7/1/01 2001

The first ride of the year , it was 6.00pm Sunday when I met Nick in Croesyceiliog. The weather had been cold, but was a bit milder now and nice and dry. We cycled to Pontypool on the old road to New Inn and then through Pontypool park. The moon was nearly full and an eclipse was due in two days time.

We went along Limekiln road to Abersychan ,joined the main road to Blaenafon and cycled to Cwmafon ,to the start of the community wood. We were glad to get off the main road and took the rough track that climbs up the valley amongst the trees , we made good time up the track and soon hit the Llanover road.

We then cycled on over the mountain , it was quite still but cold, as we climbed to the highest point of the road, on the Myndd (mountain) Garn Clochdy. The descent on the other side is severe ,Nick went ahead while I stopped to adjust my brakes. On the way down my inner tube must have got hot , it exploded! After mending the puncture , we carried on to Llanfair Croes , we then hit a fast pace to Goytre and Glascoed .

We then took the climb to the Twilight herd farm , which is fast becoming one of favorite routes home . I punctured again in New Inn , much to the disgust of Nick , who was moaning about the tightness of his bib shorts! However I left Nick to carry on home at 10.30pm

27 miles

14/1/01 CLYTHA

I cycled in the last of the sunshine on a Sunday , it was 4.30pm as I left the house , to meet Nick in Newbridge on Usk. My winter hack (touring) bike had a bit of a revamp, the RSX triple chainset was replaced with a new Stronglight Escapade double, with 42-28 rings , a bit lower than on my Mercian and with a 12 -30 Shimano cassette on the back , which I need for those big hills with those big loads (me!) in the summer tours.

The bike was running smoothly , Nick finally turned up at 5.15pm , it was now dark and the temperature plummeted. We hit the biting north wind as we peddled to Usk , it was against us all the way on the road to Llancayo. We cycled through Bettws Newydd , past the Black Bear Inn and then on the road toward Clytha. Near a National trust car park, Nick was ahead when he hit a sheet of ice , he slithered down the road screaming, he then hit a big pothole ,he struggled to control the bike . I looked down and saw his rear light flashing under the water where it had fallen off, I did not stop to pick it up , as I was slithering down the road myself .

Nick had suffered two punctures and a buckled wheel , we fixed the punctures and decided to abandon our ride to Whitecastle . We were to limp home on the icy lanes, back through Llanfair Croes and Goytre, it was about -6 degrees , but we were treated with a fantastic show of shimmering stars . We then took the main road home to arrive at 8.00pm

30 miles

14/02/01 COLD NIGHT

Freezing weather , every night for a week meant we had a cold ride ahead, as we met at 7.30pm on a starry Wednesday evening . It was to be a short ride form our start point at Newbridge on Usk, we cycled to Llanllowel and then along the flood route to Usk.

At least it was dry but the sub-zero temperature made life difficult, in Usk we set out on the main road to Glascoed and then quickly home via New Inn 20 miles

25/02/01 A SHORT RIDE

I had not been out for a couple of weeks, so I decide to ride out into the country on my own, as Nick was not feeling very well. It was 4.30pm on a Sunday afternoon the weather was very cold and overcast. I cycled along the Treherbert road to the end and then took the steep climb to the Llanhenock road . I had not been on this lane for a few years , I had forgotten the excellent views this ridge ride gives!

I then went on to the main Caerleon - Usk road and turned left up to the Court farm waterworks, I cycled past Ponthir reservoir and then to Dogan heights . Then I had a quick ride home back along the Treherbert road , It was getting very cold as dark approached , but I was glad to get out , in an effort to stop my legs from seizing up.

15 miles

11/3/01 WHITECASTLE

At last !the cold weather had seemed to end and given way to much milder ,but damper conditions. I met Nick at 3.00pm on a bright Sunday afternoon, it had been raining a bit, but had now stopped ,as we made our way from Newbridge on Usk. We rode along the Usk flood route and then had a brisk ride to Raglan, past the gliding club. We then took the old Monmouth road for about ten yards and then cycled up a lane to Tregare . We rode on the myriad of back lanes that take you through the beautiful countryside of this area.

The foot and mouth epidemic , had kept the lanes virtually devoid of traffic , so we had the freedom of the roads! We arrived at Whitecastle at 5.30pm , I remarked it was good cycling in the light ,as we had spent the whole winter, viewing the lanes through the beams of our cycle lamps!

On the way back the wind was against us but we had a good ride to Clytha past Llanarth, we lit the lamps and carried on the road toward Llanfair Cross. On the climb to Llanfair Nick seemed to be suffering,

.We hit the wind as we cycled to Nantyderri and Goytre , here Nick started making moaning noises about how tired he was, so we quickly made it to the shop to stock up on some sweets to boost our sugar levels!

We felt a bit better and had a good ride to Glascoed , where I ordered a Tandoori meal in the phone box, which would be delivered to Mum and Dad ‘s house . With this incentive , we made good tracks to arrive at 8.30pm

45miles

18/03/01 ORGANY

The mountains were covered with snow and there was a biting northerly wind as I rode out to meet Nick at the “blackout junction” in Newbridge on Usk. It was a Sunday afternoon 3.00pm Nick was late ,so I rode down the Bullmoor road to try and meet him. After a couple of miles , I heard Nick riding from the direction I had just come from, he had decided to take a different route to our meeting point!

