Bikepacking the Trans Cambrian Ride
8th to 10th April 2022
The Trans Cambrian Ride is a 106 mile mountain bike route starting at the English/Welsh border (at Knighton) and finishing at the Irish Sea. The route can be enjoyed over 2 or 3 days, making it a great option for a weekend’s bikepacking adventure.
The route avoids main roads and is made up of off road tracks, single track and bridleways.
The Cambrian mountains are a vast, remote area of mid Wales less visited than Snowdonia or the Brecon Beacons. The route is lumpy with around 3,700 metres of climbing (but if you do it east to west as we did, there is around 500 metres more descent than ascent!).
There is an excellent guide that has been written by the International Mountain Biking Association, a copy of which you can read here: https://www.transcambrianway.org.uk - It is packed full of helpful information about the route, options for accommodation and other logistical information. If you’re tempted to try this route, you’ll struggle to find a better guide.
Our ride
For this trip, I was joined by my good friend Joe and we decided to tackle the route over 3 days which worked out well.
Setting off from Knighton on Friday morning our first overnight stop was the the town of Rhayader where we were booked into the Bear B & B which helpfully has secure bike storage. The room was pleasant and the service friendly. I’d recommend heading to the Crown for food and drink. Good portions sizes which always go down well with me, not least after a days mountain biking!
Leaving Rhayader on day 2 we made our way 50 miles to the small village of Llangurig. That evening we had booked into the Old Vicarage B & B which was a real find! Run by Michael and Diane who were so warm and welcoming. On arrival we were greeted with tea and cake and made to feel at home. I can’t speak highly enough of their hospitality and they deserve every success with their business. Nothing was a problem for them, we had an early start in the morning and Michael insisted that he did not mind doing us a cooked breakfast at 6.30am. Again there was secure bike storage.
On our third day, we headed 30 miles from Llangurig to our end point, Dovey Junction where we caught the train to Shrewsbury and then on to Knighton where we had left our cars. Be sure to contact the train company in advance to book space for your bikes as there is limited bike storage available.
A fantastic few days in a wonderful part of the world.