Originally Posted by
anthonykay
Yes, I have also grown rather fond of Wales, not least for all the happy fell-running memories that it has given me.
Unlike Travs, I hadn't been to Wales until I was 12 years old, when I was at a scout camp in Herefordshire and we were taken over the border on one day. I had a cycling holiday in Mid-Wales at age 21, in 1979, but my first fell race there was Llanbedr-Blaenavon in 1981. I became quite a frequent visitor to the long races of South Wales, doing Llanbedr-Blaenavon 8 times, Brecon Beacons 3 times, Black Mountains twice and Trans-Fan once.
I don't think I had ever been to Snowdonia before the JK (Jan Kjellstrom trophy) orienteering in 1984. My first Snowdonia fell race was the Moel Eilio Ridge in 1987, which I managed to fit in on my way home from Holyhead after a job interview in Ireland! I was back later that year for the Moel Siabod race. After a really good run at the race, I was slowly pedalling up to the Ogwen Pass towards my weekend accommodation near Bethesda, but the monstrous rocky excrescence filling the view to the left of the road was too much to ignore. So at about half past five, I changed back from cycling shoes to Walshes, and headed up the north ridge of Tryfan. Commonsense did return by the time I got to Bwlch Tryfan, where I decided that it would not be a good idea to go up Bristly Ridge as well. That was the last Saturday of July, 1987; by a curious coincidence, it was the last Saturday of July, 30 years later, when I eventually took myself along Crib Goch.
Another happy experience in North Wales was my two-week cycling holiday in 1989, with a fell race on each of the three weekends: Moel y Parc, Snowdon and Moel Siabod. I still consider the Moel Siabod race that year to be the absolute pinnacle of my rather undistinguished fell-running career. And, like Mr B, I did cycle down to the end of the Llyn peninsula, where an Irish mist was rolling in from the sea, providing relief from the rather un-Welsh heat.
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