The Desert Of Wales

Hope you lads are prepared. It gets pretty remote from here on in.’ The farmer at the entrance to the Irfon Forest has a look of concern on his face, but little does he know that’s the very reason we are here – to escape the rest of the world and get lost, at least metaphorically speaking. Possibly literally too, because ahead of us lies a maze of gravel tracks that are knitted into the fabric of the Welsh countryside.

Known as the Desert of Wales, the Cambrian Mountains are often overlooked as a cycling destination, in part due to being shoe-horned between more illustrious neighbours such as Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons, but also due to the fact that the heart of the region is so remote that it is largely inaccessible… that is, unless you are heading off-road.

There are few places in the UK, outside of Scotland, where you can ride in such solitude, through landscapes unspoiled by the hand of modernity, standing today as they have for