To The Top Of Wales And Back - A Bikepacking Adventure.
It was amazing, beautiful, wild and interesting but as the days went on the loneliness became unbearable…
I was nervous before setting off.
The unknown is terrifying.
Those crazy thoughts of all the things that might happen.
But had I known what it would really be like I’d have been way more scared.
In fact I’d never have started.
Never have left home.
Never have even made that first pedal stroke.
And the thought of that, is so much scarier again.
I’m glad I went.
I’m glad I had this idea.
And I’m glad I made it happen.
The longer that goes on now the more the good stands out.
I saw this part of the world in a different way.
A way that not a lot of people have seen it.
Slow.
Out in the open.
Alone.
I could sleep right under the stars.
Just me.
Just the world.
The idea for the trip was one that had been floating around in my head for a while.
To ride from home to the top of Snowdon and back.
Over 350 miles.
Seemingly endless mountain biking through a wild and beautiful part of the world.
To the top of Wales and back.
It sounds like the dream.
It was.
But also it wasn’t.
It was amazing.
Beautiful.
Wild.
And interesting.
But as the days went on the loneliness became unbearable.
You see...
This was never about getting up Snowdon.
It wasn’t even really about riding my bike.
I’m a man who doesn’t fit in trying to fit in.
You hear those stories of people out on solo adventures.
The ones where they bump into the coolest group of people.
Adventure with them for a few days, then continue on having made lifelong friends.
Somewhere in me I believed something like that would happen.
Ha, it sounds a bit silly now.
Maybe it is.
Maybe it isn’t.
Maybe the conditions just weren't right.
Maybe I was looking the other way as I passed them, missed by a matter of seconds.
I’ll never know.
But what I do know is if I stayed at home the chance to meet them would never have been there.
For now I’ll come up with the next idea.
Repack my bags.
And set off on another adventure.
Whoo!
- Jacob.
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The Plan - A Bike Up Snowdon From Home
The plan for my 360 mile bike ride to the top of Snowdon and back.
This idea has been swirling around in my head a couple of years now.
It was one of those…
Ha that would be cool to do one day, kind of ideas.
You know the ones where you know you should do it but have to convince yourself to start?
I’m going to ride my bike to the highest point in Wales.
From home, 194 miles away.
I start in the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, travel up the middle of Wales and to the top of Snowdon.
194 miles of adventure.
194 miles of seeing the country I’ve grown up in from a new perspective.
And I hope 194 miles of meeting interesting people on the way.
Then once I’m there I’ll turn around and ride back here to where I started.
As I’m writing this I’m thinking about it more and getting a little more nervous.
Ha.
It will be an adventure whatever happens.
I leave in just over a week.
And I’ll be back when I’m back.
- Jacob.
More information below 👇.
Details
- Planned route up: 194 miles/312 KM.
- Planned route back: 164 miles/264 KM.
- From: Home in Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire.
- To: Home in Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire.
- Via: Snowdon Summit.
When?
I have blocked off all of August in my calendar. I expect the ride to take 2-3 weeks but don’t want to be rushed if I meet amazing people or feel like exploring somewhere for an extra day. I will probably start on the 1st.
The Route
I pretty roughly drew a line on a map that went where I want to go and looked nice.
Camping?
Bivi most nights I think, hostel sometimes. Your sofa?
On your own?
I have found when you travel on my own I have met people that you wouldn’t have met if was with others. However, if you would like to join for a day or two. Send me a message on Instagram or an email.
Snowdon
It’s not got much meaning, merely a direction to point the bike. It’s about seeing the landscape differently and I hope meeting interesting people along the way.
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The Start Of Summer.
A few of the following photos feature, among other things, some of the: kindest, brightest, most creative, adventurous and generally fun people I know.
A few of the following photos feature, among other things, some of the: kindest, brightest, most creative, adventurous and generally fun people I know.
I wish I could spend more time with them.
- Jacob.
3:45am
This is a film about a sunrise. A summer sunrise with friends on the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. A sunrise that required getting out of bed a a totally silly time.
This is a film about a sunrise.
A summer sunrise with friends on the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales.
A sunrise that required getting out of bed a a totally silly time.
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The Best Bike Ride Of My Life.
Imagine pushing your bike up the stairs for two hours. That’s what some bits were like.
The other week I went on a bike ride.
It was the best bike ride of my life.
Across five days we cycled over 200km.
200km of mountain passes.
Beautiful woodland.
Dusty trails at sunset.
200km of great friends.
Laughs.
And wild discomfort.
I remember hours of hike a bike.
I remember falling off.
I remember rain.
And I remember the roughest trails I’ve ever seen.
But I also remember enjoying it all.
Almost every single minute.
Actual type 1 fun.
It’s weird.
It was super hard but also easy.
That sounds mad.
I know...
But that’s how it felt.
We were riding the Lakeland 200.
A big loop around the Lake District, designed to pull together all the best bits of trail in the area.
I would describe it as a wonderful sufferfest.
Imagine pushing your bike up the stairs for two hours.
That’s what some bits were like.
But just about anything can be fun with the right people.
I was with my friends Tom and Hugo for the five days.
And Will and Issy joined for some parts.
These are great people.
They made this pretty special.
Towards the end of the fourth day we were on our third hike a bike mountain pass of the day.
It was a long day.
Wow.
We crested the ridgeline to the golden hour light and 350 vertical meters of descent down to camp for the night.
The smiles dwarfed the mountain.
The dusty, fast, perfect trail was glowing in the evening light.
