Starting with 3 counties. Cross the river to leave Pembrokeshire and enter Carmarthenshire; tootle a few miles, enter Ceredigion. The only thing which visibly changes are bins. Pembrokeshire’s chirpy recycling bags give easy to Ceredigion’s clear plastic bags.
Today we follow NCN 82 for a good while, leaving it when it goes to Lampeter. We head north east. All the routes are hilly. By that I mean steep and heavy breathing territory. So it feels quite slow going.
The first hour or two the grass verges have a soft reflective glow. There is a different sound from the Tarmac. It’s hosing it down. I’d brought the rain gear. Not the right gear, but stuff just the same. Who cares about rain running down your leg to be soaked up by socks? Anyhow the sun came out and we were soon steaming from the sweat inside the ‘breathable’ fabrics. I think they were tested by an asthma enthusiast.
This part of Wales feels isolated and unfamiliar. Well cultivated, very few settlements. We running parallel to the coast but inland. There is no easy cycling road with the main road a busy one.
Aberystwyth comes into view, and soon swn-y-mor appears.
Travelling reflections 