| Cyclosport was invited to preview the full 116 mile route of the Tour of Pembrokeshire along with the organisers and members of Tenby Aces Cycle Club and Pembrokeshire Velo. 
An early start at 7am with a huge turn out, superb spring weather and my attention quickly turned to the job in hand - capturing the 'essence' of the ride. No fewer then 20 of us set off from the idyllic start of Folly Farm. The opening roads where rolling so I had
the opportunity to warm up, and make some new friends. The route heads north towards the Preseli Mountains. A lot of the route is within Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the UK’s only truly coastal National Park . As I discovered it's truly a spectacular landscape of rugged cliffs, sandy beaches, wooded estuaries, wild inland hills - a place of sanctuary for wildlife. 
Pembrokeshire has something for all the family, I would thoroughly recommend bringing your family for a long weekend or as my family are now planning, even longer. Stunning scenery, breathtaking landscapes and exhilarating outdoor activities. Pembrokeshire boasts 7 of the UKs top beaches - you'll see, I was amazed (and slightly embarrassed having ridden Sportives all over Wales) that I hadn't had the opportunity to visit here previously. 
For families who are thinking of holidaying in the UK this year due to sterling and the economy - this should definitely be top of your list! Back to the ride - a nice body warming climb up to the small town of Narbeth and through the village, you get your first glimpse of the Preseli Mountains, off in the distance. I made my "escape" from the group to go up the road with one of the 3 support cars, to experience the climb of Bwlch Gwynt. Through the picturesque village of Rosebush, turning right the road kicked up and the long winding climb started. 
The reward at the top was worth all the effort. The view of Pembrokeshire was spectacular. The bunch soon made their way to the top and then I was off to catch them on the descent. What a descent! It went on for miles with truly stunning scenery dropping from 420m above sea level, it was straight and fast, simply gorgeous. If it was a fairground ride, I would have bought a day ticket. By now the giant Cerrig Lladron mountain with it's rocky top loomed over us. On on a clear day you may see Snowdon (Gran Fondo Cymru) and Dunkery Beacon (Exmoor Beast) and, on a very clear day, the hills of Wicklow (Ireland). A stone circle named Beddarthur (Arthur’s Grave), draws attention to the legend of the Mabinogion. Arthur and his knights crossed the ridge and fought Twrch Trwyth, the magic boar, on Cwmcerwyn. 
We had entered the Cwm Gwaun valley. Shame the trees hadn't leafed just yet, as it would have been even more stunning. I started to eat and drink as it was going be a long day. Before I knew it, we hit a succession of fairly short and steep climbs of around 18%. The second came as a real surprise, on a 270 degree bend. By the top the sea came into view and we were rewarded with the long and fast descent down into Fishguard. Having heard the name many times on shipping forecast, on the radio, I wasn't sure what to expect. Fishguard was beautiful, with a small inland port, brightly painted houses on the cliffs and lots a boats stranded on the low tide. Picture postcard Idyllic. 
The climb out of Fishguard was tough, my legs complained! We sailed past the ferry port that sails to Rossaire in Ireland and hit another brute out of Goodwick. Did I mention cars, I can't say we had seen that many, well compared to Surrey that is … The ride took on a new form as we hit the Coastal road, all seagulls and salty air. It wasn't long before we hit the cafe lunch stop at Newgale beach. While others queued for food, I admired the surfers and sandy beach. 
After a sociable pit stop, it was time to say good bye to a lot of our riding companions, who turned to do the 64 mile course and spend some time with their families. Cliff, Matt, Steve and I continued along the Coastal rode looking to complete the full 116 mile course. There are a lot small climbs one after another along the coastal rode, nothing very steep or long but I was continually working. We'd done around 65 odd miles with 2,000 metres of climbing and we decided between the four of us, to up the pace, as our average was quite low. We worked well together with Cliff at the age of 60 (who seriously didn't look a day over forty!) did some big turns on the front. Steve seemed to be getting stronger as the ride went on! We had our heads down concentrating on the job at hand, I was still enjoying the coastal roads. People walking, children building sandcastles and flying kites - I felt like I was on holiday rather than trying to complete a pretty tough sportive around the whole of Pembroke county. There where some serious surfing going on, with some classic VW Split Screen Buses parked up along the cliff tops ... 
Cliff at one stage pointed out "Be careful Mark, the next bit of road can have patches of sand". No stone was left unturned in our quest to visit every part of the coast line! Along St Brides Bay, a short excursion inland, over the long tall road bridge through Pembroke town. We turned right and headed west again back out to the furthest south west tip of the coast line. Cliff pointed out the first delivery of liquid natural gas across the river at Milford Haven to the UK from the Far East, in a huge and specially built container ship. The coast line along here has an old firing range that’s still used by the army. 
The road was undulating with some small climbs nothing too steep. Reaching Stackpole the huge swathe of wild garlic was amazing, I grabbed some on the bike, it smelt the strong and pungent. Having done around 90 odd miles, my legs crumbled on the 15% climb out of Freshwater East. Cliff and Steve showed great endurance where as Matt and I hung in there. Luckily it wasn't a really long climb, may be a km long. Having reached Tenby after around 105 miles, the finish line was in site. 
There is the climb out of Tenby and another up to New Hedges to conquer before a nice downhill section taking you within 2 miles of the finish line. There is one more, short sharp climb through Begelly just before the finish! Cliff and Steve dueled to the death (in Sporting fashion) all the way to the line. 116 miles and an accurate 3,300 metres of climbing. There is also a 64 mile option with 1615m of climbing too, for less experienced riders. 
I will definitely be back to ride this on the 7th June, it's pure magic and I won't be in a hurry to get round. Why - you'll see, just soak up the experience. I fell in love with Pembrokeshire. Thanks so much to Bryan Jones, Tim Brace and Jon Mills for inviting Cyclosport along for the ride. Thanks to the riders from Tenby Aces Cycling Club and Pembrokshire Velo. Thanks to all those riders who made it such a terrific and enjoyable day and gave me a warm welcome. So thanks to: Bryan, Matt, Steve, Cliff, Jon M., Carlton, Sean, Tanis, John P., Nigel, Nick, Richard, Mel., Sue, John S., David, John and Debs. And finally Carina - we all hope your recovering well! Sometimes I ask myself why I'm editor of Cyclosport? - but days like this make everything so worth while. Please join me and hundreds of others on the 7th June and make up your own mind whether you think this is one of the best Sportives in the UK? For a full gallery of pictures from the preview, please go to: www.cyclosport.org/album4.aspx?id=1025 For GPS maps, profiles and downloads, please go to: www.cyclosport.org/eventdetails.aspx?id=448&eventid=377 To enter, please go straight over to: www.tourofpembrokeshire.co.uk Mark Harding
Editor, Cyclosport.org |