Maybe the best moment of the trip.
Yeeeeeeewwwwww!!!!!
There were many other moments of pain and so many more smiles.
Stories impossible to communicate in any way I know.
So yeah.
That was the best bike ride of my life.
Would I recommend you give it a go?
Absolutely not.
Absolutely YES!
- Jacob.
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All the information on the route here.
The Final Seconds
Waves. Winter. West Wales.
While sitting watching waves one morning, my mate Luke pointed out how these bumps on the ocean had travelled so far.
Many thousands of miles.
Many thousands of miles from where they were formed during a storm far out in the ocean.
But the part that we see.
The part that we experience.
The part that many ride with their board.
Is only the final few seconds of their journey.
Over this past quiet winter at home in Wales, I followed friends around the coast on their missions to experience these final seconds.
These images are what happened…
I originally put these images together in a little book The Final Seconds.
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A Different Type Of Busy.
The type of busy that will still matter a year from now.
I’ve been busy.
The adventuring type of busy.
Busy on the road in the van.
Busy falling asleep and waking up in the mountains.
Busy making dinner by the sea.
Busy exploring places I’ve not explored before.
Good busy.
The type of busy that will still matter a year from now.
The year is starting to take shape.
Quitting my job is now feeling like the right choice.
And the adventures have only just begun.
- Jacob.
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Simple. Easy. Convenient.
We need to make our lives simpler. We need to remove the unnecessary complexities. Then I think we will actually get what we set out to get when we wanted easy and convenient.
I’ve noticed something.
We all want an easier and more convenient life.
But at the same time we’re making our lives less and less simple.
The problem is, I don’t think easy or convenient are even things we should want our lives to be.
You never achieve anything great when you choose easy.
And the side effects of convenience are much of what is wrong in the world.
We need to make our lives simpler.
We need to remove the unnecessary complexities.
Anything we could comfortably live without.
Then I think we will actually get what we set out to get when we wanted easy and convenient.
Less worry.
Less stress.
More time.
More fun.
More of what we really want.
Just a thought.
- Jacob.
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The Best In 20 Years
I heard it said a couple of times for one swell. The best in over 20 years. I for one had certainly never seen anything like it.
It’s been pretty quiet out here in west Wales.
Pretty quiet for most people.
Sitting.
Waiting.
Not for surfers though.
Definitely not for surfers.
The wind has been blowing and the big swells have been hitting the coast.
I heard it said a couple of times for one swell.
The best in over 20 years.
I for one had certainly never seen anything like it.
Some of these waves were at least double my head height.
But with the easterly wind pushing against them they were also beautifully clean.
We stood there for ages.
Watching one huge wave after the other come crashing in.
It was a spectacle in itself, even without anyone trying to surf them.
These waves seem to have been keeping west Wales ticking.
Some excitement.
Some adventure.
Some fun.
You Can’t Lose
Sunrises are never easy. They never start with a lie in. And sometimes the sun doesn’t even bother turning up. But when by this time you’ve already been up and out, you can’t really lose for the rest of the day.
Sunrises are never easy. They never start with a lie in. And sometimes the sun doesn’t even bother turning up. But when by this time you’ve already been up and out, you can’t really lose for the rest of the day.
I learned a lot of this back in October when for some crazy reason I decided I’d get up and out for every sunrise of the month. I’d be up whether it was sunny or pouring with rain, out taking photos, walking, biking or just sitting and watching the view
Oh wow what a month it was.
Sometimes I’d camp out in my van, sometimes I’d stop somewhere on the way to work and sometimes I’d ride my bike from my front door.
Every day was different.
Every day was interesting.
Every day it was worth the early start.
Oh for sure there were days I didn’t want to get out of bed. Of course I wouldn’t when it’s pouring with rain outside. Though 20 minutes later when I’m out and jumping in puddles life seems pretty great.
Let me tell you about the first morning. This one was quite good.
I had driven 30 minutes or so from my house the night before and parked up in my van. The forecast was showing it more likely to be sunny over that way in the morning
When I woke up and poked my head out, there was a fair amount of cloud but the light was beginning to come through. I hiked up the rocky hill nearby, it wasn’t a long walk but it was a steep one. As I was hiking up it began to rain, I was somewhat disappointed at first but carried on up.
It had stopped before I reached the top where I could see this and other rain showers passing across the landscape. These are not what ruined the morning but what made it so good. The bright orange sun came up beyond them turning the dark rain clouds into quite a spectacle when the light hit them.
I sat at the top watching these showers and clouds for at least an hour all by myself. I’m sure there were many people down in the villages below still tucked in bed or sleepily making coffee, unfortunately missing out on all this.
The hardest part of the whole thing was convincing people that it would be worth getting out of their bed to join me. A brave few did and these were some of the most special mornings of the month. Sharing the cold morning with others is amazing and it gets better when they see the orange glow of our sun peaking over the horizon or the clouds in the distance that have turned bright pink.
I'm pretty sure I could do a better job of convincing more people to join me, now I have a month of photos and video to help my cause. I just won’t show them the ones where the sun had stayed in bed. Though if they’re open to it they'd probably enjoy these days too.
The grey mornings still set me up for the day ahead.
They still got me out of bed in the morning.
And the air was still fresh out there when the sun wasn’t shining.
What is really great about sunrises is that almost everyone on earth can get out and see them, they’re free and they're beautiful whether you’re out in the countryside or deep in the city. Set your alarm, get up and see this special but often missed time of the day. Remember You can’t lose.