walking the bikes in wales

after a long winter in the garage, a bicycle likes to get out and see the world again. when spring rolls around, it's time to put some air in the tires, oil the gears, and take the bikes for a walk. i would say take our bikes for a ride, but with our current level of fitness it ended up that we did a lot more walking of the bikes than riding of them. who knew that Wales had such steep hills?

after we'd walked the bikes up to the top of a lovely ridge, admired the ancient stone fences, the poofy sheep with racoon-like tails, and the views of Mt. Snowden, we hopped on the seats and rode the brakes down a slate-ridden trail that was twice as steep as the one we'd just pushed our bikes up.

it seems like it would be frustrating, but it was a fantastic day out and a wonderful way to celebrate dan's 30th birthday. how better to face a new decade than to don a $20 plastic helmet and careen down a gravel forest track at 30 mph?

we'd never before been to wales, but if our little village of Betws-y-Coed (still not sure about the pronunciation, either) played sister-city to an american village, it would be a lovely match for McCall, Idaho. it, too, was an undiscovered hamlet high in the mountains only known by lead miners, loggers, and sheep farmers until the 40s (1840s in this case). now it is a outdoor mecca (seven sporting-goods stores, four pubs, eight restaurants, and more people clad in fleece and dri-fit than sheep on the hillsides)....

we thought about camping, but the only part of the weather forecast one can trust here is the phases of the moon. and half the time you don't even know if they are lying about those because who ever gets to see the moon? so we opted for a B&B with biking, hiking, and beer drinking just a few steps out the front door.

it was the first time in my travels that i felt at home and homesick at the same time. something about real forests, real elevation, bars where there's more bicycle parking than car parking, and friendly people wearing Chacos gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. now i know where to go if i need a dose of the northwest, albiet with funny accents.