Off to Cannock Chase! (Staffordshire)

A very exciting moment! We get to mountain bike after all this time! We are off to Cannock chase in Staffordshire where there is a free bike testing this weekend! We're both so excited to be getting back on the mtbs again - will post pics of us getting up to bikely fun when we get back!

Cymru am byth

We had originally booked a couple of days in South Wales because of a mountain bike testing day being held. To our dismay it was cancelled due to a fortnight of snow and rain. Only mildly gutted about the lost opportunity to do some mountain biking, we decided some serious hiking was in order to quench our outdoors thirst (conveniently ignoring the fact that we didn’t have snow shoes).

They say boredom is relative to expectation

First stop was Cardiff, on a comfortable express train that made me green as it tipped sideways at the corners. After reading the damning report in the Lonely Planet we had very low expectations indeed. And as it turned out, we loved it. 

Cardiff was gorgeous, lively, full of lovely people with singsong accents. Our B&B was run by a gay couple and so was immaculately and beautifully presented, with the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in and the best vegetarian breakfast we’ve had yet.

We strolled out into the crisp evening to find some dinner and before we could even hit the centre we chanced upon a vegetarian restaurant, run by an incredibly friendly Indian man who was happy enough to let us bring in grog as long as he didn’t have to touch it (ie they gave us a bottle opener to use).

Castles and haystacks

Just about chomping at the bit to get outdoors, we picked up a car and headed straight to the Brecon Beacons National Park, one of the largest and wildest parks in Wales. We couldn’t resist the opportunity to do a little historical sightseeing on the way, so we stopped by Caerphilly castle. Built in 1268-1271 by the Anglo-Norman lord, Gilbert de Clare, it is the second largest castle in the United Kingdom (after Windsor). 

Gilbert 'the Red' de Clare, a powerful Norman nobleman built it as a response to a dispute between him and the Prince of Gwynedd, Llywelyn the Last. Towards the end of the 14th century it went into decline after much of the castle was abandoned as a major fortress.We were entertained during our picnic lunch by a highschool rendition of Oliver in the town square, complete with elaborate costumes and ….Finally we made it to the visitor centre at the Brecon Beacons.

It was still getting dark around 16.30 so we joined the hordes of dog walking and tobogganing families in pottering around the immediate area. The snow was beautiful and the area of the park no less magnificent for less than remote. We even managed to watch the sunset over the white hills as we stomped our way through the snow.

Peaks and bogs

We were determined to get a bit further out today so we took an early breakfast, swaddled ourselves in various layers and waterproof fabrics, and headed for the imposing peak of Pen y Fan. Formerly known as Cadair Arthur (Arthur's Seat) Pen y Fan is the highest peak in South Wales. Getting there proved to be less straightforward than we expected. Our way was blocked by a lone walker who had gotten stuck trying to reverse back down the road, which he had decided the car was not going to make.

Our repeated attempts at pushing, heaving, and digging came to nothing at all. We left him there helplessly and reversed back down the road, only to get our own tiny rental toy stuck as we were trying to park. Our saviours arrived in army fatigues in a big truck, with a pack of dogs for company. 

They dug us out and gritted our wheels in about 30 seconds, and we were out, just like that. They then went up and dug out the lone walker, taking another 30 seconds or so to accomplish the deed. They then roared up the hill in their truck without a moment’s pause or any sign of hesitation from the truck. Amazing.

So off we went, chirpy as ever, Sean playing with the dogs for as long as he could. The snow was deep and the mountains high. Although there was a couple of other walkers there (to our surprise given the weather) it still felt remote and wild. Fortunately our walking guide had already warned us that Pen y Fan is also known as The Deceiver, or we may have been heavily disappointed each time we came to the top of a false summit and saw the mountain continue to stretch ahead of us... 

We rolled all the way back down in the snow and bundled back into the toy, thankfully had no more boggings and no troubles getting back on the road and bumped our way back to Cardiff. It was pouring with rain when we arrived, so we resigned ourselves to a warming beer and a welsh meal before heading to the train station for our stomach-wrenching express home.

Update from London

Our epic blog from the festive season is still under construction but I thougth I would take a quick minute to put up a couple of things from the last month. 

One of the highlights was a visit to Salisbury and Stonehenge. We took the train out with our bikes, and stayed in the great hostel in Salisbury which is in a huge old house. 

As my good friend Malin reminded me, this is what Eddie Izzard had to say about Stonehenge - 

"And we had the Druids! Long white robes, long white beards, early transvestites, didn't get their shaving together; and they built Stonehenge, one of the biggest henges in the world. No one's built a henge like that ever since. No one knows what the fuck a henge is! ... But they built Stonehenge, and it's built in an area called Salisbury Plain in the South of England. The area of Salisbury Plain where they built it is very ( eerie chanting ), ‘cause that's good, you know. It's a mystical thing; build it in a mystical area. 

You don't want to build it in an area that's (singing upbeat jazzy tune). No, there you build Trump Tower. But yeah, so they built it there. And the stones! The stones are 50 foot high, 30 foot long, 20 foot deep, and other measurements as well! And they’re not from ‘round there, that's the amazing thing! Remember, this is B.C.. This was before the B.C./A.D. changeover,when everyone was going, “Is it A.D. yet?”. ... So, yeah, the stones are from 200 miles away,in Wales, so these guys in Wales were obviously carving the rocks out of the very living mountain... 

"Fantastic, building a henge, are we? That's a fantastic idea! That's a marvelous religion the Druids have got! Yes, got a lot of white clothing, I like that. There we go!" And they smashed out a huge stone and then they put tree trunks down to roll it along on."

Disappointed to have arrived too late on Saturday night to visit Stonehenge in the evening, we bundled into bed and set our alarms for a pre-dawn start. And what a magnificent morning it was. Perfectly clear and crisp (temps somewhere below zero), with just a few clouds scuttling past the bright full moon, we rode along the rolling hills of Wiltshire in complete quite - the world felt utterly still. When we arrived at stonehenge the moon was just fading and the sunrise was making a magnificent display of pinks and purples on the horizon. It felt like a show put on just for us. Unfortunately we didn't get many legible photos, it was a tad freezing and dark and they are all completely blurry. 

We returned to the hostel for a hearty breaky of stale (cold) croissants and cold baked beans, and headed off to see the famous sights of Salisbury. Salisbury began as an iron age fort 2500 years ago. It was fought over by the Saxons and Celts in 552, and then completely abandoned, logically. Still, the area resettled and came under William the Conqueror's eye, who built a wooden castle. 

It was subsequently a very succesful town in the middle ages and it is now home to one of the finest medieval cathedrals in Britain, which may or may not also have the tallest spire. It is quite lovely. It also houses one of the remaining copies of the Magna Carta, I think by a historical quirk and for no good reason that we could find.

Amusingly, London came to a standstill on Monday when London had its heaviest snowfall in some 15 odd years (every paper gives a different number but it is quite awhile). Many people didn't go to work at all, the schools closed and 90% of public transport shut down. Luckily Sean and I had our trusty bikes, so I was one of 3 who turned up to work out of 7. (Sean was one of 3 as well but I'm not sure about his usual numbers).

Since we were so proud, I put together a picture journey of our ride to work - http://picasaweb.google.com/pritajobling/LondonSnow?authkey=U7Ar_HE1LGw&feat=directlink

Due to the snow we both got an early mark from work, perfect way to finish a great day.