Tour of Pembrokeshire
The Tour of Pembrokeshire is an annual road cycling event starting in St Davids. The ride is open to anyone and has three choices of routes: 50, 75 or 100 miles. St Davids has several coastal campsites, and in 2012 we enjoyed a long weekend camping and cycling the Tour of Pembrokeshire — a great year with glorious sunshine.
The route starts at Oriel y Parc, St Davids. We found a very efficient registration process, and it included a free energy gel — normally not a fan of the flavour of energy gels, but this one was one of the best we've tasted.
The ride itself starts by taking in the coast — as you crest a hill you get a magnificent sight of the bay below, and the next hill to climb. For the 50-mile route it works its way as far as Fishguard; the 100-mile riders go as far as Cardigan. Along the way the route is extremely well signposted, and there are several feed stations offering energy drink refills, bananas and other energy foods.
Once you've finished the ride, why not stay in St Davids and spend the following day exploring the coast and the UK's smallest city?
Camping
We stayed at a farm campsite right next to the coast in St Davids. We found it almost deserted, so no queues for the showers — it had a basic but ample shower and toilet block. Priced at around £7 per person per night and only around a mile from the centre of St Davids, it was easy to cycle to the start of the event, or walk into the city for a pub supper in the evening. The campsite also gave direct access to the cliffside coastal path, which was a lovely walk in the evening to watch the sun go down.
Have you done the Tour of Pembrokeshire, or are you considering it? Leave a comment and share any memories or tips.