I took a lot of persuading to first get up and then to leave the campsite this morning.  The milages had been short so far but according to my plans they were going to get longer and the rain was still going.  I had several options and didn't really know what I was going to do until I got on the bike and found myself following the signs for route 8 uphill out of Dolgellau.

It stopped raining and the sun came out, and the road became narrow as it climbed around the side of Cadair Idris.  Back down to the road (another get out of jail free point) which goes through the Bwlch Llyn Bach, but I stuck to the route which took a long a farm track - walk and push all the way up.  I knew there would be a great view at the top of the pass but I wasn't really expecting this, it seemed suddenly alpine with all the forestry.  I passed a few Duke of Edinburgh lads walking the other way, it had been a hard walk up for them and they seemed to think the bike was a good idea.

A nice run all the way down to Corris for a stop in a new and very popular cafe.  I'd only done about 10 miles but it was about lunch time, and although it had been better weather and a great route (visually speaking) I was concerned about how I was going to cover the planned miles to make my train in Cardiff 3 days later.