South Wales is gorgeous!
After a rather industrial crossing of the Severn last night, we climbed out of our beds and out of the beautiful and luxurious hotel for a short early wakeup climb of another kind, up onto the mouth of the Wye Valley.
I still struggle to believe that the countryside can change so much across such a slim section of water. We had left flat land, fierce roads and row after row of warehouses and entered a stunning, dramatic and breathtaking world of dramatic outcrops, granite peaks and just the right type of coniferous forest all coming to a smooth finish on glassy topped rivers.
The tapestry was rich and perfectly coordinated by gods own landscape gardener. If you ever find yourself in Bristol and in need of inspiration, then please treat yourself to the toll and drive 5 short miles to feed your soul in this wondrous place.
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| Along the Wye Valley
The ride today was predicted to be a 100 mile mainly flat one with some lumpy bits to end on. What it also turned out to be was sublimely fast and hugely satisfying. We cruised along the base of the Wye Valley and eventually climbed up and back across the border into England and Hereford. the terrain once again changed dramatically and after our first tea stop, the now open, empty and smooth roads proved too much to resist...
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| Craig Climbing hard |
Angus, myself and Craig, a whippet of a rider from Lancashire, pulled quietly away from the pack. The roads were fast, uninterrupted, dry and bathed in the warmth of the bright sun, whilst some may have been disgruntled with the condition of yesterdays roads, there were no complaints today.
By the lunch stop we realised we had been riding at a average speed of 21 MPH for the last 30 Miles and each agreed that today had been the best riding that we had ever experienced.
After lunch the landscape adjusted once more with a few hills to negotiate and some long sweeping drops. We meandered a little in the afternoon as we struggled to find our way with the limited GPX Data we had been provided.
I should explain...GPX data is a file that is supplied to us and loaded onto our sat navs to help guide us. Unfortunately the GPX fies we had didn't match our course notes (a hard copy back up) and this created a bit of stress. It also meant that we missed our last tea stop for the day and so rode the last 50 miles, without a stop.
We had a bit of a comedy moment during the last 30 miles of the ride today. As we approached the lumpy bits of Shrewsbury, the above mentioned GPX sent us on a few climbs up short but near vertical hills, only to throw us back down the other side at a huge pace. After the third such diversion, we began to wonder if the sat Nav had developed its own HAL-like sense of humour. What made it worse was that, shortly before the first climb we passed a chap in a loose, flappy jacket riding a shopping bike.... only to find ourselves right behind him again on the low-bits. After the third pointless climb and reunion, this chap couldn't resist but ask us why we were making the journey so much harder for ourselves.
We stumbled for an excuse, babbled on about being in training, blasted past him and followed the sat nav once more up another vast incline.
When we inevitably met this chap again none of us had the nerve to overtake him for a fourth time and so, instead we sculked along behind him for a few miles until, eventually and to our great relief... he turned off
I should explain...GPX data is a file that is supplied to us and loaded onto our sat navs to help guide us. Unfortunately the GPX fies we had didn't match our course notes (a hard copy back up) and this created a bit of stress. It also meant that we missed our last tea stop for the day and so rode the last 50 miles, without a stop.
We had a bit of a comedy moment during the last 30 miles of the ride today. As we approached the lumpy bits of Shrewsbury, the above mentioned GPX sent us on a few climbs up short but near vertical hills, only to throw us back down the other side at a huge pace. After the third such diversion, we began to wonder if the sat Nav had developed its own HAL-like sense of humour. What made it worse was that, shortly before the first climb we passed a chap in a loose, flappy jacket riding a shopping bike.... only to find ourselves right behind him again on the low-bits. After the third pointless climb and reunion, this chap couldn't resist but ask us why we were making the journey so much harder for ourselves.
We stumbled for an excuse, babbled on about being in training, blasted past him and followed the sat nav once more up another vast incline.
When we inevitably met this chap again none of us had the nerve to overtake him for a fourth time and so, instead we sculked along behind him for a few miles until, eventually and to our great relief... he turned off
The countryside that we are riding in is beautiful and impressive but what impresses me even more is the overall distance that we are covering since we began...Tomorrow we reach Preston
Loving the blog, it's good to keep up with where you've been. Photos aren't bad too! It's impressive when you see on a map how far you've gone already. Keep up the good work and be careful.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant day. The cappuccino and coffee cake in the café in the furniture shop behind the sheep-shearing pens in Wormelow is one of my favourite LEJOG memories.
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