Riding through the lush Cothi Valley in Carmarthenshire, between steep banks of densely wooded green forest scattered with purple flowers, a deep sense of calm washes over me. No one is bickering or putting anyone in a headlock. No one is thumbing through TikTok or asking for PlayStation. Instead, we’re each tuned in to the natural world around us: the fast-flowing river to our right, the wind in the trees above us, the red kites, and, when the woodland gives way to grassy hillside, the sheep — there is much excitement about the sheep.
I’m on a two-day cycling adventure in west Wales with my partner and our 12 and 14-year-old sons, and it has not been entirely without conflict. There has been “discussion” over who is the best at hill climbing and whether one brother “Pidcock-ed” another on a tight bend, in reference to the Team GB cyclist Tom Pidcock who won gold in the mountain biking at the Paris Olympics after cheekily nipping in front of the leading French rider when the trail split in two. But mostly, this has been a tranquil and hugely pleasurable family break along quiet lanes and gravel tracks which, for much of the ride, we’ve had to ourselves.
We’re doing the trip as a “bikepacking tour”, which means carrying all our luggage with us, like backpackers on wheels. “Bikepacking is about exploring the places between the places,” says Joe Armstrong, a former Team GB mountain biker and youth expedition leader, who co-founded the cycling holiday specialist Roam in 2021 with his partner Gabrielle Coope. Their goal is to make multiday bike trips more accessible to everyday cyclists. They mostly cater to adults, but older children with a reasonable level of fitness can sign up if their parents think they’re up to it, and since ours are fitter than us these days we think they should be fine.
Llandeilo, a pretty town in Carmarthenshire with brightly coloured Georgian townhouses
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Roam offers nine different self-guided tours of two to four days around the Welsh countryside, ranging from the challenging Cadair Idris and South Eryri in Snowdonia to the moderately challenging Elan Valley and Cambrian Mountains. We opt for the only ride classified as “moderate”: the Tywi and Cothi Loop, which is roughly 30 miles a day but, as the route profile Armstrong shares with us before our ride shows, has plenty of hills along the way.
We meet him in Llandovery, a short walk from the imposing ruins of a 13th-century castle. This is a quaint market town in which to spend a couple of nights before or after the bike part of the trip, and people often follow Armstrong’s tip to stay in the lovely 17th-century Drover’s B&B on Market Square. It’s not super stylish but does have an open fire and a warm welcome (B&B doubles from £98; droversllandovery.co.uk). From here there’s great hiking in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park up Black Mountain.
While Armstrong sets us up on our high-spec gravel bikes, which are like stable road bikes with thicker, grippier tyres, these ones made by Temple Cycles in Bristol, he explains that bikepacking is a close relative of cycle touring. But instead of travelling on roads using panniers, which can be cumbersome, you strap as little to the bike as possible and journey along more remote routes, such as off-road tracks and quiet byways. “You feel less like a tourist, and more like a temporary part of the scenery,” he says.
Being in the great outdoors as a family can be both fun and freeing
In its purest form bikepacking involves camping along the way, and Roam offers this option too, but you’d carry your tents, adding more weight. We’re opting for the more comfortable version, staying in hotels en route.
Self-sufficiency while bikepacking is still key, so we squeeze our possessions for the two days into three waterproof packs, which attach behind our seat, along the frame and on top of the handlebars to spread the weight evenly. Our youngest is especially excited about the handlebar pack where we store our snacks — in his case mostly flapjacks and Haribo — for easy access.
Before our trip, Armstrong sent us a kit list and four bright orange bags in the post, shaped like miniature flight socks. He told us anything that wouldn’t fit in the orange bag wouldn’t fit on the bike, which took packing light to a whole new level for us — though I’m sure the boys would have happily worn the same sweaty clothes for two days straight given half the chance.
The market square in the quaint town of Llandovery
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We stash a packed lunch from a local bakery in our packs and say goodbye to Armstrong, who will be on hand via an InReach satellite device should any emergencies occur; for much of the trip we’ll be blissfully without phone signal, the ride having been pre-loaded onto a GPS device. It feels good to be navigating with our phones zipped inside our frame packs.
