and I stopped doing sport for a long time, so I found quite difficult to deal with all these uphill climb, especially with all the stuff on the bike. I managed to do the lon las Cymru in 6 days, with 4-5h biking a day, a lot a breaks to visit and enjoy. It’s doable faster with more training and less weight on the bike (and without the knee tendinitis I had the last 3 days, which prevented me to do more than 60Km a day without having pain).
Landscapes were magnificient, they reminded me a lot about my region in France in Haute-Loire (Auvergne), a lot of hills, cultivated fields, animaals, especially sheep. Kind people, talkative and welcoming. The mix between sea and countryside is very enjoyable. A lot of « cultural things », castles, little villages with history (Hay-on-Wye, Caernarfon)…
Things I would change for the next time :
• I brought a tent, a normal one (MSR Hubba Hubba NX), not a special bikepacking one with shortened poles. It takes a lot of place and for sure the 46cm long poles are a problem since they don’t fit in a bag, I managed to attach them with strap on the handlebar bag which is fine but a little annoying. I thought bikepacking tents were just commercial stuff but it is not xD. I guess a bivy could be a good choice too, less confortable but lighter.
• Stove and dessicated food : it put a lot of weight and useless since there are a lot of villages, pubs, restaurant all along the way. I only used it 2 times.
• Water bag : i brought it because i hadn’t received my Fidlock bottle yet. I thought it would be convenient but in fact it’s not as easy to use as on a hiking and it put a lot of weight on the handlebar, I would not bring it the next time.
• Upper-frame bag, Apidura : it is not waterproof at all and once wet it kept the humidity because of the internal layer that is fabric. Aesthetic bag but not as qualitative as its Ortlieb counterparts.
• Loosing my Exposure rear light the first day and my sunglasses the last one
The good things :
• The bike : a gravel bike – Origine Graxx 3 – light, efficient and confortable, tyres 35mm, perfect for mainly roads and a little of dirt.
• All the Ortlieb stuff : saddle bag, frame bag and handlebar bag, convenient and solid.
• Thermarest Neoair sleeping pad, I have it since 2019, I bought it for GR20 and it’s still here, light, confortable, warm and solid.
• Cumulus sleeping bag : bought in 2019 too, just perfect, light, warm and solid.
• Wahoo Bolt V2 : couldn’t ask for more, I cannot compare with Garmin, but I was very pleased with this one.
• The knog bike alarm : felt much better with the alarm on, especially while sleeping in the tent
• All the merino stuff I use for hiking as well
• Fox Union Canvas flat MTB shoes
1 Comment
I’ve just done Lon las Cymru. I started from Fareham, near Southampton. The first 2 days – from Fareham to Chepstow – were fast and easy, since it is a relatively flat portion. From Chepstow it started to be very hilly. It was my first bikepacking trip and I stopped doing sport for a long time, so I found quite difficult to deal with all these uphill climb, especially with all the stuff on the bike. I managed to do the lon las Cymru in 6 days, with 4-5h biking a day, a lot a breaks to visit and enjoy. It’s doable faster with more training and less weight on the bike (and without the knee tendinitis I had the last 3 days, which prevented me to do more than 60Km a day without having pain).
Landscapes were magnificient, they reminded me a lot about my region in France in Haute-Loire (Auvergne), a lot of hills, cultivated fields, animaals, especially sheep. Kind people, talkative and welcoming. The mix between sea and countryside is very enjoyable. A lot of « cultural things », castles, little villages with history (Hay-on-Wye, Caernarfon)…
Things I would change for the next time :
• I brought a tent, a normal one (MSR Hubba Hubba NX), not a special bikepacking one with shortened poles. It takes a lot of place and for sure the 46cm long poles are a problem since they don’t fit in a bag, I managed to attach them with strap on the handlebar bag which is fine but a little annoying. I thought bikepacking tents were just commercial stuff but it is not xD. I guess a bivy could be a good choice too, less confortable but lighter.
• Stove and dessicated food : it put a lot of weight and useless since there are a lot of villages, pubs, restaurant all along the way. I only used it 2 times.
• Water bag : i brought it because i hadn’t received my Fidlock bottle yet. I thought it would be convenient but in fact it’s not as easy to use as on a hiking and it put a lot of weight on the handlebar, I would not bring it the next time.
• Upper-frame bag, Apidura : it is not waterproof at all and once wet it kept the humidity because of the internal layer that is fabric. Aesthetic bag but not as qualitative as its Ortlieb counterparts.
• Loosing my Exposure rear light the first day and my sunglasses the last one
The good things :
• The bike : a gravel bike – Origine Graxx 3 – light, efficient and confortable, tyres 35mm, perfect for mainly roads and a little of dirt.
• All the Ortlieb stuff : saddle bag, frame bag and handlebar bag, convenient and solid.
• Thermarest Neoair sleeping pad, I have it since 2019, I bought it for GR20 and it’s still here, light, confortable, warm and solid.
• Cumulus sleeping bag : bought in 2019 too, just perfect, light, warm and solid.
• Wahoo Bolt V2 : couldn’t ask for more, I cannot compare with Garmin, but I was very pleased with this one.
• The knog bike alarm : felt much better with the alarm on, especially while sleeping in the tent
• All the merino stuff I use for hiking as well
• Fox Union Canvas flat MTB shoes