Cycling 2000

We had a few short rides toward the end of the Millennium but no Yule rides though , our first proper ride of the Millennium was on Sunday Feb20th  . It was quite apt being my favorite ride, of the glorious and illustrious British mountain. We took the usual route up to Pontnewynndd and then on to Plascoed up the mountain and then stopped for a kebab in Panteg

 20 miles

 

A few rides followed that one, including one where Nick did not stop moaning , this was the “moaning ride”

We did however have some good rides  like the one in the brilliant moonshine of the March full moon where we rode an excellent “traditional”.

  I also rode my mountain bike at the start of March , the plan was to ride to the “Dragon downhill” race in Cwmcarn. I set off on a Sunday at 10am, I rode to Pontypool on the cycle track , I then went up the race and across the old coal tips, along the Cwm Glyn toward Hafodryns . The wind was howling down the valley making it hard work pedaling my Giant bike , every turn of the wheel was a night mare, as it was heavy going after being used to a light weight road machine.

    I cycled up the forest track up the side of the valley ,I had good views of the Brecon Beacons in the sunshine as it was quite warm , I then went over the Myndd Maen .  I then found a forest track which went steeply down into what I thought was Cwmcarn, at the bottom I realized I was in the wrong place, I then had to cycle up and along the valley, on a forest track which went up and down several times.  The time was near 4 o’clock, I had still not reached the cycle race, as I was way up in the valley, I could hear and see the crowd below. 

In my effort to try and find them I took a forest track which didn’t lead where I wanted, in fact I was now completely lost, every track seemed to be the same and didn’t go anywhere, but I was quite enjoying it ,eventually I heard other cyclists and I arrived at the totem pole on the Cwmcarn scenic drive and I knew I was nearly home. I couldn’t be bothered going to see the race because all I had to do was to scramble over Myndd Henllys   to get to Cwmbran and home.                            

 

 

 

 

 

Trellech Grange

 

 

On the 1 April I rode out to meet Nick up the junction just past Newbridge on Usk ,which we call Black out junction, it was quite in fact the warmest day  of the century so far.  We headed off up Llwyelyn’s dingle and then down to Llangwm  and then we carried on and up Cobblers plain ,the ride was quite celestial, we lit the lamps then we swooped down to Trelech Grange, where Nick lost his back light, he spent some time looking for it but to no avail. 

On the way back to Usk, it started raining, it carried on raining as we eat our Tandoori meal from the Dil. We then cycled home via the “traditional”, it was still raining when we got home at midnight

 

34 miles

 

 

                                                CLYDACH GORGE

April 9th

 

I met Nick on that Sunday evening by the Crem, we then cycled to Pontnewyndd , where we joined the cycle track to arrive in Blaenavon at around 6.30pm. As Nick cycled off in front of me up the mountain toward the Keeper’s pond, I hit severe wind , “oh no” I thought and struggled up the top to meet Nick , where I felt like turning back!

   We cycled down Pwll Du  and were now out of the wind , Nick said he was cold and wanted to cycle down the canal to get home ,I said we should climb up Blackrock on the old road , but agreed to find  a cycle track back toward Abergavenny. However, we did not find the track and we cycled up the Clydach gorge, in the last of the light of the day. A good climb up through the old villages of Clydach and Blackrock , it reminded me of some of the mountain sections of the tour de France with the houses hugging the road .

     We were away from the noise of the main road and soon left it to enter Brynmawr, past the highest school in the UK . Nick had been ahead of me all the way, I now caught him up , he said he was now enjoying the ride but soon started as we climbed out of Brynmawr “is it me or have we been climbing all day” he said

It was now dark as we rode past a sign for the Brecon Beacons national park, “where are we now , we are going the wrong way” Nick joked . After a further remark about the climb being like the Col de Tourmalet saw us heading for the lights of Blaenavon.

    My light fell of , so I followed Nick on the main road for a fast sprint home , we reached Croesyceiliog at around 10.15pm where Nick informed me for the 1000th time that he had to cycle another 7 miles to Newport

 

36 miles

 

 

 

15th April                                               Rough Stuff        

 

 

I met Nick at the Crem at 6.30pm, it was a Saturday ,we cycled to Pontypool then on the old road to Hafodryns, the sky was clear but not very warm. We hit the forestry track to take us up the valley to the top of the Myndd Maen , we were then to follow the route I had taken on my mountain bike a couple of months earlier.  We carried our machines over a few fields full of sheep to reach the tarmac road, which took us along the edge of the mountain . “I like a bit of rough stuff” Nick said , I agreed ,but we were soon to change our minds .