Our route is a loop that runs anticlockwise from Llandovery, and for the first stretch we ride a quiet road that shadows the Tywi, the longest river in Wales, towards a series of rounded hills in the distance, getting used to the bikes. The first few climbs aren’t too bad but the youngest races up them as if he’s going for a stage win at the Tour de France, so we have a gentle word with him about pacing himself over the two days, which mostly goes unheeded. As does our request to go easy on the snacks before lunch.
Armstrong has helpfully marked out cafés, pubs and wild swimming spots along our route, but the first stop at the riverside Towy Bridge Inn (fb.com/towybridge) comes a little early, so we push on to the Cothi Valley, a place of raw beauty, where the only other folk we see are cycle tourers. The hills are short but frequent, their intensity amplified by the fact we mostly cycle on the flat around where we live in Hove. Before the last big climb of the day the youngest is speaking for us all when he shouts: “No more hills!”
The River Towy near Llandeilo
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But after a picnic lunch beside a farmer’s field, surrounded by sheep, purple heather and bumblebees having their own feast on a bright yellow bush, we all feel rested and get back in the saddle. We pass Dolaucothi, the UK’s only Roman goldmine, and soon reach Abergorlech, which proudly welcomes visitors with a sign noting it was the best kept village in Carmarthenshire from 1964-66 and 1970.
Armstrong has told us about a secret wild swimming spot, which involves a walk through thick temperate rainforest — all ivy, moss, trees and reeds — alongside the Cothi, but the river is too high from recent rain, so we settle for a peaceful perch on the bank past a waterfall, hypnotised by the pace of the water’s flow.
Our legs are starting to feel heavy now, so we head to the village pub, the Black Lion, for sausage rolls, sponge cake and local ales (blacklionabergorlech.co.uk). At the bar, some locals are speaking Welsh and I suggest to the kids we try out the vocab that Armstrong had sent to us before our trip, though we’re all too embarrassed, managing just a quiet diolch and hwyl (thanks and goodbye) on the way out. The last stretch of the day to the village of Brechfa, our base for the night, is pleasantly flat.
Roam has booked us into Ty Mawr, a cosy, yellow-washed former farmhouse with comfy beds and friendly hosts who are more than happy to welcome slightly muddy cyclists for the night and give them a hearty breakfast the next morning.
The forecast for the second day promises heavy rain from mid-morning, so we set off right after breakfast to get some early miles done before it strikes. Following the Cothi, we duck under brambles and tree branches, passing no bikes or cars, on crisscrossing lanes so rural they have grass and nettles running through their centre.
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We reach a ford, where the river is so high we’re forced to use the path above it, and hike a footpath section through a gated field which leads to the National Trust’s Dinefwr, a castle estate, nature reserve and 18th-century deer park (£10; nationaltrust.org.uk). The sky is leaden, so we keep going to Llandeilo, a pretty town of brightly coloured Georgian townhouses, and stop for lunch at the bike-friendly café Pitchfork and Provision, tucking into super-tasty Welsh rarebit, just as the sky opens (pitchforkandprovision.wales).
Roam has nine different self-guided tours of two to four days around the Welsh countryside
By the time we’ve had lunch and are stuffing some Cenarth brie, Black Bomber cheddar and oak-smoked Caerphilly into our packs to take home, the rain has eased to a gentle mizzle. And maybe we’re getting used to it or just snacking at the right time, but the hills seem easier today. On our last climb, up a wild gravel track past Llwynwormwood, the former Welsh home of King Charles, we all agree we’re sad to be finishing.
Even though Armstrong was on hand should we have needed him, it felt incredibly freeing to be in the great outdoors alone as a family, carrying our own stuff, while connecting to nature and each other, and having the kind of deep meandering chats you can only really have when you’re cycling for hours at a time. That none of us looked at our phones, and the kids didn’t fight, made it all the sweeter.
Sam Haddad was a guest of Roam, which has one night’s B&B from £375pp, including bike hire and kit (roambikepacking.co.uk)
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