We said farewell to Sue and Alan this morning. We had a lovely time and thankful for the friendship. 😊❣️

Todays ride was excellent. The scenery was amazing, the weather was good, and despite fairly solid and consistent traffic on the A5, on the whole, the drivers were patient.

Sue and Alan had recommended a coffee stop in Betws y Coed, a popular town to visit within Snowdonia, a centre for outdoor activities within Gwydyr Forest.

We found it! The Alpine coffee shop, complete with a bike on the glass roof, and an orangutan.

Inside the coffee shop they have items to sell raising funds for the preservation of endangered orangutans. This is a cause dear to my heart, as for a number of years I was the Tasmanian Coordinator for the Australian Orangutang Project, aiming to raise awareness and funds to assist stop these intelligent and beautiful animals becoming extinct.

How can you help? Do not buy products with palm oil (unless certified sustainable), donate or sponsor an orphaned orangutan, and learn more about their plight. Australian Orangutan Project

Behind the cafe are old railway carriages, and station platform.

Next door to the Alpine Cafe is another cafe, with this sign. We did laugh.

Leaving town we passed by this church. A relatively young church built in 1870, replacing the former 14th century church.

Heading out of town we climbed from about 28 km to 50 km. It was very doable and easier than the graph looks.

We were riding along the A5 between two our twin ranges of Snowdonia, the Carneddau and the Glyderau.

It was spectacular, and the photos do not show how high they really are. It was awesome riding this region. Lots of ‘wows’.

A string of photos as we progressed along the road.

A lake approached. Llyn Ogwen lies at a height of 310 masl, and has an area of 78 acres. It is very shallow with a maximum depth of 3 metres.

Of far greater interest though, it is claimed that after King Arthur’s final battle (Battle of Camlann), Sir Bedivere cast the sword Excalibur into this lake, where it was caught by The Lady of the Lake.

One of the Zwift clubs has referred to me on many occasions as The Lady of the Lake, when we are having a Monty Python banter fest, so riding by this lake did give me a laugh and giggle.

Before we descended we pulled off the road as we crossed a bridge to have a look.

Looking back up the mountains you can see old stone fences.

I particularly liked this one looking down the valley.

Over the road walking trail signs pointed the way.

Descending and looking back

Having left the mountains we arrived back on the coast at Bangor at the Menai Strait. The jetty was super busy.

Although there was no interpretive panel, these stones and sacrificial slab are not ancient ruins. I think these are Gorsedd stones, which form an integral part of Druidic Gorsedd ceremonies.

There were pleasant views across the Menai Strait to the island of Anglesey.

The Menai Bridge was built by Thomas Telford in 1826….I mentioned him yesterday re the aqueducts we visited. He was a super busy man! We crossed this bridge to Anglesey.

Looking back towards the Menai Bridge.

Looking forwards towards the second crossing, the Britannia Bridge.

Nice views and forests.

Then we arrive at the town with the unpronounceable name! That is the shortened version.

In full, knock yourself out!

The tourist hub has what it means.

The next point of interest was on Holy Island reached by bridge crossing the Cymyran Strait. Trearddur Bay was busy with bathers and families on the beach. I checked the weather gauge. It was 17C.

We were now only 5 km from our accomodation so we moved on.

The end of the last climb.

We are now in Holyhead. Another solid day, 117 km and over 1000 m climbing…again!

We ate our breakfast for dinner. Tony has a pinched nerve in his neck/shoulder area so hopefully that might abate overnight.

Thanks for reading, bed time 😊❣️