I had a break from road cycling this weekend, so my wife and I decided to do a casual ride, me on a traditional mountain bike and my wife on her eBike.
We left Tanyresgair and headed towards Tregaron via backroads. We soon met the Aeron river and followed it for a mile or two to Blaenpennal. These back roads are quiet and take one through rural and farming lands, true reflection of Mid-Wales. We joined the main road A485, turned right and followed it towards Tregaron. A mile before Tregaron the road crosses the Teifi river. We stopped to look for birds and startled a grey heron. Once in Tregaron we bought the Sunday newspaper. Tregaron is old market town with a Spar, Rhiannon Crafts and the excellent Talbot Hotel.
We left Tregaron and headed North East on the B4343 towards Pontyrhydfendigaid (Bont for short). Two miles later we reached Cors Caron, a nature reserve set in the Teifi valley.
It’s here that we turned off the main road and joined the Ystwyth Cycle Trail – it’s a dirt track that runs north through the reserve. This track is dead straight as it was, until the 1960s, the railway line from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen. Talks about restoring the railway are currently in progress. The track is used by walkers, cyclists and birdwatchers passing a few dams and streams. Cors Caron has board walks extending into the wetland area of the Teifi with a couple of hides. Bird lovers can see a large variety of birds including ducks, waders, birds of prey and owls. Walkers and cyclists can enjoy the solitude and scenery.
We stopped near the end of the track for a quick snack before turning left onto a single track which took us up the hill to Tynygraig. We hit a main road turned left and after a 100 yards turned left again on to a back road, leaving the Ystwyth Trail and taking us over the hills towards Lledrod. This is all farming country; plenty of sheep, cows and horses, and we saw lots buzzards and kites.
On entering Lledrod we turned left on yet another quiet road. After 2 miles there is a cross road where we turned right for Bronant. This is no sign, but should you cross a bridge you’ve gone too far. From Bronant it was another 2 miles back to Tanyresgair.
It took us a leisurely 3 hours. This is great little route, 22 miles (36 kms) long and not too difficult.