Velothon Wales: Hazard Points

If you are doing Velothon Wales, then here is a list of hazard points which you might want to be aware of:


1. Ocean Way / Rover Way - leaving Cardiff, the route heads down through the most unattractive part of Cardiff! Along these roads there's a fair bit of road furniture (including the 'Magic Roundabout' at Splott). The road along Rover Way tends to be filthy dirty due to the heavy industry down here. There are also two roundabouts to be wary of: in the past the road surface has been churned up by lorries, but I noticed last week that they had been resurfaced. Oh, and there's some railway lines crossing the road, but nothing to worry about - they are at 90 degrees to the road.

2. The Flats - as you go past the wind turbine, you are now entering 'the flats' - local chaingang territory. The surface of the last roundabout where you turn right by the freight terminal is pretty churned up by lorries, so take care there. The road surface past the travellers camp site is not great, but the rest of the flats is not too bad - just watch out for potholes.

3. Newport - Langstone - the only risk along this stretch is that you will fall asleep from boredom. Its dual carriageway most of the way. The only dodgy bit is Nash Road just past the Velodrome where the road is narrow and full of sleeping policemen and pinch points as you go past the schools. You might find some interest in the Transporter Bridge or Llanwern steelworks, but other than that its deathly dull. Just enjoy the smooth roads.

4. Cat's Ash - coming off the A48 near the Coldra roundabout the route goes up a narrow lane - expect there to be some congestion here.

5. Belmont Hill - the descent from the Celtic Manor to Caerleon is very steep and fast. Visibility is not great at the fastest point, and theres a fast right hander followed by a left at the bottom.

As you can see, the fast sharp right is marked by signs, but there is a dangerous manhole cover right on the corner. If its wet, that could be treacherous.





6. Caerleon to the Tumble - there are no problems here - the road is generally good all the way.

7. Top of the Tumble to Pontypool - the descent of the Tumble is fine. From Blaenavon to Pontypool though the road is pretty fast and windy. There's usually plenty of cars parked alongside the road though - not sure if they'll be there on the day, if they are then point them out to everyone else.

8. Pontypool to Newbridge - I hate this stretch of road - if its windy it'll be horrible, but at least there won't be any cars. Watch the descent to Crumlin - its very fast and you take a 90 degree left hander at the bottom.

9. Newbridge to Caerphilly Mountain - No problems along here - mostly dual carriageway so it should be fast.

10. Caerphilly Mountain descent part 1 - the first part of the descent is very steep (20%) with a right then left through a compression. Normally, you are trying to take this as fast as possible to maintain your speed up the slight rise to the Travellers Rest where the descent starts again. But going through the compression whilst turning left can catch you out, so you need to be concentrating here especially if you are catching slower/less experienced riders.

11. Caerphilly Mountain descent part 2 - coming off the top of the mountain you can easily hit 50-60mph right away. There's a right hander but its fine to take flat out. But straight after this you'll need to be hitting the brakes to take a 90 degree off-camber left hander into a narrow lane (Capel Gwilym Road). This could be super dangerous if people try coming up the inside, or experienced riders are merging with inexperienced ones. Seriously, this is the most dangerous part of the course, so take it easy!

12. Lisvane - to Cathays - if you get round the left hander unscathed, then its a pretty easy run into Cardiff from here. There's a couple of awkward roundabouts at Lisvane railway station where you come off a descent and will want to maintain your speed to get up the small climb afterwards. Coming through Llanishen theres a couple of sleeping policemen. The last short climb is at Fairoak road and then it really is all down hill along Cathays Terrace, although the road surface at the bottom on the right hand bend is not great.

Take care out there!

The British

In hushed tones they said it. "And we came back over The British".

No more needed to be said: it had been a hard ride.

That was 20 years ago. Rarely do I hear people speak of it.

Where's The British, I ask. Blank looks is their reply.

Unloved and overshadowed by its near neighbour The Tumble.

But is The British one of the best climbs in South Wales? Best? Unique, for sure.

The British

Literally rising from the ashes of an industrial age, a 2km long 10% incline on to the moors above Abertillery. A road both from and to hell, perhaps.

Relics of heavy industry  litter the start: collieries, ironworks, quarries, chimneys, derelict houses. There's some great photos here.

Like its industrial heritage, the road is in a bad state, overgrown, crumbling and difficult to find.

Unmarked and unrevered on Strava (its actually called "the Bungalows" climb).

The exposed summit is at 475m, almost as high as the Tumble, and followed by a long exposed stretch across the moor, usually battered by the prevailing wind.

Today though, its blowing the East, but the climb is no easier. And the descent to Aberbeeg through St Illtyd presents its just as horrendous - parts are taken slower than the climb.