We then set out on a new route from Llantrisent, we turned up the road to Wentwood and then took the next left .We carried on this unknown lane , which runs parallel with the Llewelyn’s dingle road. We soon arrived in Llangwm and then we cycled up to Cobbler’s plain , here we then took the road to Trellech Grange . The narrow rough track to Organy pool had taken on an amazing metamorphosis, from an almost impassable dark track with a foot of debris in the middle , to a quite passable smooth country lane. How? It looked like the Council had merely just scraped the rubbish off with a JCB .

On the Organy pool plateau it started snowing , so we made quick tracks toward Trellech Cross , the foot & mouth epidemic meant the roads were still quiet so we had a good ride to Usk and then home via the “Traditional” which we took on at good pace .

40 miles

28/03/01 THE BRITISH

Wednesday 7.00pm, we met in Croesyceiliog , our plan was the British mountain , we cycled to Pontypool on the road mainly, as sections of the cycle track were closed due to the foot and mouth epidemic. Torfaen council seemed to have over reacted by closing this popular route, it seems to me that they have something against cyclists, the track, mainly through industrial and urban areas, has no contact with farm animals whatsoever!

In Pontnewynnd we took the lane to Plas y Coed , and then we hit the steep climb to Pant y Gasseg . This climb is steep and I mean steep , Nick bombed off ahead dancing on his pedals, while I hit my lowest gear and zig zaged my way up the mountain , I stopped up the top to recover, which Nick thought was funny as he was in no trouble at all.

It was dark now , surprisingly there was still snow on the mountain , it had been mild all week and I thought it would have melted. The air was still and calm as we rode over the mountain track , we had great views of the lights of Newport and Bristol. We descended the steep lane to Tal y Waun , where we were surprised by the drop in temperature! We carried on to Pontypool , when we reached Panteg we stopped for a kebab, we then cycled home to arrive at 11.00pm.

20 miles

4/04/01 CROES LLANFAIR

I met Nick in Treddunock at 7.00pm, I was not in good form, the short ride of 6 miles form Croesyceiliog had not left me in a great state for cycling. I kept thinking up excuses , was it my 6.30am start in work? Lack of food? No I don’t think so! Anyway I was in no great shape for cycling ,we set off to Usk , along the Chainbridge road, Nick started moaning about my slowness and he was right .

Our intended trip over the top to Blaenavon was abandoned because I knew I would not make it. We instead cycled to Croes Llanfair and home via Nantyderri, Glascoed and New Inn.

30 miles

11/04/01 PARC ROAD

I was trying to find some sort of form, so we met at 7.00pm on a Wednesday for a short ride . We cycled from Newbridge on Usk to Usk it’s self , from here we took the main road to Caerleon, but turned off up a narrow lane that took us to Parc road and then Coed y Paen. I Was feeling a lot better now as we cycled in the dry but still cold weather , we soon arrived home at 10.00pm

20miles

13/04/01 The Three Castles

Easter seems to be a good time to do this ride that takes in Skenfrith ,Grosmont and Whitecastle. After last year’s washout, we met in good weather in the square at Usk , the time was 5.00pm on Good Friday. We cycled past Usk gliding club and then on the lanes through Cwmcarvan and Dingestow . Here we took a narrow undulating lane, that sent us past the Rolls golf club of Monmouth.

We then carried on to Newcastle and dropped down to Skenfrith. The climb toward Grosmont was good as darkness fell, but here we had a chilling reminder of the devastating affect the foot and mouth epidemic has brought to the country, the sky was illuminated by the light of burning animal carcasses in the distance , it was a very eerie and strange sight.

In Grosmont a very kind shopkeeper opened the shop for us, to buy some chocolate and drink, it was now 9.30pm and although we were going well , we were starting to feel a bit tired. We were in the most northerly part of Gwent and since we lived in the most southerly part it felt a long way home!

The climb out of Grosmont toward White castle is steep at first then up and up , however we were going well and I surprised my self and Nick, I think, by attacking this climb! Up the top of the hill we cycled right past a farm where the burning was taking place , dead cattle could clearly be seen burning. Fortunately we were up wind of the smoke , but the most strangest thing was the eerie silence as the carcasses burnt.

We soon hit Whitecastle, I was thankful there was only 20 miles to go and we soon covered them via Llanarth , Nanty derri Goytre, Gascoed,where I was glad to see Trostra farm (the home of the twilight herd )or “Semen world” as it’s popularly known.

It was a good ride and I arrived home at 100am a bit tired!

60 miles

28/04/01 THE BOG

We met at 4.30pm on that Saturday afternoon , the weather was quite warm and sunny, so we had both turned out wearing our shorts! We rode up the parallel lane to Llewellyn’s Dingle, then took our favorite climb up Cobbler’s Plain, we hit speeds of 48mph as we sped to Trellech Grange. We quickly descended to Tintern where it turned very cold. After viewing the church , we put on our leggings and extra layers.

We ascended the climb to Ceddon bog , here I started struggling , it must have been the cold or something, but I was suffering all the way . However we had a good look at Cleddon bog as we took the very quiet Nine wells wood lane. We cycled past Trellech cross and through Llanishen, Where we noticed the pub had closed down!