We then went down the severe forest track to the bottom of the valley .It was now dark and Nick said   he had no idea where he was going . We then hit a track up the valley it was hard going , we then decided this was just stupid and carried on down a steep tarmac road into Abercarn. As we cycled down the old road to Cwmcarn it was like riding on slippery glass compared with the forest tracks, it made my mind up that I no longer wanted to do any more rough stuff for a while .

 We abandoned our idea of going over the mountain and cycled through Crosskeys and Risca. It was quite cold now and this week it was my turn to moan . I wanted to go back the canal , Nick laughed but agreed , so we went down the 14 locks which I have never been down, I left  Nick in Malpas at 10.30pm I then hit a head wind to arrive home exhausted at 11.10pm

 

27 miles        

 

 

 

24 April                                       THE THREE CASTLES

 

Easter Monday had arrived , so we decided to do the three castles , I met Nick at Blackout junction, the weather was not warm and we were in the worst Easter weather for years. It was dry however as we cycled to Usk then onto Llanfair Kilgeddin , Llannelen and then into Abergavenny. We cycled around the Skyrryd mountain , where we ate our lunch , then we took the quiet lane along Campston hill, which then took us to the first castle in Grosmont.

  All was well as we looked around the castle, in the heart of this touring cycling paradise. However things were not so celestial as we pedaled to Skenfrith , it started raining , in fact it was so bad that we took shelter in the church near Skenfrith castle . The hill out of Skenfrith is not steep but it got me where it hurts that day and I ended up cursing the place as I slowly chased after Nick in the pouring rain , who seemed to ascend like Marco Pantani .

   A quick stop at Whitecastle , past the dog, who now knew not to attack us , then down to the site of the Tudor manor reputed to be that of one who had fought in Agincourt. We then took the back lanes to Raglan I had wanted to go to Llanarth , but Nick said it was quicker the other way. It rained more , I wondered how I would get home , as I was now suffering, “downhill into Raglan from here” Nick said , but we seemed to hit hill after hill.

     Raglan to Usk was a nightmare as we hit wind and big rain, I was now cycling by instinct as the wet and the cold had numbed me of all feeling, it was now dark and my Vista light bashed a good hole in the darkness. Around 9.00pm we took shelter in the chip shop in Usk and tried to warm up with a hot bag of chips, there we viewed old pictures of Usk on the wall as the owner told us that it used to be a cyclists café and some of his older customers still remember those days in the 30s and 40s , the golden age of cycling.

        The rain had eased off a bit as we refueled in the garage with drink and chocolate ,but I was now shivering and  had visions of  suffering from hypothermia on the way home , but I managed to warm up on the traditional route through Coed y Paen , where Nick was waiting and he did not show any signs of distress, unlike myself . Then home completely soaked , I think it was the worst, or was it one of the best rides we had been on ?

 

68 miles                 

 

 

1/05/00                                       The Tumble

 

We set off from the blackout junction , at 11.30am ,it was a bank holiday and quite warm . We were heading for Myndd Eppynt , but after heading along the cycle track from Llanfoist , we rested and decided to head up the Tumble in the afternoon, it was an awful terrible ascent , the sun had brought everyone an their aunt out in their cars, all of them seemed to be going up the mountain road to the Keepers pond.

    As I gasped for breath behind dirty exhausts Nick had left me to do battle with the day trippers on my own. On the top I was confronted with the sight of hundreds of motorists  out of their cars eating ice creams and walking around in circles , none seemed to be enjoying themselves .

  We then had a good sprint home on the main road , we vowed never to venture to these parts on a bank holiday again

 

38 miles

 

6/05/00                                               LIGHTNING RIDE

 

I met Nick  at Newport fire station , it was 600pm , sunny and he had just finished his shift . We cycled out on the A48 main Chepstow road, it was noisy on that Saturday evening , so we went up Beechwood road , which I found a bit of struggle. We then cycled along Catsash past the new Celtic Manor resort, then down Tregarn road to join the A48 again. The noise of the traffic was terrible but we were soon glad to get off the main road and head up to Llanfair Discoed .

    We then hit the quiet and lonely lane toward the Cwm and onward to Shirenewton . This was proper cycling away from the traffic on a warm evening with champagne air. In Shirenewton we took the lane down the hill and over the main road ,to find a beautiful lane that took us on  to another quiet lane to Newchurch ,where we heard the distant rumble of thunder. We then  descended on a narrow lane that edged along the top of Cobblers plain .

    We had a good ride to Usk and then did a good “traditional” with our lights filling the darkness, every where we saw lightning  in the south. At last we had been able to put in a decent ride and we were thankfully spared any rain.

