Cosmeston Lakes Ride
Sarah and I were looking for an entirely new route, we came up with the idea of a ride to Cosmeston Lakes via Cardiff Bay and Penarth.
We make our way over from Pontprennau and pick up the Taff Trail via Tesco Western Avenue - we stop off for some supplies! We follow the Taff Trail down towards the Bay and at Clarance Road rather than take a right towards Cardiff Bay we cross over the Road and continue on the cyle path following it all the way to the Cardiff White Water Centre. We follow the cycle path round and cross the new bridge that links this side of the Bay to Penarth and pop out by the Tescos in Cogan. But not before noting there is a cycle Path that seems to follow the river Ely - a bike ride for another day we think!
We make our way to the roundabout and take the left onto Windsor Road we spot a nice looking park to our right so we and by we I mean Sarah decides it will be a nice detour! Sarah has since found out the Park is called Alexandra Gardens.
"Alexandra Gardens is the town's main Victorian Park, opened in 1902, with colourful flowerbeds, leafy glades, an ornamental fishpond, ornate bandstand and the town's Cenotaph memorial to the fallen of two world wars. The park leads from the town down to the seafront, almost connecting up with the Windsor Gardens park that runs above and parallel to the esplanade."
We jump off our bikes and walk through this lovely park and follow the steep paths as they make there way down towards the front. We pop out onto Windsor Terrace and via road we make our way to Marina Parade and onto Cliff Parade. this bring us out to the coastal path at the top of Penarth. We skip off our bikes as we walk across the tops taking in the views out to sea of Flat Holm Island. We follow this coastal path as far as Fort Road which we take off to our right to head towards Cosmeston. We come out on the B4257 and its a short right to the entrance of Cosmeston Lakes.
This is a really great park for cycling, walking, running and just chilling. If you pop into the visitors centre they have a good map to help you make best use of the routes. It's about a mile north to south, and about half a mile east to west, covering about 100 hectares (that's about 250 acres in old money). It has a variety of habitats – lakes, reedbeds, meadows, and woodland, which all change with the seasons. Colours change, bird song changes, plants change, migrant birds come and go.
Click here for more information on Cosmeston
We decide to have a cycle around the park to take it in and then park up for a coffee in the cafe. Its a good cafe serving snacks and drinks all quite resonably priced. If you can try to sit out the back which overlooks the main lake by the decked area.
On the way back we decide to try a path that is marked on the OS map and appears to go straight back onto the coastal path and cut 5/10 mins off our Journey. We find the path to be very overgrown and no longer seems to be in use. We end up running parallel to the overgrown path and have to lift our bikes over a short fence onto the coastal path. Would have been better to come back the way we came.
We make our way back home pretty much the way we came, heading through the park this time winding up and up. As we do disaster stikes and Sarah slips off her bike - up hill! She takes it all in her stride - she's a tough cookie!
Our total journey time is 4 hours 40 in total but our riding time is approx. 1 hour less. Overall this route is fairly traffic free and a really enjoyable ride. Me thinks we will come back this way soon!
See below interactive map if you need full details of this route.