Here's a film of the climb. You might be able to see the road surface, and appreciate the steepness. What you can't quite appreciate is the grimness of the valley to the left, littered with the spoil of heavy industry, its like returning to the 1970s. Maybe not the best climb, but certainly one of the most interesting.

The Tumble: overrated

Top of the Tumble tonight pic.twitter.com/UAMgq0bGzJ
— Dr Gareth Enticott (@GarethEnticott) May 1, 2014

The Tumble. Apparently the mecca of South Wales cycling, the spiritual home of hill climbing, the closest alpine ascent we've got. No wonder that the Tour of Britain will be finish on it in 2014. There's even a charity event where you can spend all day riding up and down it.

Pah! The Tumble is vastly overrated. It might be a relatively hard climb, but its not the best climb in South Wales. Here's five reasons why:

1. 10% for 6km? Ahem. At best, Strava gives 9% over 4.9km, or 8% for 5km. So its tough, but lets not exaggerate things. Moreover, the summit is in the wrong place. Really, the top of the climb is further on up the lane to the left of the summit which then descends down towards Llanover. There's a bit more climbing to do, but its not exactly steep. But then neither is pretty much the last kilometre of the main climb - its big ringable stuff. Maybe the climb is more like 3km at 10% - half of those official signs - but who'd be excited about that? Its hardly alpine territory.



2. The view. Where is it? Most of the climb - the steepest part - is along a hedgelined straight road. It feels claustrophobic and tedious, but it doesn't have the mystique of the forest section on Mont Ventoux. The lack of view makes uninspiring, a grind. Once over the cattle grid and out onto the moor things improve slightly. But for the most part the view is always behind you, and to the left there's no sense that you are scaling a high peak: there are no high craggy outcrops, scree slopes or cliff faces. The view back over the Usk valley from the top is good, but this comes at the start of the descent when you probably want to be concentrating on something else.

3. The road surface. Aargh. Not quite the Arenberg, but nowhere near the smooth slopes of a Tour de France climb. Again, the steepest bottom section is worst, or pretty much all of it when descending (see next point). If this is supposed to be the highlight of riding in Wales, lets have a decent road surface.

4. The descent. What descent? All good climbs need to go somewhere (see next point), but the descent to Blaenavon is innocuous and uneventful. If you want a good descent you need to turn around and go back the way you came (or use the lesser known narrow lanes down to Llanover - but that's less fun). Of the Tumble descent, its fast and dangerous, which some people may like. Personally, I'd prefer to go fast without taking too many risks, or as one Strava segment names the descent; "grow some balls". The cambering of the bends towards the top creates a kind of roller coaster effect as you straightline them. Towards the bottom, there's no room for error with the road hemmed in by hedges. The road surface doesnt help and makes braking for the bottom hairpin tricky. Incidentally, all good climbs/descents need a good hairpin. The Tumble has one, but its impossibly tight and steep that it makes it neither enjoyable going up or down.

5. The destination. Have you been to Blaenavon? Actually its a world heritage site, home to the industrial revolution. The road is also quite an important route through to Pontypool which means its busy and not ideal for cyclists. But for cyclists the road doesn't really go anywhere: it doesnt link up to any other climbs. You can cut across to Brynmawr, or head back down towards Newport: either direction isn't particularly exciting. There's no secondary climb which would make the Tumble even tougher. Perhaps you could say the same of Ventoux, but at least with Ventoux the other side also offers another stiff test. The Tumble's asymmetry lets it down.

So what alternatives are there? Here's 3 choices:

1. Llangynidr Mountain. Personally I much prefer the climb up Llangynidr to the Tumble. The north face is 8% for 4.1kms, so not far off Tumble steepness. It has a view all the way up. It has a hairpin. And it has a proper descent, which you can climb back up. You could also ride over to the Tumble if you wanted. Im wondering why I didnt ride up it myself.


2. Bwlch/Rhigos/Maerdy. This is the classic combination. Bwlch, Rhigos and then Maerdy Mountain. The first two are less steep than the Tumble, coming in at around 5%. But they have hairpins, good road surfaces, a sense of being in the mountains and a view. Maerdy is even steeper. Coming out of Aberdare, it averages 9% over 3ks. The quick combination of these climbs make this ride pretty tough.



3. Ferndale - Llanwonno. Finally, my current favourite is the climb out of Ferndale to Llanwonno. Its only a narrow lane, but starts off with two alpinesque hairpins, the first with a huge retaining wall reminiscent of something you'd see on Alpe D'huez. The climb is in fits and starts, but you get a great view as you rise over the valley's communities below. Rows and rows of terraced housing are visible across the valley, the morning sun picking out the range of different colours. Its a great view. Then there's a technical but fun descent down through Llanwonno and either back to Pontypridd or to Ynysbwl. If you added this on to the back of the Bwlch/Rhigos and Maerdy, that would be some ride.