 

40 miles

 

 

 

28/05/00                 A RIDE IN THE “SPRING WEATHER”        

 

 

I met Nick on the Sunday of the bank holiday at 6.00pm. The weather had been the worst in May for years(sounds familiar?). My bike had suffered some severe metal fatigue, so we had had to fix it , Nick had brazed it together and this was the test run! I also had a new RSX  triple chainset to replace my worn out and inferior Sugino. All was well as I set out to meet Nick but we then hit showers as we left our meeting point at the “blackout”.

   We climbed Llewellyns  dingle  , at the top we encountered rain an hail in large amounts we then decided to abandon and take a “short cut” across a narrow track which we thought would be quicker . It was not , it went along a ridge where we had no protection from the lashing rain. The lane turned to mud , I dismounted and walked as I cursed the awful weather . The lane went down hill and I nearly collided with Nick at the junction with the Usk flood route , Nick screamed at me to tell me that I should have stopped , then I realized I had punctured . I fixed it in the rain to the non amusement of Nick ( and myself).

    We then took a narrow lane over the A449 which I had never been on before , it brought us out by the Casey’s court pub in Usk . As we took the road to Llanbadoc the Sun was shining and Nick joked “yeah this is turning into a good ride!” We did however have a good ride home and the bike stood up to the rigors of the ride.

 

21 miles

 

 

4/06/00                                            FOURTY ON FOURTY

 

On the day before my 40th birthday I met Nick at  “Blackout junction” , it was a Sunday at 400pm, I was a bit late and he started moaning . However we had a good ride to Llanllowell where we took the Usk flood route to the gliding club , where we watched them land and take off for a while in the warm sun. We pressed on to Cwmcarvan and then onto the old A40 Monmouth road, we rode up the steep climb toward Trellech , we left this road on a quiet lane and then onto the Narth and Maryland.

     The roads were quiet , the birds were singing and the country air felt as fresh as something that is very fresh indeed . It was good to be cycling in that upland world of the Trellech plateau. We then took the main road to Llanishen where I noticed the local garage had closed down . In the twilight we swooped down to Llansoy , there were three hot air balloons in the sky and we could hear their burners roaring .

      We soon were taught a lesson  about being prepared, I punctured and neither of us had a pump , Nick stuffed the tyre with grass and I managed to cycle to Usk, as we ate a Chinese meal I decided it was best to ring Ann to pick me up ,as by now the grass in the tube had been completely flattened. We were looking forward to a good traditional ride home , but Nick cycled off alone as I waited by the petrol station amazingly by some quirk of fate I had cycled 40 miles on my 40th !

 

 

8/07/00                                            A BIG CIRCLE

 

I soon found out after that last ride my bike had cracked again, so I found a factory second Dawes frame on the Internet , Nick then took the gear off my old one onto the new frame. This was the first ride on it and it went well as I cycled to the fire station in Newport to meet Nick at 6.00pm

 We set off on that Saturday in the changeable weather, we cycled toward Nash and then took the back road across the moor to Magor. Here we cycled up Dancing hill and then along a lane that took us over the motorway .We then went onto a quiet and beautiful lane , I had cycled on this lane 22 years ago on my Sun 10 speed racer , but this was the first time, since then, that I had admired the big fields of corn ,on this secret and wondrous valley.

    The weather had been the worst for years , it looked like rain ahead, but it remained dry as we crossed the A48 and cycled to Llanfair discoed  and then climbed to Shirenewton. We then took the climb for Devauden but we were lost for a while and ended up in Itton, we then went back down the hill and did the climb again on the right lane, but it had now started raining.

      We soon took the road to Newchurch and we viewed the magnificent panorama , that I called “the Cobbler’s Plain Bowl”. It was made more dramatic by the dark shades of the rain clouds. The rain did not seem to affect our ride much, but I was by now getting hungry . We hit the main road in the dark with our lights blazing , we ordered a meal from the Dil  and then sped past the Usk showgrounds , where the Balloon festival was taking place , unfortunately they did not have the weather for it this year.

   We ate our food by the river at 11.00pm. We then cycled home via the “traditional” route. The rain had eased off a bit to a light drizzle , I arrived home at 1.00am , but Nick had to cycle to Newport arriving at 2.00am.

 

47 miles

 

 

13/07/00                                        THE BRITISH

 

I met Nick at 730pm by the crem  , we then cycled along the cycle track to Talywaun we then hit the climb for the British . I had only been up this way twice before , the last time it was a struggle in my granny gear , but this time I ascended in my 36 ring, making short work of the ascent to the top of the mountain. On the top the air was calm , we admired the views Newport and the channel , I really was truly in my cycling element as we peddled across to Pantygasseg.

