You will start from Pentre, at St Peter’s Church. You can’t miss the church’s imposing, rectangular silhouette, and it will serve you well whenever you glance back at the valley as you climb, watching it dwindle to the size of a needle to show you just how far you’ve come.

The climb takes you up between tree lines on rough track, cresting the hillside roughly 250 metres above the church. The views are appropriately fantastic, and if you choose to take the route from north to south, it would make a photo finish to the day’s ride. Continuing north, you’ll come down the other side, plunging steeply down towards the town of Maerdy and the river at the valley’s floor.

Cutting in just above Maerdy, you’ll link onto the riverside and follow it up the valley to Castell Nos Reservoir, passing below the hillfort of the same name on the hillside to your right. This whole stretch of the route is scenic without being too challenging. When you climb above the dam at Castell Nos, you will continue for the length of the reservoir before turning sharply right and climbing the east side of the valley until you hit the A4233 where you’ll find a fab parking place with views of the whole route you’ve just mastered.