UPDATE CYCLING JOURNAL

15/11/98

I met Nick at the bottom of Treherbert road by the Crem at 3.30pm on that Sunday afternoon.The weather was cold, but sunny as we set off along the old road to New Inn .We cycled to Pontypool and then up the steep mountain climb to Pantygasseg.

Nick was riding his winter hack bike and was making good progress ,but I was not really in top form, as I had not been out for a month ,due to bad weather ,work commitments and general laziness .I was however quite enjoying myself and I was making steady ,but slow progress.

As we cycled up the hill toward Myndd Llanhileth ,we had views of Pen y Fan and Corn Du in the failing light .It was strange to think this remote mountain road was only a few miles from my house and that we could have been anywhere in mid Wales or Scotland.

We hit speeds of 40 mph going down the dip and up the other side to the cross-roads on the mountain , We had planned to go to Brynmawr, but it was now raining and blowing a gale ,so we sought shelter by St Iltydd’s church, which was brilliantly illuminated by a floodlight .We talked to a large local character, who told us the pub next to the church, which was being renovated, was due to be open in May.

We then discussed our route , although it had stopped raining it was bitterly cold and we decided to go back via the Swfrydd. We dropped down the hill into Llanhileth and Nick was now complaining how cold he was, and at one point he stopped and started running around trying to warm his feet up. The houses and streets took on an almost alpine quality, as they were illuminated by the sodium street lights.

We cycled along the old main road to Crumlin and took the road to Swffryd , a good climb and a fast sprint home taking in the new cycle track in Pontypool and then home at 7.30pm for a tandoori meal.

22 Miles

17/11/98 METEOR RIDE

I met Nick at the cross-roads of Treherbert road and Llandegfeth village at 7.30pm our objective was to view the good meteorite showers that had been forecast .The morning before I had seen a large meteor hit the atmosphere and we hoped we would have a good display that night .Unfortunately it was overcast ,but not as cold as the night before, we went up Ton road and had good views around of the towns shimmering in the night, we could smell wood burning that put visions of Christmas past and present in front of us.

There was not a breath of wind as we peddled to Llangybi and then onto Parc road, a good ride in the still air, but no meteorites, but that did not bother us ,we were just content to be out tasting ‘the champagne air’ on that Tuesday evening I arrived home at 10.00pm

12 miles

23/11/98 FLOOD ROUTE

I was due to meet Nick at the cross-roads in Newbridge on Usk at 7.30pm, but my front light bulb had packed in. So I had a lift from Ann to meet Nick ,there I borrowed his light and we carried on our journey. We cycled to Llanllowel near Usk, where we turned up the narrow lane marked up the flood route to Usk .It was a good ride in the dark and I was sure I had not cycled along this lane before.

We emerged near the Rat Trap pub ,then onto Usk and back home ‘the traditional’ arrived home at 10.20pm. 14 miles.

29/11/98 WHITECASTLE

I met Nick at 3.30pm. on a cold but dry Sunday afternoon, we cycled to New Inn and then on to Usk .

We had a rest in the garage to buy some drink and then carried on to Bettws Newydd ,by now it was getting dark, as we cycled past the eerie illuminated cross at the entrance to Llanarth hall, Nick said he was getting the ‘bonk’, so we stopped and ate our rations just before Llantilio Crosseny.

It was cold and still as we climbed to Whitecastle, sweat was a thing left buried in the glories of summer, but we soon reached our destination .

We went into the castle ,the moon was only three quarters, but we were bathed in a brilliant moonshine as we walked up the tower .After that prophetic experience, we were brought down to earth when a dog attacked us going back down the lane , Nick grabbed a stone and threw it accurately at the dog’s rump, it howled in pain like it had before ,you think it would have learnt it’s lesson after earlier that year.

We then went on to Llanfair Cross and Nantyderry before braving the main road from Goytre to the Jockey where we took a short cut along the canal. We then ate a good Tandoori meal from the Shaheen but by now we were freezing I left Nick on the Highway to arrive home at 9.20pm.

40 miles.

6/12/98 TRELLECH GRANGE

Winter had now taken a firm grip, as I rode to meet Nick at the bottom of Llewelyn’s Dingle at 3.30pm, on that cold December afternoon. We cycled over to Llangwm and then took a rapid ascent of Cobbler’s Plain. We did not stop for long and swooped down and up to arrive at Trellech Grange an hour before our predicted time at 6.00pm.

We then went quickly to Llanishen and Llansoy, taking care on the icy roads ,in Usk we ate our ‘bonk’ rations in the square . It was quite festive as we sat by the Christmas tree and it was now snowing.

We carried on home having a good but cold ride via Prescoed, Coed y Paen and Treherbert road. We arrived at Mum’s at 7.15pm. for a good Tandoori meal.

36 miles.