In Usk I took on much needed Lucazade and Refresher sweets in order that I could make the journey home! We cycled on the main road to Glascoed and then took the lane to Trostra farm and New Inn , to arrive home at 10.00pm

43miles

7/05/01 THE BWLCH

We met at 8.00am by the entrance to St. Woolos cathedral, the weather was warm and sunny ,unusual for a bank holiday Monday! We were heading for the high mountain pass from the Rhonnda valley, over to Brigend, commonly known as the Bwlch. The roads were quiet as we cycled through the sunny lanes of Draethen and Rudry. We were in unfamiliar territory, but were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of this area.

After a quick stop to look at Caerphilly castle , we cycled along the Taff trail cycle route for 4 miles until we arrived in Pontypridd, here we went out on the main road that climbed gently up the Rhondda valley. Just before lunch we hit the bottom of the mountain climb, Nick stormed off ahead while I thought I had hit the wall, but fortunately I managed to compose myself to make a good ascent up the mountain . The climb has a few switchback bends but is not steep and rises to nearly 2000ft, where we were greeted with splendid views of the whole of South Wales , North Devon and Somerset

There is some confusion if this is the highest road in Wales , or it maybe the Gospel pass in the Black mountains, which we have cycled many times, however it is certainly the highest A road. We ate some food from the burger bar by the viewing point , after talking to a local character , we cycled along the highest point , which took us along a mountain ridge with views either side .

We then took a long winding descent past Abergwinfi , about 8 miles before Port Talbot we turned left and dropped down into the Maesteg valley .In Bryncethin just outside Brigdend we rested in the afternoon sun , home felt a long way away , but we cheered ourselves up by planning our food in Talbot Green , near Llantrisant.

We cycled to Pencoed and then Llanharan, we eventually reached Talbot Green, where I ate an Indian and Nick ate a Chinese. We felt a lot better after the food ,we then went on the old road toward Cardiff, in Llandaff we hitched on to the Taff trail again , we cycled down this pleasant route through Cardiff in the last of the evening sun. After worming our way through the city centre , we made our way on to the coast road to Newport, through Wentloog and Peterstone. This road is completely flat for miles but I was by now exhausted , I was glad of the bit of a climb over the railway bridge in Duffryn, to break the monotony of the flat . We cycled through Newport in the dark, where I left Nick , I then had a good ride home to Croesyceiliog, to arrive at 9.45pm, I was tired but it had been one of the best rides we had been on, we were hoping to do more rides like this, that took us away from our area and hopefully prepare us for our cycling tour!

100miles

12/05/01 WHITECASTLE AGAIN

It was the day of the first FA cup final to be held in Cardiff ,we decided we wanted to cycle out to some familiar territory and there is no more familiar than Whitecastle. We met in Newbridge on Usk at 5.00pm the weather was beautiful and warm, we cycled to Usk ,Llandenny and then on to Raglan. We visited Tregare for the first time , a very pleasant but small church there , the birds were singing ,the sun was shining in the warm evening, reminding me of summers long ago, when we always seemed to have good weather!

We cycled past the Bulmer’s cider apple orchards near Llantilio Crossenny and soon arrived at Whitecastle. All was quiet here as we rested for a few minutes. We cycled back through some lanes, unknown to us, which soon brought us to the Chart House pub. Here Nick went off in time trial mode , with myself having a “free ride” in his slipstream! Well only for a few miles, but Nick did not let me forget it on the way home!

We soon arrived in Usk and then rode home via Prescoed , Coed y Paen and Treherbert road

50 miles

17/05/01 A SHORT RIDE

Just a quick ride out in the evening , to loosen up . the weather had been raining all day but was now quite sunny . I met Nick on the Bullmoor road, we then cycled to Usk on the flood route , we then took the “traditional” route home as on the previous ride.

25 miles

23/05/01 THE BRITISH

I was a bit late on that warm Wednesday evening , so late I had to drive from work in the car to see Nick who was waiting by the Crem at 7.30pm. However we were quickly organized and we were soon cycling along the cycle track to Pontypool. We then climbed the severe hill to Pantygasseg , along the mountain road that took us to the high crossroads on the mountain where sheep were huddled together, for the night .

The weather had been warm and it was a fine evening, we had good views of Bristol and the Brecon Beacons, as the sun set over the mountains . We then had a quick sprint home through Pontypool and home around 11.00pm.

22 miles

29/05/01 MIDWEEK RIDE

A quick stretch of the legs , that’s what we planned on that Wednesday evening . I met Nick at 7.45 a bit late due to a puncture , we cycle from Newbridge on Usk up the steep hill to Wentwood , we had had fine weather for a couple of weeks and tonight was nice and dry and sunny.

We hit the downhill to Usk , where we cycled ferociously trying to out sprint each other. We then arrived in Usk , we had a good ride home via the “traditional” taking in Prescoed and Coed y paen

29 miles

7/06/01 MYNDDISLYWN

It was the evening of the General Election, Nick cycled to Croesyceiliog , we then set off on the cycle track to Pontypool, the weather was sunny but threatening to get cold later. We had a good ride along the old road to Hafodryns, all was quiet as we swooped down the hill to Crumlin . We had not cycled this way for a while and were pleasantly surprised about how quiet it was . We started climbing on the road to Newbridge , we soon hit the lane that ascends the mountain of Mynddislywn. The steepest part was the bridge over the by-pass , after that it was quite an easy climb and completely devoid of all traffic.