  We hit speeds of 48 mph as we descended toward Pontnewyndd, we had our lights blazing and soon arrived home at 11.00pm

 

20 miles

 

 

15/07/00                                                    WHITECASTLE

 

I cycled to Caerleon at 530pm on a fairly warm Saturday and then out on the Bullmoor road . I met Nick just past the turning for Cat’s Ash, he was surprised to see me as we had arranged to meet further up the road ,at the blackout junction .I had decided to add a few more miles to the trip to make up for Nick’s extra 7 miles at the end of the day. We sped off for Usk , after getting drink we carried on to Bettws Newydd and then Lanarth ,where we viewed a hot air balloon taking off.

      We then had a good ride to Whitecastle , we walked around it in the last light of the day at 9.30pm. We then watched the full Moon appear from behind the clouds. After a discussion about the route home, we cycled toward Raglan through the cider apple orchards. It was know dark ,with our lamps lit we headed for Llandenny, I seemed to hit the wall here and desperately sought an easy route home.

     In Usk we decided to skip the “traditional” to Prescoed and take the road to Tredunock. This was the worst mistake , for me anyway ,I struggled around this extended way home , we even took in Dogan heights!

     However , I arrived home at 0100am.

 

55 miles

 

 

23/07/00                                          THE BOG

 

My new bike had finally arrived from Mercian , it looked brilliant in it’s flamboyant gold colour with Anquetiel blue bands. It was fitted with blue Mavic open pro rims, on Shimano 105 hubs ,with a 9 speed Ultegra cassette, 20mm Continental tyres Hope bottom bracket , 3TTT bars ,stem & tape with Dura Ace STI levers , 105 brakes & gears ,a Stronglight  44 , 32 chainset with 535  SPD pedals. Also it has a Kalloy Uno seatpost with a Brooks Swift titanium saddle, Salmon mudguards and two Elite bottle cages , finish off this singular machine.

 

I met Nick at the “blackout junction” we then rode to Trellech grange on that warm but changeable Sunday evening. The bike performed well . we swooped down the Angidy valley to Tintern , here we chatted to a couple of Australians interested in cycling. We carried onto Trellech via Cleddon bog where we heard some strange an eerie noises emanating from the bog.

I was by now getting used to the Mercian , OR Krusty the clown’s bike as my daughter had called it, after seeing the colour scheme. The double chainset was a welcome simplification over the triples I had been using, the 44 ring proved very useful indeed and the whole bike had a rigid sporty feel to it.

     The weather had held out as we cycled to Trellech  , we then went home the usual route via  Llansoy and then to Usk where we cycled a good “traditional” home

 

42 miles

 

 

29/07/00                                     THE GOSPEL PASS

 

I set out on my  Dawes bike with all the new camping gear I had for my 40th , I carried a light weight “Jackwolfskin” tent and a thermorest mattress, there was something quite comforting about carrying all your own gear. The plan was a training exercise to test the equipment for the big camping trip, we were to cycle to St Briavels stop over night and then have a quick ride home in the morning.

     However all that had changed when I met Nick at 6.30pm in Newbridge on Usk , he wanted to cycle into the Black mountains , “generally regarded as a testing ground for man and machine” to quote the great cyclist and writer Ronald Jeffries. I some what apprehensively agreed , I knew this meant a lot of cycling that Saturday night and on the Sunday .

    We stopped in Abergavenny for something to eat , it was quite noisy here but at least it was nice and dry, I had been soaked for the first few miles after leaving the house. We had a good ride to Llanthony but it was now getting dark, I was tired and needed somewhere to stop, we knew we had to put a few miles in that night so we both agreed on a amenable field near Capel y Ffin . It was 11.30pm , putting the tents up proved quite difficult ,but we managed it , and we were soon trying to get to sleep.

      34 miles

The Sun shone in on my tent the next morning and it felt great to get up and out on the bikes by about 8.30am. Cycle camping certainly had something about it , we were cycling strongly up the Gospel pass , which was devoid of traffic , we talked to a cyclist who had stayed at the youth hostel the night before , he was from Cambridge and had come a long way to cycle the mountains ,we are quite “lucky” really living among all these hills.

   We had a good ride over the top , where it was quite cold , we then descended the lane . Sheep scattered as we took our gradual descent , We then had a good ride to Talgarth, where we took on food at 11.30pm.we were by now quite exhausted, we took a lane up the hill toward Crickhowell and up the top we joined the main road .