13/12/98 WENTWOOD

We went by car to buy the Christmas tree from the Forestry Commission in Wentwood , I then cycled back via Llantrisant , Newbridge on Usk and the Treherbert road.

12 miles

19/12/98 THE RUMBLE AND THE BLORENGE

I met Nick at the crem at 6.30pm on that cold Saturday evening ,we had cancelled our ride from the night before ,because of the rain, but now we had dry weather. To New Inn first and then on to Glascoed via Jerusalem lane ,we then carried on up Rumble street to Goytre and Llanfair Cross. I was using my Vista halogen light, while Nick was struggling with his old and noisy dynamo ,which was giving off a pretty pathetic light.

We looked up and saw the blackness which was the Myndd Garn Clochdy and new we would be up there later. The climbing started at Llanellen, as we went over the canal bridge I knew it was going to be a hard ascent. Nick had only a single 46 T chainring and found it hard work .At one stage on the severe climb he had to dismount, while I struggled up reaching for the lowest of the low gears on my triple chainset.

As we climbed we had good views of the towns illuminated in the dark, over the top of the mountain we peddled to Blaenavon, where we saw the brilliant Christmas lights in the houses.

As we carried on toward Pontypool we cycled on a thick layer of grit , there were gritters everywhere.

Nick now seemed to be tiring ,I peddled on, looking back now and then to see Nick’s light in the distance, he caught me up in Ponty pool and said he was exhausted we then went home via the new cycle track, I arrived home at 11.00pm.

30 miles

1/01/99 THE GOSPEL PASS

I had rode a couple of short rides over the holiday to try and warm up for the big push on New year’s day. We started off from my house in Croesyceiliog at 10.30am. the weather seemed quite good as we cycled to New Inn , Glascoed , up Rumble Street, Nantyderry and Llanfair Cross. As we turned for Llanellen we had a bit of rain , but we ‘rode it off’ and had a good sprint to Abergavenny ,via Llanfoist.

We started climbing on the old Hereford road, we soon hit the road to Llanthony and had a good ride, on the fairly flat road toward Capel y ffin, where, unfortunately it started raining quite heavily. We took shelter under a tree. In the church graveyard we ate our lunch around 1.00pm.

We set off again as the rain eased and started climbing up the Gospel pass, from our lunch stop at 327 metres to the top at 542 metres ,the wind was behind us and we made short work of the ascent and the descent , where we had fantastic views of the famous Black Mountains.

As we went downward at the old stone circle car park we hit the wind and rain and then realised what lay in store for us on the ride home .We then cycled to Talgarth, where it was now getting dark, we lit the lamps and carried on to Bwlch, Llangyndir and Crickhowell where we ate a not very good tandoori meal.

It was now 7.00pm, as we drank hot coffee in the Shell garage in Crickhowell ,we were cold and wet and I was feeling quite tired. We then battled against the wind ,taking a lane to Gilwern and then starting the ascent up the Tumble. Nick cycled off in the dark and I toiled my way up hoping this nightmare climb would end ,but it wasn’t too bad and at least it had stopped raining and I was sheltered from the wind .

I caught up with Nick at the Cordell Country Inn ,which was now closed for renovations, he was sat down with his head buried in his hands moaning how tired he was .However we set off again and he was soon in front out of my sight. As I carried on I could see the road levelling out ,but as I did I rode into the fiercest gale and rain I had ever experienced, at one point on the summit at 486 metres I was blown off my bike and I walked towards a light, hanging on for grim death.

I found Nick shining his light taking shelter behind a ‘Welcome to Torfaen’ sign .We swapped our horror stories about our climb then took a terrible descent in the howling storm to Blaenavon to finish off our 1000 metres of climbing for the day. A bad ride home for me, with a crash in Abersychan to top it all. I even cycled past Nick in Pontypool without seeing him, we soon joined up and cycled home totally soaked and exhausted at around 10.30pm.

79 miles

9/1/99 A COLD RIDE

We set off on that cold Saturday evening at 6.30 pm where I met Nick at the crem, we went to New Inn , Glascoed and then a fast sprint to Usk. We then set off toward Llancayo and Bettws Newydd.

Our objective was Whitecastle , but in Bettws Newydd Nick started moaning about how cold he was, with temperatures dropping to -6 degrees, it was certainly very cold.

We then decided to shorten the ride , cycling home through Chainbridge, Nantyderry, Goytre,and New Inn. I left Nick on the Highway in Croesyceiliog , he had to go to Newport and he was suffering with the cold.

22 miles.

16/1/99 FLOOD RIDE

I was due to meet Nick at the junction of the Bullmoor road just past Newbridge on Usk, at 4,30pm.

I left the house cycling along Treherbert road , after a brief shower I was now quite enjoying myself cycling in the failing light. It had been raining quite severely , the last few days , but I did not expect to see the sight of the flooded road , just over the bridge in Newbridge on Usk.