We cycled past the church on the mountain , in the last rays of the Sun , we seemed very close to the Brecon Beacons , we had good views of Pen y Fan and Corn Du. The descent to Wattsville is steep but quite spectacular going through a pleasing wooded valley.

After some time wasted looking for a cycle track , Nick was not amused , so we hit the main road to Risca , we soon climbed on to the canal in Rogerstone . It was now dark and had turned a bit cold ,we soon arrived in Newport where I left Nick. I cycled home to Croesyceiliog for a 11.30pm finish.

29 miles

23/06/01 DISASTER RIDE

We cycled a few short rides during June , taking advantage of the evening Sun , One ride took us to Wentwood , where for the first time we saw a pink object in the sky, which we were to find out later that it was Mars which was the nearest it had been for many millions of years.

We also tried out our touring bikes with some big 28mm touring tyres, we cycled up to Hafodryns and then up the mountain track back to Pontypool , the bikes performed well, we now had the perfect touring machines

Then came our trip to the Gospel pass, near Llanthony abbey . We met at 4.30pm in Newbridge on Usk, we then cycled to Abergavenny via Usk, We ate a Chinese meal; in readiness for the ride into the Black mountains .We briskly took the lane to Llanthony, where we stopped for a while, the road was quite busy as it was Saturday evening. However the sun was shining , the birds were singing and we were enjoying the gradual climb up the valley , remembering the previous year when we camped near Llanthony.

We were 36 miles into the ride , near Capel y Ffin when disaster struck, a Range Rover had overtaken us quickly on the lane, I remarked to Nick that the driver was going so fast that he might cause an accident. A mile or so further on, Nick was slightly ahead of me around a bend , I did not see that the Range Rover had met a van in the lane and was reversing back at some speed, as I came around the bend it happened, I was confronted by a terrible sight , Nick had stopped, the Range Rover was in reverse , I braked but lost control I screamed AAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHH!!!!!! I remember twisting out of my pedals as I hit Nick with my body and then scrapping on the hard asphalt road.

I got up immediately, Nick was just staring with a shocked look on his face, the driver asked if I was all right, I seemed to be OK, so he drove off, then as I went to get on my bike, I realized it was badly damaged , what I thought was just the bars moved in the stem, was in fact a serious damaged frame , the top and down tubes were both bent, my beautiful gold and blue Mercian was ruined!! We walked back to Llanthony, amazingly the Mavic wheels built by Nick were undamaged!

We reached a phone box where I rang up my wife Ann to pick me up, Nick cycled home I felt pretty miserable!

01/07/01 CLEDDON BOG

After the disaster ride, I ventured out on my winter /touring bike, It was a beautiful Sunday evening and I was to meet Nick in Llangwm . However I met up with him as he passed me on the road to Glascoed from New Inn, my “hack” bike was equipped with the large tyres and the going was hard, on the ascent to Cobbler’s plain, the Sun was belting down, I was struggling with gallons of sweat pouring out, but soon made the climb. We carried on up the steep lane to Organy pool ,where we saw a lot of tiny frogs running across the road.

Nick wanted to extend the ride but I was out of drink and wanted to head back to Usk. He eventually persuaded me to carry on , we cycled down the Nine Wells wood road that took us around the back of Cleddon Bog , the birds echoed in the trees and everything was very peaceful. We then found an unknown forestry track that bisected the bog , we were right in the middle of this place, which is an area of special scientific interest.

We then carried on to Usk where we had a much needed drink of cola from the shop, we lit the lamps and took a different route home via the Treherbert road.

40 miles

15/07/01 THE CIDER ORCHARDS

We met at 4.00pm on that Saturday afternoon , it had been raining and I was sheltering under a tree when Nick arrived. It soon cleared but was a bit cold , we cycled via the Usk flood route to Llandenny and then on to Raglan. We carried on to Tregare , a tiny village where we rested in the doorway of the church.

We were then to hit the quiet lanes that meander their way to Llantilio Crossenny, here we saw the Bulmers apple orchards, which stretched for field after field in long straight lines.

I was not feeling my best that evening , so our ride was not very fast! Indeed it was quite slow as I toiled away in my low gears. On the way back I had trouble keeping up with Nick as we cycled through Nantyderry and Goytre. We then cycled back via Glascoed and New Inn where I struggled up the hill .

I arrived home at 10.15pm totally exhausted

40miles

18/07/01 MYNDD GARN CLOCHDY

After my previous poor ride I had second thoughts on our next ride . However I managed to drag myself out to meet Nick in Croes Llanfair at 7.30pm. I was feeling all right as we cycled to Llanelen , here we hit the lane that goes over the Monmouth and Brecon canal, this then takes a severe vertical route up the mountain toward the Blorenge . The going was good and this quiet lane was nearly devoid of all cars.

We had a good ascent to the top , the weather was overcast but thankfully the rain held off. After admiring the view we had a good sprint home via Blaenafon , Pontypool and New Inn.

30 miles

22/0701 BLACK ROCK

We started cycling at 5.00pm from Croesyceiliog , our route would take us on the cycle track to Blaenafon. It was a Sunday and quite warm and there were a lot of cyclists on the track ,which is a pleasant way to get around.