 It was quite awful on this road with motorbikes speeding and cars everywhere , we had a bit of a struggle home with both of us feeling the affects of carrying the camping equipment, as we ploughed on home we knew this was doing us the power of good ! Well we hoped that anyway , we arrived back in Croesyceiliog with aching legs and back and everything , it was not the quick overnight stop I had expected but was quite enjoyable and served as an appetizer for our next tour in a few weeks time, we cycled 50 miles that day to make a grand total of 84 miles

 

2/08/00                                        LE TRANCH

 

With the worst summer for years we attempted a midweek evening assault on the British. However we cycled as far as the Tranch and got caught in a torrential storm we decided to cut our loses and cycle back home , the highlight was myself falling off in New Inn after getting my left foot stuck in the pedal, Nick seemed to think this was funny , fortunately there was no damage to “Krusty” the bike.

 

 

 

10/08/00                                      LLANSOY SAUCE

 

We met at the Blackout junction at 7.00pm , it was a Thursday and the weather was a bit better now with  a bit of sunshine. We cycled up Llewlyns dingle and then on to Llangwm and Llansoy We took the road to Llandenny and then on to Usk where we cycled home a quick traditional.

26miles

 

 

16/08/00                                      BADGERED BY A BADGER

 

I met Nick at the “blackout” we were due to cycle up the big hill to Wentwood , Nick said the double chainset on my Mercian would not be low enough and that I would have to walk, but I handled the climb easily and proved him wrong.

As we cycled along the back of the wood , the road was damp but the weather was quite dry, suddenly there was a noise from the hedgerow a badger came out and ran full bore into my leg and then bounced of my back wheel growling like a Tasmanian devil, this knock sent my bike into a violent wobble and I had to  use all my “skill” to control it . Fortunately there was no damage to the bike , and we then carried on home joking about the badger, after a Chinese meal in Usk.

 

28 miles

 

 

20/08/00                                    NANTYGLO AND THE ROUND TOWERS

 

I cycled alone as Nick was working on that sunny Sunday, I left at 1.30pm and headed to Blaenavon on the cycle track, I then took the ascent to the Keeper’s pond . The ice cream van had just got there, so the traffic was not to bad, the weather was good and I had the usual good views of the Beacons and the Black mountains  .

I headed on down into the Clydach gorge and then climbed up the long ascent to Brynmawr, on the old road through Blackrock. After that climb I cycled along the valley toward Abertillery , rain threatened but thankfully held off . I made a quick visit to the Nantyglo round towers built in the early 1800s. 

In Llanhilleth I took the road toward St Illtyd’s church and the British . The climb here is steep and I wished for a moment that I did have a triple chainset , things were made worse by  the cars every couple of minutes blowing their horns as they went round the bend , why? I thought .

    However I soon managed to cycle up the climb and went over the British in the late afternoon , I punctured on the descent , but was soon up and running to arrive home at 6.30pm.

 

 

40 miles

 

 

26/08/00                                            THE BIG TOUR

 

The time had come for the big tour of Mid Wales, we took the bikes to Crickhowell by car , as we wanted to do more cycling into the heart of Wales. We left Crickhowell at 1.30pm on that Saturday of the August bank holiday weekend. Our bikes were loaded up the same as our trial run in Black mountains . The plan was to cycle as far as the Irfon valley and carry on across the mountain to the abbey of Strata Florida.

     All was going well as we cycled in the sunshine for the time being , but we were threatened with storm clouds as it had been a terrible summer. We stopped in Brecon where I bought a spoon and then headed out to Upper Chapel , Things were not so good as we cycled over the Myndd Eppynt though , we cycled into a road stage of a motor rally , the cars made a lot of noise and were very annoying , as they quite blatantly broke the speed limit .

      After chatting to a couple of other cyclists we soared down the mountain and had a quiet ride to Llangemmech wells and then to Llanwrtyd wells on a nice quiet back lane. I had planned to get some food in the town , but  disaster struck as we found out there were no hot food establishments , except for a couple of posh looking hotels . It was near dark so we had no time to look around so we bought some cold food from the shop and ate it in the square.

   We then had a excellent ride up the beautiful country lane to Abergwesyn , then onto the Irfon valley, it was getting dark as we cycled through this remote upland valley. We were in a bit of a rush to find somewhere to camp, after looking in the forest and getting wet we decided on a pitch just off the main road , we put our tents up in the dark as it just started to rain .