The river had in fact burst it’s banks and a raging torrent of brown water was flowing where the road was. I looked north and south ,all I could see was the flood water, it was impossible to cross. I could just make out the figure of Nick in the distance , we were unable to communicate so I cycled back home thinking Nick had done the same.

I later found out that he had cycled up the road with the water up to his saddle bag, he had tried in vain to reach me, so he had to go up the main A449 road and drop down to Llanllowell where he took the flood route to Usk, and then cycled back ‘the traditional’ .

23/1/99 LLEWELYN’S DINGLE

I met Nick at a now dry road in Newbridge on Usk ,at 4.30pm on a Sunday, it however started to rain as we cycled through Llantrisant toward the climb to Llewelyn’s dingle. As we dropped to Llangwm it was now hammering down with rain ,we cycled then to Llansoy and Usk where we took shelter in the BP garage , where we ate apple pies.

We decided to go home quickly via ‘the traditional’ and we did until Nick punctured near Prescoed. As he mended it in the pouring rain he moaned that this had been a ‘nightmare ride’. However we soon arrived home at around 7.30pm.

27 miles.

5/2/99 AGAIN WITH NO RAIN

I met Nick at Newbridge , I had new 105 changers and they were working very well , we went up Llewwelyn’s dingle and then took the road to St. Jerome’s church then onto Usk at around 8.30pm on that Friday evening .

We then went on to the ‘traditional’ and had a good sprint home .

23 miles

12/2/99 THE BRITISH

We cycled in the dark at 7.00pm on a Friday evening , to Pontypool and then on the old Crumlin road , where we took the road from Upper Furnace toward the Tranch .We recalled the time in 1963 at Christmas when we were stuck in the snow on this road ,in Dad’s Anglia, we walked to our uncle’s house where there was a power cut , Dad and our uncle Ron then went to dig the car out so we could get home.

We also experienced some snow as we went on the mountain , there were several drifts of snow from the week’s earlier snowfall .It was not cold however and we enjoyed a good climb over the mountain ,which surely must be one of my favourite rides. Down then to Abersychan and Pontypool and then along the cycle track to New Inn and home .

19.6 miles

21/2/99 THE TRAD

I met Nick at 7.00pm by the Crem ,but I found I had lost the lens to my Concorde front l.e.d. light. So we retraced my steps back to the house ,where I found it in a shoe. Nick said he had seen two brilliant stars in the west and we were to find out later that they were Venus and Jupiter. We then cycled down the Trehebert road and then on to Usk via Newbridge and Llantrisant . After a drink in the BP garage we cycled home in the drizzle to arrive home at 10.00pm

19.8 miles.

6/3/99 THE TRAD AGAIN

I met Nick at the junction of Bullmoor road , at 5.30pm it was light but raining so we abandoned our intended ride to Whitecastle and did the same ride as before and then went to Mum’s for a Tandoori meal.

27/3/99 PWLL DU

A couple of weeks off due to bad weather and an injured arm , meant that our next ride was on the first day of BST. I met Nick at the at 4.00 p.m. ,the weather was dry but with a favourable wind ,as we set off for Blaenavon ,via New Inn , Abersychan and the forest track from Cwmavon .

Over the top of Myndd Garn Clochdy it started raining , as we ate some fruit pies in an old farm building in Pwll du, we decided not to go to Brynmawr . Instead we swooped down the treacherous mountain road to Govillon . It had now stopped raining as we went onto the canal, where we had a rough ride to Llanover .

We then took the road by the river to Llanfair cross , I was now suffering due to my lack of riding and excess weight. However I made it to Goytre , where we took a lane over the canal ,to miss the main road . We arrived past the Star inn in Mamilhad ,then onto the Jockey inn ,where Nick was way out in front. I caught up with him in Panteg , where it started raining, but it soon stopped when we arrived in Croesyceiliog at 10.20 p.m.

35 miles.

5/4/99 ORGANY REVISITED

Easter Monday , I met Nick at the bottom of Llewelyn’s dingle , I had rode through New Inn ,Glascoed and Usk . We set off at 5.00pm in good weather I was still slow , but we had a good ride to Organy pool via Cobbler’s plain and Trellech grange.

We then lit the lamps and took the usual route home via Usk and Coed y paen . 11.30pm arrival

39 miles

10/4/99 Whitecastle

I met Nick at 6.30pm on that Saturday evening we had finally decided to cycle to Whitecastle after our previous failures. I was in better form than the two previous rides and we rode well through Glascoed, Rumble street ,Glascoed and Llanfair cross where we headed for the eerie illuminated cross in the entrance to Llanarth court .With ‘Champagne air’ everywhere we arrived at Whitecastle.