We climbed up the hill toward the tumble and then took the narrow and frightening lane to Clydach, this lane has been eroded over the years and has a few sheer drops into the valley below. Our plan was to cross the valley and climb the old road up Black Rock, in Cydach Nick decided he wanted to make a social visit to a Fireman colleague who lived nearby. I waited and ate some bonk rations. After talking to some local kids who were very curious about why I was cycling, I started to look for Nick I cycled up the road which he had disappeared earlier, this lane rises steeply , I looked over the other side of the valley, to my disbelief I could see Nick charging up the road across the valley. I screamed out , but to no avail, I had to make a quick decision, I would not catch him if I went back down the valley, so I had to climb the steep lane that took me to the Brynmawr Blaenafon road .

Some how we had missed each other and Nick thought I had carried on up the mountain , I figured he would be in Brynmawr , sure enough he was , I found him eating curry and chips in the square! After viewing the semi demolished Dunlop factory, we lit our lamps in the dusk and took the old road through Nantyglo ,Blaina , Bournville and Abertillery, the going was fast as it was mainly downhill and we soon arrived in Llanhileth where we took the climb to Swffryd and Hafodryns.

The old road into Pontypool made pleasant cycling in the dark, we soon arrived back in Croesyceiliog via the cycle track.

40 miles

25/07/01 MID WEEK RIDE

We met at 7.00pm at the usual place, the Blackout junction near Newbridge on Usk. The weather was warm but changeable as we cycled up the steep hill to Wentwood, my training/touring bike was feeling more comfortable with its 23mm tyres. We cycled along the edge of the wood with the birds singing on that Wednesday evening. We soon arrived at the Gaer Llywd crossroads, here we took the lane to view the church at Newchurch.

After viewing the surroundings we had a quick blast to Usk, where we saw a barbecue outside one of the pubs. After stopping in the shop for a drink we quickly rode home our traditional route through Prescoed , Coed y Paen and Treherbert road

30 miles

1/08/01 A VERY STEEP CLIMB

I met Nick at Croes Llanfair ,it was a Wednesday evening 7.30pm , the weather was boiling, so we took full advantage of the day. We cycled along the pleasant lane to Llanelen, our plan was to repeat the ride of a couple of weeks before, over the Myndd Garn Clochdy. However as we started the climb, a farmer in a large and shiny four wheel drive, informed us that there was culling of animals in his farm ahead. He seemed to not want us to carry on. Although he was quite polite, it is an other example of how the wrong people are being blamed for the spreading of the foot and mouth disease. This public road is open to cars, but when farmers see a cyclist or walker they instantly start waving their arms about and start preaching about disease spreading. It seems to me that they are using it as an excuse to rid people away from their land!

We wanted to respect his wishes, we did not want to be set upon in a Deliverance style way so we took another route. This route was the extreme climb up Llanover road toward Blaenavon, when I say steep I mean steep , I have cycled down this road many times but this was the first time on the ascent. I think without a doubt it is the steepest road I have ever been on , I was grateful for my newly fitted triple chainset which gave me the gears to ascend it. I climbed slowly , while Nick zig zagged in front of me. The climb was good , up the top we were greeted with great views of the valley in the last of the Sun’s rays.

We lit the lamps and powered down the main road to Abersychan, here we took Limekiln road to Pontypool ,to then cycle home on the cycle track to arrive at 10.15pm

28miles

16/08/01 A TIME TRIAL

We decided to do a 22 mile time trial , I had my aluminum race bike with it’s big 52 teeth front gear ,while Nick had his much lower geared Longstaff. We met at the Crem in Croesyceiliog, at 7.00pm Thursday ,the course was easy to follow, down to Caerleon some 5 miles away then on the old road to Usk , Mamilhad ,joining the dual carriageway at Little Mill , to New Inn and back to the start point.

I set off 2 minutes in front of Nick, the wind was against us toward Caerleon , but I made good time hitting speeds of 34 mph. The weather was quite dry and I managed to fend Nick off for about 15 miles. However on the home stretch near Little Mill ,he caught up with me and passed me staying just a little ahead. The wind was slowing us down as we approached the outskirts of Pontypool, but on the slight downhill to New Inn I picked up speed and cycled past Nick.

He tried desperately to catch me on the climb to the finish and just managed to arrive alongside me at the Crem. Nick had a time of 1 hour 8 minutes while mine was 2 minutes slower . Our goal was to eventually reduce it to under the hour if possible!

19/08/01 CLEDDON SHOOTS

After the trauma of the previous ride, we were to get in some serious cycling in preparation for our tour of mid Wales. We met at 5.00pm in Newbridge on Usk , the weather was warm and sunny , but inclined to be a bit showery. This was proper cycling at it’s best , I rode my tourer while Nick was on the same bike he had rode the time trial on!

The weather had been wet but the sun had warmed up the hedgerows, making them full of the scents of Summer, with a taste of the Autumn just around the corner. We climbed up to Cobbler’s plain then ascended to Organy pool , which is situated on a high secluded plateau above the Wye valley.

We leisurely rode toward Ninewells wood , which took us through the heart of Cleddon bog , deep and mysterious the bog had a sweet hot odour of it’s own, which added to it’s beauty. We then rode to Cleddon Shoots a couple of miles away , here we viewed the waterfalls that seeped out of Cleddon bog , in the distance the sun shone on the Wye valley and all was well.

