Mid Wales Run

[Davey S2]

Spent most of the weekend up in Mid Wales and had a great run today.

A470 from Cardiff to Brecon (with a short detour to drive the A4059) then the B4520 to Builth Wells.

From there pick up the A470 again up as far as Rhyader.

Take the B4518 to the Elan Valley to Caban Coch, Garreg-ddu, Penygarreg and Craig Goch reservoirs.

Take the Mountain Road to Cwmystwyth then pick up the B4574 and then the B3434 all the way down to Lampeter.

From Lampeter take the A482 to Llanwrda Then head towards Llandeilo for a few miles until the A4069 (the Evo hairpin road) then back to the A470 and home.

Sorry I dont know how to plot this on multimap but its fairly easy to follow on the map.

Spotted a few others out as well. A nice orange Gallardo Spyder (with the roof on unsurprisingly given the weather!) One bloke in a Tiger type Caterham kit up near Devils Bridge and a guy in a race prepared Corsa on the A4069 who was 'making progress'

Briliant day with very little traffic but very cold and a fair few icy patches.

Some pics:

Caban Coch Reservoir




Penygarreg Reservoir




Hairpin heaven at Graig Goch Reservoir



The obligatory icy rock shot



The only Gayman in the village



The mountain Road




'EVO' Hairpin on the A4069



A4059



The end of a brilliant day

Edited by Davey S2 on Sunday 1st February 18:42

[steve z]

Great route mate, and I know how much fun that must have been in the Cayman. You local to Cardiff?

[Davey S2]

Yes Steve I live in Cardiff but seem to spend most of my spare time around Brecon / Builth!

[charnock]

thats a day very very well spent!

[Longers]

Looks great

Thanks for taking the time to share the route

[Allyc85]

Brilliant pics mate. Im up in Wales on the 21st and might just follow the route you did

[steve z]

Davey S2 said:

Yes Steve I live in Cardiff but seem to spend most of my spare time around Brecon / Builth!

Drop me a line next time you fancy a blat like that, and you fancy another Cayman to join you.

[minisloth]

I did a run almost the same as that on Saturday. It was great fun, I'll be looking to go back again soon I think

[robwales]

Nice.

One question though for all of you who stop to take pictures: do you drive the road and then go back a bit to take pictures?

I do take a few pics myself, but many times I think ooh nice view but I just want to carry on driving.

[Davey S2]

Steve, I wil give you a shout for the next one. I usually go out in the company of a couple of Elises as well.

Rob, I've done these roads a lot so dont mind stopping to take some pics. After the first few pics though I stayed in the car and just stuck the camera out of the window. Around the exposed parts of the reservoirs with the wind chill it must have been about -5.

[Chris71]

Ah - the Evo hairpin, hope to be there in a few weeks time.

Hopefully slightly better weather by then. Just learnt to cope with rain in the TVR (mostly by copious Rain-X application), I don't think I'm ready for snow yet.

[Longers]

Chris, if you put Rain X on the inside of the windows it also helps to stop them steaming up

[hornetrider]

steve z said:

Davey S2 said:

Yes Steve I live in Cardiff but seem to spend most of my spare time around Brecon / Builth!

Drop me a line next time you fancy a blat like that, and you fancy another Cayman to join you.

I do those roads a fair bit as well. If you fancy a Boxster S for company give me a shout.

[gwentman]

Great pics and your car looks great, I live near abergavenny so if you do the route again and would like some company,me and my chim would like a run out.

[Chris71]

Longers said:

Chris, if you put Rain X on the inside of the windows it also helps to stop them steaming up

Tried the Rain-X interior wipes. They're better than nothing, but they don't have the dramatic effect that the exterior water repellent does.

Sorry to go off topic, but let's face it: It's Wales, it's February, it is likely to be relevant.

[jimlad71]

Sunday was a bloody cold day up there

Was the Caterham type car up by the hairpin with the benches???
If so it was I. My car is a Robin Hood 2B+

Was a fun drive up from Birmingham

Had fun taking some photos by the obligitory rock, but nearly ended up on my backside due to the ice on the road. Need to get them uploaded in flickr at some point.

Worst thing was returning home, it started to snow as I reached Telford and I am of the position that hoods are for wimps!!!

Interesting to say the least!!!

[Davey S2]

jimlad71 said:

Was the Caterham type car up by the hairpin with the benches???
If so it was I. My car is a Robin Hood 2B+

Yes that was you. I also heard you before I saw you drive over Devils Bridge before carrying on. I stopped there for a quick look then went back as the other road was closed for resurfacing works.

I know what you mean about the ice. On reflection I dont think Puma Speedcats are the best choice of footwear for the Beacons in February

[peanutjb]

Mate, you should of gone the week before! Brilliant weather as witnessed below:

[Jamz]

I have to say they do have some nice roads up there... I went to pick up our new track car last weekend (south wales) - We left the North East at 3am getting to Wales for 9am (taking motorways)

So we decided while we were down there, we should take the "fun" way home, and it was not a dissapointment!

Will have to figure out what roads we went on, but they were really good!

[cw42]

oh, some great shots there guys. can't wait for our trip later on this month, hotel all booked, time off work, wife suitably sorted!