 

46 miles

 

27/08/00

 The tents had held out the rain and we were greeted with warm sunshine as we ate our breakfast of pasties and orange juice . Nick said it was a privilege to be in the Irfon valley at this time of the day , and indeed it was , with the fantastic view of the valley. We quickly ascended the Devil’s staircase and set off over the mountain lane toward Tregaron . On this road we took the bare forest track over the mountain toward Strata Florida , I was navigating , it was quite difficult with no signs to help .

  We cycled down into a valley and over a river , Nick said “are we crossing it left to right?” I replied “the first thing you learn in geography there is no left or right , only west or east, or north and south!” We then had a bit of a discussion about west or right and left or east even! The rough track weaves it’s way away around the mountain as we cycled up and up , at a junction I made a fatal error and said we should turn to the right , which I thought was north ( in fact it was actually east).

       After a couple of miles we came to a dead end , I thought the track might be up through the trees , so we spent the next few hours tramping through the forest over the mountain , we were now lost . I could see a bare mountain road in the distance , I thought it was the road to Strata Florida , we headed for it and eventually  got to the forest track. We had been cycling and dragging our bikes all day , we had seen no one , this truly was one of the remotest places I had been. Nick finally observed the map and determined the road in the distance was not the Strata Florida road , but one that leads to the Llyn Brianne! This was the in the opposite direction!

           It was now  around 400pm so we decided to head for the reservoir , but that meant we had to cycle back up the mountain and over to where we started. A hundred yards from  the asphalt road disaster struck, as Nicks back tyre hit a rock blowing a large hole in it , we pondered on what to do, when Nick used           an old plastic credit type card to fix the hole . We decided that it was best to cycle the 22 miles to Llandovery , have some hot food and camp the night.

    We made up lost time cycling past the reservoir , it was spoilt a bit by the noise of a rave , taking place on the shore way down below us . A quick stop by the dam for a snack form the burger bar ,then we peddled to Llandovery , where I was desperate to use the toilet! We then ate a good Chinese meal and then camped in the same place as the year before along side the  main A 40 road. It was now dark and we settled down to sleep.

38 miles

 

28/08/00      I was awoken at 7.00am by Nick shouting at me to shut up ! I had had a good sleep but my snoring had kept him awake! We settled down for a couple of hours , I set off in ahead of Nick he soon caught me up on the main road , it was holiday Monday and they were all out in their cars.The weather was good and Nick joked about my navigational skills , while I was nursing sore legs after being bitten by a thousand midges.

    We ate lunch in Brecon , I had a beautiful fresh chicken tikka roll from the bakery, we then cycled along the back road to Crickhowell, after being overtaken by a young women on a mountain bike , we went hell for leather to catch up and overtake her , we then sprinted the rest of the way reaching speeds of 30 mph.

     34miles

We had had a good time , in spite of our disasters ! It is always good to get out and camp and cycle whatever happens and we both looking forward to next year!             118 miles

 

 

6/09/00                                             LLANDENNY

 

I met Nick at 6.30pm, it was a Wednesday evening ,the weather was good as we cycled off from the blackout junction. It was to be a short relaxing ride to get us back into day (or night)out cycling.We took the flood route around Usk and then cycled to Llandenny , where we cycled to Gwhelog , we then sprinted to Usk and cycled home a brisk “traditional” I was very pleased with the performance of my Mercian.

 

25 miles

 

 

9/09/00                                   HARVEST MOON

 

It was a Saturday before harvest moon when I met Nick in Newport at 6.40pm , a bit late due to a puncture , Nick had also punctured and he borrowed an inner tube off me. We then set off down the moor to Redwick and Magor , we then took the same route as our “Big Circle” ride in July, but in Llanfair Discoed we set off for Wentwood , it is a severe climb to the top of Wentwood our halogen lights broke through the dark of the trees.

    As we climbed along side the reservoir the nearly full moon shone down on the water , we soon reached the top and stopped for a drink in the still moonlit air, it was quite alpha like. However I was by now learning that my thin treadless tyres were not for this job, I punctured again . We quickly fixed it and rode home via Newbridge and the Treherbert road.

 

    36 miles

      

 

16/09/00                                      WHITECASTLE

 

AT 6.30PM on Saturday evening we left the Blackout junction , it was warm and sunny . We were hoping for a quiet ride as there had been a fuel crisis that week , but no such luck as the cars past us in the warm evening sunshine. Nick set a hard pace to Usk then Llancayo, Bettws Newydd, and then on the lane past Llanarth .

  We stopped briefly on “bonk hill” near Llantillio Croessenny , then Nick set off at his break neck pace .We headed on the back lane to Whitecastle , this dirt track is truly one of the worst lanes in the county, a mountain biker would think twice before tackling it , but Nick stormed off with stones and dust flying, my new Vredestein tyres were performing well, a bit bigger at 23 mm they could take the punishment better than the skimpy race tyres I had on before.