We then hit the road for Usk , with lamps blazoning we made quick time, to stop for a drink from our favourite shop in Usk. It was a quick ride home on our “traditional route” to arrive at 10.30pm

41 miles

25/08/01 THE TOUR

The time had arrived the tour was to start, it was Saturday , August bank holiday, we left Crosyceiliog at 10.00pm, our bikes were loaded , but this time we seemed to have, more or less, a good array of camping equipment. The weather was warm and sunny , it was a good forecast for the whole weekend in fact.

We had the usual apprehensive thoughts as we set off ,but the bikes were not over heavy and were running well. Brecon was made by lunch time via New Inn , Glascoed, Goytre, Croes Llanfair, Llanellen, Gilwern and Tal y Bont. In Brecon we stocked up with food , we were glad to get out of the town as it was very busy. The road we cycled on followed the A40 , but it was very quiet with no cars, we were to find it hard going , because it was very undulating, making it hard to get a rhythm going.

We reached Trecastle in the mid afternoon and we decided to cycle along the A40 for about 10 miles downhill into Llandovery. We made good time on the main road and promptly stocked up with drink in Llandovery .

The road to Rhandirmywn is a quiet one and we quickly cycled the 8 miles or so to the Towy Bridge Inn, where we ate a much needed bar snack, I had half a chicken while Nick ate steak. It was now 7.30pm and we knew we had to find a pitch for the tents that night , we cycled on the country road toward Pumpsaint.

Field after field we looked at, but they were not suitable , I was by now exhausted and felt like stopping anywhere. Eventually we found a pitch, it was by now dark so we quickly set up the tents , while being attacked by midges! Nick’s idea of hot chocolate was abandoned due to insect attack! We soon settled down on our thermorest beds, the night was warm so we shortly managed to get some sleep.

76 miles

I awoke early on the Sunday morning , the sun was shining on my tent, the night had been quiet but a bit uncomfortable. We then drank some delicious hot coffee from Nick’s tiny solid fuel stove , which was an added bonus this year , a change from drinking cold orange juice! The road to Pumpsaint is a very quiet country road and we now felt we were cycle touring , instead of the drudge of the day before ,that just got us into the mountains. It was around 9.00am when we turned up the mountain road to Ffarmers, this road is steep, in fact so much so, that Nick had to adjust his front changer, so he could engage his low gear on his triple chainset, he also had to take a few links out of the chain as it was slipping due to it hanging down like a heavily laden washing line!

We had cycled up the Devil’s staircase the two previous years, but I think this climb is equal in its steepness but is completely unknown. We reached Ffarmers after a while, which was completely deserted, we then hit another mountain road for Llandewi Brefi. This once more was a quiet deserted road through forestry, we hit climb after climb, over streams down dips. The weather was great and at the top of the remote mountain pass we looked back . In the distance to our left we could see the Brecon Beacons , in the distance to our right we could see the Black mountain, we were right in the middle high up on the mountain. We were cycling the old Drover’s roads of Wales , hundreds of years ago this was the route the Drovers brought their livestock to as far away as London.

A long descent into Llandewi Brefi, we then made sure we took on drink from the shop, which was just about to shut at midday. The road was fairly flat to Tregaron , where we ate some hot food from the well stocked Spar shop. We sat down in the square and planned our route, we set off on the flat road toward Pontrhydfendigaid, on this road we went past the spectacular Tregaron bog , which stretched for miles and miles covered in purple heather.

We had found out on this ride what goes down goes up again and the road from Pontrhydfendigaid to Ysbyty was up and up, here I was now quite exhausted. Nick too was feeling tired so we rested in the afternoon Sun. After half an hour we descended to Pontyrhydgroes, here again we had a big climb, this road is on the main route to Devil’s Bridge so the traffic was heavy, well for that area anyway! As we climbed I was at my low point of the day, the sun was blazing down and I knew we had a lot of mountain roads to go that day. Nick also said he had never cycled on so many climbs in one day.

We were soon at the start of the Cwmystwyth valley, here we viewed a lonely church , built on the side of the valley , the whole area was covered with trees and for a moment we felt like we were not in Wales but in an Alpine forest! Holiday makers were out in force, as we took the wild mountain pass toward the Elan valley. As we climbed the valley , we left the river Ystwyth, which flows west to Aberystwyth and joined the Elan which flows east toward Rhayader.

The top of the Elan valley is a vast wind swept landscape which then dives down towards the dams . These are set in quite a narrow valley, Shelley once had a dwelling here and it must have been an attractive site before these dams were built , which looked a out of place as we viewed them in the evening sun.

We had cycled over Ffarmers mountain road and had seen no one , but the Elan valley we had seen everyone, attracted to the dams.

However it was down hill all the way to Rhayader , we took the cycle track that follows the path of the old railway line and were soon enjoying Indian food from a small café in the bustling town. After that we took the main A470 road , we looked all around for a pitch, after a few miles we found an old quarry ,here we set up camp for the night , the sun was setting and we were treated to an amazing show of stars.

