Cycling ancient trails: off-road on an e-bike in Pembrokeshire’s Preseli Hills

The highest point of the writer’s rise in the Preseli Hills was 300 metres, high enough to be fully exposed to the weather blowing off the Irish Sea. All photographs: Owen Howells Photography Photograph: Owen Howells Photography

The path on which I’m riding my e-mountain bike across the hills of north Pembrokeshire is known as a bridleway, but to Ed Sykes, who grew up in these hills, it’s an “e-trail”. Ed is the founder of Hidden Routes in Newport (between Cardigan and Fishguard), an e-mountain biking outfit that takes clients on guided rides through what is probably the least-known corner of Pembrokeshire.