A good ride will always be about memories. Sometimes it’s about creating them - a route you’ll never forget, a day full of stories and good times with great friends.
That’s what it’s like when I ride out of my home town of Cardiff into the lanes of the Vale of Glamorgan. Cardiff is the best kind of capital city - big and small at the same time, contrasting areas but the same vibe, enough to keep you there but never more than fifteen minutes on your bike from open countryside.
From Llandaff on the western side of the city, you’re into the lanes in no time at all. So we take Pwllmelin Road out of Llandaff, which turns into Pentrebane Road, heading due west. We go over the crossroads, with St Fagan’s cricket club on your left, riding on to St Brides-super-Ely and Peterston-super-Ely, turning right at Gwern-y-Steeple to cut across to Welsh St Donats and enter the little town of Cowbridge from the north, on the Maendy Road.
It’s never too busy leaving town on these roads. The roads are up and down, and seldom flat for long. The villages you pass through are lovely and the pubs are nice places to meet friends who might be driving out instead. There’s the Hare and Hounds in Aberthin, on the edge of Cowbridge, or there’s The White Lion, just north of Maendy. Both serve great food. If you haven’t been there before you’ll like Cowbridge. Good cafes and boutique shops for the dedicated followers of fashion.
It’s a gradual uphill drag as you leave Cowbridge. Halfway up the drag out of town keep an eye out for a small road called Geraint’s Way. Imagine how often I dreamt of living on that road as a kid. At the top of the climb we hang a left and pass Llandow Circuit.
Through Llantwit Major on the quiet B4270 and along the coast on Dimlands Road to St Donats, passing little coffee shops and ice-cream places along the beach. Then it’s back north-westwards into the lanes, through the villages of Marcross and Monknash, and their big views out past Nash Point lighthouse and sand.
It’s a slightly bigger road through Wick, although it’s all relative; it’s only the B4265. We ride on, towards Ogmore-by-Sea. Keep an eye out for The Fox pub, on Ewenny Road in St Brides Major.
We pass Ogmore Castle on our left, Southerndown Golf Club on our right. Peckish? Stop at Cobbles, on the north side of Ogmore.
Onwards to Ewenny on the B4524. The Post Office corner shop here has saved my bacon - as well as my pasties and pastries! The menu and ingredients on offer at this Post Office are insane for a little place.
We’re heading home now. We can follow the lanes along Wick Road from Ewenny back into Cowbridge. Grab that coffee at George North’s place in Cowbridge. Go back past the school and go all the way to Pontyclun on the A4222.
There’s more of a South Wales Valleys feel now, as we dip under the M4 and head north. Small, tough communities built around hard work and rugby. If you fancy a little more of the former, climb through the lanes to Castell Coch. keep going all the way up to Caerphilly Mountain on Caerphilly Road or Rhiwbina Hill. At the top, views stretch everywhere. The descent into Cardiff is smooth and fast all the way down – and at the end of a ride like this, the sensation of speed is exactly what’s required.