58 miles

The night had been full of strange noises, which we were to find out had been sheep grunts! In fact it had been cold unlike the night before, I only settled down to a deep sleep around 4.00am. and slept right through till 9.00am. the sun warmed up the tents so I got up , Nick had a bit of a lay in but we were shortly drinking hot coffee and were on the main road to Builth Wells at 11.00am

In Buith we had cooked breakfast and then cycled along a quiet road that mirrors the main A470 on the other side of the river Wye. Motorbikes screamed out on the main road but all was peaceful on our side , we then hit the main road for Talgarth, here again we cycled on another “mirror” road that quietly took us over the mountain to Crickhowell. It was Monday Bank Holiday and the traffic had reached fever pitch , people were milling around Crickhowell, why I do not know, as all the shops were closed. We then cycled to Gilwern and to avoid the traffic, we cycled up the steep lane to Pwll du, here we were greeted with a show of purple heather not unlike the ones in mid Wales.

It was a quick sprint from Blaenavon in the evening Sun to Croesyceiliog to arrive at 7.00pm

60 miles

We were sure that this had been the best tour we had been on , we covered the most ground(nearly200miles) and had the best scenery and were now planning our next tour which we hoped would take us into North Wales perhaps?

5/09/01 THE BRITISH

I met Nick in Croesyceiliog ,it was 7.00pm on a Wednesday , the weather was quite warm and dry. We cycled to Pontypool via the cycle track , we then took the steep road up High street which then took us on to the Tranch road , which is very narrow and steep. As we looked back we saw good views of the Severn estuary. The going was steep and eventually we arrived in the small mountain village of Pantygasseg.

We climbed up toward the British mountain , we had been over here many times before , but each time was as good as ever, the mountain road was quiet. As dark approached, we had the usual good views over the channel and eerily the air was still, as it was quite often on this mountain.

We descended cautiously , the night air had shades of Autumn about it as we rode to Pontypool and then on to New Inn where we stopped for a kebab. Here it started raining and it managed to dampen us quite a bit as we rode the last few miles home.

20 miles

14/09/01 LLANSOY?

We met at the ‘blackout’ junction near Newbridge on Usk, at 7.00pm on a Friday. The warm of the Summer had definitely gone, but it was still all right for shorts! We cycled along the Usk vale, then took the ‘mirror’ lane that follows Llewyllyn’s Dingle over the hill to Llangwm. We had no planned destination, just a drift through the quiet leafy lanes of Gwent. We set off toward Llansoy but were thwarted by the demolition of a bridge, we had been warned by a sign up the lane , but we had taken no notice. The small stream was impassable ,so we had to go back.

We then picked up the pace briskly moving to Usk where we ate a Chinese meal. Then we set off again at a fast pace , our combined halogen lights lit up the lanes as we sped off in the dark. We cycled more in the dark this evening than we had for several months , it was a taste of things to come, as we looked forward? To the long Winter nights!

We soon arrived back in Croesyceiliog, at 10.30pm

30 miles

19/09/01 BLAENAFON

A short midweek ride , we met in Croesyceiliog at 7.00pm , we then cycled along the cycle track through Pontypool , Abersychan and then onto Blaenafon . The whole ride was cycled in the dark . In Blaenafon we helped a family putting a happy birthday sign on a bridge , we shone our lights so they could see what they were doing . After this good deed for the day ,we sprinted down the main road, Nick was laughing as I overtook him bouncing up and down!

We soon arrived in Abersychan , we then cycled quietly home via Limekiln road and the cycle track

22 miles

13/10/01 THE BEAUTY OF OLD GWENT

The weather was almost Summer like , when we met at 4.00pm at the usual place, near Newbridge on Usk .Nick was wearing his new ¾ length leggings, after a bit of a chuckle from myself ,we carried on to Llanllowel and then on the flood route to the “Rat Trap Inn”. In the warm afternoon Sun we cycled merrily to Llandenny, here we took a shortcut to the Raglan road .

After filling up with supplies from the shop in Raglan(which I had not been in for 23 years)we cycled to Tregare and then past the sweet smelling apple orchards to Llantilio Croesseny, where the trees were ready to drop their apples. We were in the beautiful lanes of old Gwent, which must be some of the best in the world, there is nowhere quite like Gwent, it is hard to describe to anyone who has not cycled in this cycling heaven!

The Autumn evening was still warm as it turned dark , it clouded over but fortunately did not rain. We lit the lamps and had a pleasant ride through Llanarth, Croes Llanfair, Goytre , New Inn and home at 8.30pm

40miles

20/10/01 TINTERN AND BEYOND

We were blessed with another mild afternoon , we met at “the Blackout” near Newbridge on Usk at 4.00pm. I still wore my shorts ,but I had my new leggings in the saddle bag just in case. We rode up the parallel lane that follows Llewellyn’s Dingle and we were soon in Llangwm. From here we cycled on the quiet and picturesque lane that goes to Cobbler’s Plain, as we neared the top we had a spectacular view of the Sugar Loaf and other mountains ,I remarked that they looked like a 3 D map in the still quiet air of that early evening. We pondered on why the old shaded maps were not available any more, s years ago they used to give a good indication of the contours of the hills.

We had a fast ride to Trellech Grange , on the road to Tintern we viewed the ponds of the Angidy valley which had been turned chocolate brown by the recent heavy rain. Tintern had suffered flooding that week but their was no evidence of any floods as we bought drink and chocolate from the shop next to the river Wye . We took the familiar route up toward the Cleddon Bog , it was a good ascent in the now dark night .

