Aberystwyth is Welsh to the core and slightly eccentric with it. The town sits where the rivers Rheidol and Ystwyth meet Cardigan Bay, with a sweeping Victorian seafront, a pier, a ruined thirteenth century castle left by Edward I, and a university that was founded in 1872 as the first in Wales. The university's old building on the seafront, a Gothic fantasy that began life as a hotel, tells you something about the ambitions of the founders, who raised the money from small donations from ordinary Welsh people. The National Library of Wales stands on a hill above the town and holds some of the country's greatest manuscripts.
The town has the energy of students and the pace of a fishing resort. In winter, thousands of starlings swirl and roost under the pier at dusk, a spectacle that draws crowds. Beyond the harbour, Constitution Hill rises at the northern end of the promenade, and an old cliff railway, one of the oldest of its kind, carries visitors up to a camera obscura and a view over the bay. The Vale of Rheidol Railway, a narrow-gauge steam line, still runs up the valley to Devil's Bridge, where three bridges are stacked on top of one another over a waterfall.
The riding from Aberystwyth heads into the Cambrian Mountains, sometimes called the green desert of Wales for its emptiness. Roads such as the A44 and the minor routes over to Rhayader and the Elan Valley offer long, open climbs across moorland, with sheep, red kites and very little else. Surfaces vary, some of it excellent, some of it patched and potholed, and weather can be harsh, with wind and rain sweeping in from the sea. The red kite, once almost extinct in Britain, has been brought back from a tiny population in mid Wales, and you will see it often.
Fuel, food and repairs are all available in town, and the chip shops along the front are generous. Summer weekends bring caravans and holiday traffic on the main routes, so a weekday is kinder. Expect a mix of Welsh and English on signs and in conversation. After the day's ride, a walk along the promenade is a good way to finish, particularly when the sunset turns the bay a rich orange.