I just worked out a schedule with 3 overnight stays and a fairly short final day, so 3.5 days, intending to take the gravel bike and use B&Bs. Then I looked at one of the guide pages and it said 5-9 days. So am I mad, or are they aiming at people who don't cycle much?
We did it in 5 nights (camping & cooking each night so carrying that gear). Hadn't done a bike-packing trip before so didn't really know what to expect, wouldn't have wanted to squeeze the riding into a day less though, looking back! Just about the right level to still be enjoyable, but still tired at the end of the day 😃 I'd say we were medium fitness-level (all ride regularly but don't go in for any long-distance rides/challenges etc!)
We did it years ago.
We cycled from Manchester to Anglesey and did from Anglesey to Chepstow in 4 days but we didn't slavishly follow the route deviating for nice places to stay.
We then cycled back to Manchester.
My advice would be to find nice places to stay don't rush and enjoy the experience.
There will be places to visit like the Centre for Alternative Technology and the railway trail to Barmouth which are worth a deviation.
Just have a great time.
Slightly modified, it took me 3.5 days (24hours riding time). (Started in Bangor instead of Holyhead. Diverted to do one descent each in CYB, Climachx and NYA.) Top-tip: Try to avoid finishing in Cardiff during evening rush-hour. If I were to do it again, I'd consider diverting onto NCR42 and finishing in Chepstow instead.
Mate and I did it in 4.5 days. Could have done it in a bit less but didn't want to have loads of time pressure/did want the chance to stop and look at stuff/get to destination for an early beer. B&Bs for us/
Holyhead is pretty disappointing. The rest was great. GPS very much needed as some of the route is a bit overgrown/not well signposted.
I wrote a travelblog thing: https://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=4412 - that's the first day, if you want to read mores scroll up 🙂
Really enjoyed it, was the first bike tour I'd done since a teenager. Very glad we weren't camping 🙂
I wrote a travelblog thing:
That is great! Thank you very much.
Glad you liked it. I read it again after posting. Made me want to do another trip 🙂
Rode it last year, probably the most scenic non-technical bike ride I've done!
If you're fit'ish you can easily do it in 4 days, which is what we did but we did start from Keynsham, Nr Bristol via the Chepstow route. I agree Holyhead has no redeeming features at all!
Made a few videos about the trip too
I rode on a Croix de Fer with 38mm gravelking slicks, which were perfect.
Fantastic ride. I rode it in 2019 (also on a Genesis CDF). 4 days, wouldn’t have been so enjoyable if had tried to squeeze it into a shorter time. Stayed in B&Bs and travelled light. Holyhead definitely very much an anticlimax as a finishing location!
Made a few videos about the trip too
Nice videos!
So to answer my original question, my 3.5 day schedule isn't too unreasonable. Just need to even it out over the 4 days, probably shorten my first day (was thinking I'd make it to Builth Wells) and aim for a longer last day. Looks like I could still make it home if I get to Holyhead station by 17:00.