After cycling along the Ninewells wood road , we rode to Llanishen where we viewed the crescent Moon surrounded by stars, it was a clear still night and remained mild, as we descended to Llansoy and then on to Usk.

Cycling was now effortless as we coasted to Prescoed along our “traditional” route home once again the beauty of Gwent had taken it’s hold and it was a privilege to be allowed on it’s wondrous lanes.

After a brief encounter with a badger we arrived back at 10.00pm

45 miles

4/11/01 THE GOLDEN LANES OF NORTHERN GWENT

It was a Sunday afternoon when we met at the junction in Newbridge on Usk, the weather was dry, cold and sunny as we cycled in the last rays of the Autumn day . We rode to Llantrsent and then on the flood route toward Llandenny, where we took the lane to Raglan. I was wearing my leggings for the first time since the Spring. All was quiet as we cycled along the back lane from Tregare to Onen ,we remarked it was like cycling on a cycle track, as there were no cars to be seen .

We were now in the famous cycling land of Gwent, all was different in those lanes as the Sun cast it’s last rays. I was navigating by my map, taking us along lanes that we had not previously been on .We found ourselves transported to a strange and mysterious fantasy land , we cycled past a church and over a brook , up and up we went, viewing the valleys of the northern land as it finally approached darkness.

We ate our rations , lit the lamps and carried on in the dark, until we arrived at Cross Ash . The wind was cold here , the sky showed signs of rain , the occasional fireworks appeared in the sky. We then flew South like wild geese in the winter , to find a more hospitable climate. This we did , the ride through an unknown lane to Bryn deri was taken quickly. More fireworks lit the sky as we made our way to Llantilio and then to Llanarth.

The weather was still dry but cold , cycling was hard going as we rode to Croes Llanfair, Nantyderri and Goytre. We cycled back via Glascoed and New Inn briefly stopping to watch the fireworks at Semen World. We arrived back in Croesyceiliog at 9.00pm

50 miles

14/11/01 THE BRITISH AGAIN AND AGAIN

We met outside the Upper Cock Inn in Croesyceiliog , it was 7.00pm, a Wednesday, it was cold and dark. We cycled to Pontypool via the cycle track then went on the old Crumlin road for a short while, we then cycled up Park road to the Tranch at the top of the town. The mountain road starts here and it is very steep ! The front of my bike lurched forward as I hit my lowest gear, standing up made it worse , as I started to loose traction, however it was not long before we were viewing the valley form a high.

Our lights illuminated the mountain track that we had been on so many times , after a few miles we were nearing the top. Curiously as often before , all was quiet on the crest, no wind and it was quite mild . We were now near the stars and we felt that we could reach out and touch them, as they were so close , this was a New Moon and the stars were in abundance. I looked down the mountain, a black cloud loomed below in the valley below , it was like a black cat in the night looking for prey. I thought we were in for rain but the cloud ran away with it’s tail between it’s legs.

The descent was cold , the road was rough, temperatures plummeted to-4 Celsius, we had a quick but cold ride home in the night air to arrive in Croesyceiliog at 10.30pm

20 miles

1/12/01 YULE NEARETH

The cold weather had brought a seasonal look about the countryside, as we met on a Saturday evening at 7.00pm. My 5 watt lamp on my Vistalite had packed in, so I replaced it with a 15 watt lamp , but this only gave 3 hours light with two battery packs ,compared with 11 hours with the 5 watt lamp.

The light was bright however, but shortened our ride considerably. We cycled from Newbridge on Usk to Usk , here the Christmas lights were up , the coming of this month gave the go ahead for the tacky and not so tacky decorations! As we cycled toward Prescoed on our ‘traditional’ route home all was quiet, the previous night’s full moon was still blazing and the stars shone in still cold air.

I became thankful that my riding time was limited, as I was not responding to the cold, my pedaling was slow and I found it hard to get going . Nick had no problems , he occasionally switched on his noisy dynamo to give a poor but reliable light.

After an encounter with a badger near Coed y Paen we cycled home in the cold to arrive at 9.30pm.

20 miles

23/12/01 WINTERY RIDE

After a dose of Flu which lasted a couple of weeks , I ventured out to meet Nick at the “Blackout junction” near Newbridge on Usk. I left the house at 2.30pm ,it was a Sunday and it was very cold! I was all right however and I climbed the hill to Croesllywarch with no problems. The road here was a sheet of ice, but the downhill bit had been hit by the Sun and made a pleasant descent.

We met at our allotted time of 3.00pm , we cycled out along the Usk flood route , we then took the lane toward the village of Llandenny, here we stopped to take some photos of the setting Sun, which looked quite spectacular at the end of the daylight hours. We were in search of some Christmas sights , like some nice lights or the smell of a wood fire burning , but they were few and far between in this area!

Darkness fell , I had my 15 watt light blazing away as we cycled to Gwehlog and then on the fast main road to Usk, which was all downhill and made us feel bitterly cold . We viewed the Christmas lights in Usk and then cycled back a pleasant “Traditional” ride through Llanbadoc , Prescoed and Coed y Paen, to arrive back at 6.30pm

26 miles