  We stopped at Whitecastle only for a few minutes, when Nick decided to crack on at his fast pace, we hit Raglan and I was exhausted ,Nick also mentioned   he was a bit tired. I then decided to hit a fast pace myself , I left Nick slightly behind for a while but soon caught up in Usk where we stopped for a drink of Coke .

     We then had a quick and hard ride via the “Traditional” to arrive home at 11.30pm

 

46 miles

 

2/10/00                                               A RIDE TO NOTHING

The night’s were drawing in ,so Nick came up with his latest idea to illuminate the dark . It was a “Light spin” dynamo , which resembled half a Guinness bottle stuck on to his forks! We set off in the light on a Sunday evening, we headed from Croesyceiliog toward Pontypool on the cycle track. It was soon raining and we were getting wet .

    We got as far as Abersychan when I noticed play in my bottom bracket, we decided to take it steady home as not to cause any damage to the bottom bracket . It rained hard and Nick’s new waterproof shoes were getting wet. However his dynamo was giving off a good light and hardly taking any effort to spin it around

.           16 miles

 

11/10/00                                        THE HUNTER’S MOON

 

I met Nick at the “blackout junction” at 7.00pm on a Wednesday evening , on my way I could see the near full moon blazing in the sky , it was the Hunter’s moon and it looked quite spectacular. We cycled up Llewelyn’s dingle and then on toward Llansoy and then to Llandenny . The day had been torrential rain , but was now dry , but had left many wet patches on the road .

   We however had a good ride to Usk where we experienced some “road rage” with a car , after much swearing and shaking fists Nick realized it was his friend Chris. We then had a good ride home to arrive at 10.30pm.

 

27 miles

 

13/10/00                                          THE HUNTER’S MOON 2

 

The Moon was blazing  with an orange glow when I met Nick at 7.30pm on that Friday evening . We were to cycle a short ride to Usk then home via the “traditional” Nick’s dynamo was working a bit better than the previous ride,when it was slipping all the time in the wet. But thankfully he turned it off to use his battery light , which gave us some peace after the constant droning of the dynamo.

  We had a good ride home bathed in moonshine , at one point the Moon had a beautiful corona around it , we went back to Mum and Dad’s for a Tandoori meal at 9.00pm.

 

20 miles

 

18/10/00                                             MID-WEEK RIDE

 

It was dark when I left home at 6.45pm , the weather was turning cold , but was quite dry for the moment. My latex tubes were giving an unusually bouncy ride , indeed it was a bit like being on a space hopper as I bounced down Treherbert road. I met Nick at “the blackout” We were both on our best bikes , we rode to Llansoy via Llewellyn’s dingle then we went down the rough lane that leads to the Rat Trap pub , a quick stop in Usk for a Chinese meal then a sprint home along the “trad” to arrive at 11.00pm

 

28 miles

 

25/10/00                                             WENTWOOD

 

I met Nick at 730pm. It was a Wednesday evening , but was quite mild and dry. We cycled from Newbridge on Usk and then on to the climb for Wentwood. We had a good ascent up the hill ,the climb at the top is very severe but we managed it quite easily. On the road toward Earlswood , where I previously had an encounter with a badger , I was attacked by a large dog outside a house , the dog took a lunge at my foot , I desperately tried to twist my foot out of the pedal while trying to remain in control, I thought it had given up , but it came back for more , I weakly tried to push it away with my foot , but all it did was grab it with it’s teeth! Then I heard the sweet sound of Nick’s shoe against the dog’s head . “I got it!” Nick said , then the woman owner of the dog, who had been watching all the time shouted “ I’ll report you to the RSPCA” she did not seem concerned about the fact I nearly crashed with her dog hanging on to my leg . Nick shouted back “and I’ll report you to the Police!”

      We cycled down the long hill to Usk laughing about the incident all the way . We went home via Glascoed and then onto Jerusalem lane in New Inn , we had not done this route for 5 years and it didn’t seem to bad , as previously we had christened it the “murder route”

 

30 miles

 

 

 

 

04/11/00                                     FIREWORK RIDE

 

We met by the Crem, it was 6.30pm on a Saturday evening. After a week of rain and the worst flooding for years it was now dry, so a lot of people were having their Bonfire night parties. We cycled up the cycle track through Pontypool and on toward Talywaun. The air was thick with smoke and the sky was lit with fireworks. We then hit the climb for the British mountain , taking it form Talywaun side, the track looked like it was going into the blackness of the night , it was indeed dark and as we got nearer the summit it started raining , in fact it was sleet.

     I had found it hard going , just before the summit I stopped to check my bottom bracket , there was massive play in it, no wonder I had found it hard work! We then decide it was no good cycling on with the bike in that condition, so we set of back the same way. After warming ourselves by an illegal fire we made for the cycle track ,here I had another incident, I hit a bit of rough stone which threw me off my bike , I managed to break my fall by doing a parachute roll in the wet grass and ended about 15 feet from my bike!

       Nick had a good laugh at that, fortunately there was no damage to myself or the bike! We then carried on home to arrive at  10.00pm.

 

19 miles

 

 

26/11/00                                           STARRY RIDE

 

 

After a couple of weeks of non cycling due to bad weather and general laziness I ventured out at 4.00pm on a Sunday . The weather was dry but always threatening rain and quite cold. I was to meet Nick at the “blackout” but I punctured just before in Treddunock, I just fixed the puncture when Nick came along moaning at the time , in fact it was 5.00pm , but it seemed much later as it was now pitch black.

    The river Usk was swollen , so we expected to see some flooding , however all we saw were a few flooded fields. We cycled to Usk the stars were shining in the sky as we headed on toward Chainbridge, Nick’s dynamo was whining away but giving a good light , my reliable Vistalite vl500 was also illuminating the road.

   We soon hit Llanfair Kilgeddin and we turned left toward Llanfair cross , we cycled under the stars to Goytre , we then took a quiet lane to Rumble street which brought us out in Monkswood on the main Usk road. We had a good ride to Glascoed , here it started raining so we donned our wet weather capes and took the steep ascent to “the Twilight Herd farm” . It now had dried up  a bit, as we cycled along Jerusalem lane to New Inn, then home at 8.00pm via the old road past Pimlico garage.     

30 miles

 

 

30/11/00                                    A SHORT RIDE

 

 

It was Thursday evening when I met Nick at the “the blackout” at 7.00pm , it was dark and quite cold . I was not feeling to good so we kept our ride to the bare minimum . It was dry for a while so we just cycled to Usk to see the pretty but pathetic lights around the clock in the square. We then carried on up the traditional to Prescoed and Coed y Paen  I was feeling a bit over weight and vowed to go on a bit of a diet, to loose sum of my excess weight.

 

17 miles

 

3/12/00                                YULE IS NEAR

 

We met in the usual place near Newbridge on Usk , we were to do the same ride as exactly a week previous , except with one big difference , it was raining , I mean it was raining .At around 6.00pm the rain was lashing down in Llanfair Kilgeddin , we saw some Christmas lights in Goytre ,including one brilliantly illuminated house , but we were wet and soon arrived home at 800pm

 

30 miles

 

 

23/12/00                                         YULE RIDE

 

 

Rain, rain , rain and more rain , that summed up December, we had to abandon  starting ride after  ride. I even read about some one who went out in a wet suit! However it was dry and cold when I met Nick in Newport at 7.00pm on that Saturday night . We went out onto the moor to Pye  corner ,then  we cycled on the flat lanes to Whitson , Llandevenny and then to Magor .

   We carried on toward Penhow , here we cycled to Llanvaches , where the large houses were brilliantly illuminated. The road to Wentwood is quite steep , it came as quite a shock after all that flat riding, as we went past the reservoir we hit heavy mist. The climb up into Wentwood was good but  the mist had left no visible landmarks and I thought it would never end. Nick had sped off ahead while I caught him up at the picnic area at the top.

  The both of us took it steady down the big hill to Llantrisant , we then cycled to Usk , where the pubs and houses were decorated with Christmas lights which made it feel very Christmassy. We finished off a good ride by cycling to Glascoed and then up the climb to the home of the Twilight Herd and down Jerusalem lane to New Inn and home on the old road.

 

37 miles

 

29/12/00                                            SNOW RIDE

 

Nick and I left Croesyceiliog at 11.00amhe weather was very cold and the recent snow fall had left a lot of the roads impassable. We rode out to the Treherbert road to check the lane , it was quite bad but were carried on hoping it would get better the sun was shining but it still felt very cold.

       The white fields and mountains made the scenery very nice but not for cycling. We tried to warm up by cycling a bit faster to Usk but this was the coldest part of the ride with the wind howling toward us , our planned route to Whitecastle had to be abandoned , so we cycled to Glascoed and home up the very icy lane to the home of the Twilight herd , we warmed up a bit here and I was soon home at 100pm.

 

20 miles