We made our usual climb to the top and then lit the lamps in the starry night, for a good sprint to Usk, where Nick had to refuel as he was suffering a bit with the ‘bonk’. I was quite warm as we rode to Llantrisant and then Newbridge to go home via Treherbert road. I cycled to Dogan heights with Nick ,who then went down Candwr lane to go home via Caerleon. I then rejoined Trehebert road to arrive home at midnight , a bit tired as I had to get up early the next day to go to Bike 99

43 miles

17/4/99 Llewelyn’s Dingle

I met Nick at the junction of Bullmoor road and Newbridge on Usk at around 6.45pm we were going to the forest of Dean , but as we cycled through Llewlyn’s dingle and up Cobbler’s plain we decided to shorten the ride because of the cold, as it had been snowing that week.

We cycled to Trellech Grange and then back home via Llanishen , Llansoy, Usk and home via the traditional.

33miles

2/5/99 The Edge of the Forest

I met Nick at the T junction at Newbridge on Usk , it was 4.30pm on the Sunday of the may bank holiday. The weather was now very hot and sunny and we had a good ride to Trellech Grange via the usual route. We then rode to Tintern down the famous Angidy valley,then a quick look at the church by the river Wye and then onto Brockweir .

We crossed the river and had a good ascent to St Brivel’s , where we talked to man and his wife who had rode a Longstaff tandem tricycle from Bristol to stay at the youth hostel in the castle .We then rode to Clearwell, Newland and then to Staunton where we then had a fast descent into Monmouth, it was now 9.30pm.

Here we ate a horrible takeaway which left us gasping for a drink, but could not find a shop or garage open as it was now 10.00pm. A good sprint on the main road to Raglan and then through Gwelhog to Usk, where we still could not get a drink ,however we cycled home via the traditional and arrived at 12.30am.

58 miles

8/5/99 CWMAFON

What a change to the previous week , our intended ride up the British had to be cancelled due to the terrible weather, instead we rode up the cycle track along the old railway track to Cwmavon,it had been surfaced the year before and it looked like they were now heading for Blaenavon with the works.

We then cycled home back down the track in the wet .

15 miles

15/5/99

LONE LANE

I met Nick at Newbridge on Usk at 4.30pm , it was warm but not scorching , but at least we were wearing our shorts for the 2^nd time that year. A good ride up Llewelyn’s dingle , Cobbler’s plain and then to Tintern via Trellech Grange . A hard ride followed up the road toward St Brivel’s , we turned left for Coldharbour and then to St Brivel’s .

We then rode to Clearwell ,Newland and then down the long hill into Wales at the bottom, but then to cross back into England a 100 yds up the road and then cross the river on the side of the old railway bridge back into Wales by the ‘Boat Inn’. Here we started the climb up lone lane and I was now suffering a bit, it was a good job we had not gone to Cannop ponds as planned ,as it was now 9.00pm and we were both feeling hungry.

At the top there was Penalt and then a good ride in the dusk through the trees of the Narth ,where the birds were singing and it was quite warm . On then to Usk via Trellech , Llanishen , Llansoy and past the ‘Rat Trap’ pub . We sat by the river in Usk and ate our meal from the Dil , I had a very nice chicken korma , while Nick had a vegetarian meal.

It was now 10.30pm as we set off for home via the ‘traditional’ , I was going well but Nick was unusually lagging behind , he caught me up in Coed y Paen , were he collapsed on the floor and dozed for a few minutes moaning how tired he was , we then set off to arrive home at 12.00am.

56 miles

THE BRITISH AGAIN

22/5/99

Terrible weather meant a few rides had to be delayed , but we had a good ride up the Tranch and then the British doing the usual distance of 22 miles.

24/6/99 MID SUMMER

Due to bad weather and Nick’s trip from Spain with the Fire service , meant that June was a lean time for cycling . I however managed another British ride , this time going to Hafodrynys and then up the steep climb to the Star pub and then on the usual route to the British . It was 10pm on that mid summer’s eve and there was not a breath of wind as I had views of the Brecon beacons ,Newport and all around.

I then swooped down through Tal y waun with my lamp burning to arrive home at 10.45pm

22miles

27/6/99 BLAENAFON

I met Nick at the Highway , Dad had agreed to come out with us on a ride . We cycled to Cwmafon on the cycle tack from Pontypool to , Abersychan , Cwmafon and then on the newly laid tarmac to Blaenafon , Dad found it a bit of a struggle going up , but we all had a great ride home .

25 miles .

8/7/99 THE TON

I set off on my own to cycle down treherbert road and then on up the ton road to Llangybi, which I found a bit of a struggle. Then on up the Parc road to Coed y paen where I punctured, I quickly mended it in the warm summer sun, then home at 11.00pm via the Darren.

12 MILES

10/07/99 CLEDDON BOG

I met nick on the Bullmoor road at 645pm it was very hot and there were a lot of people by the river we cycled up Llewlyn’s dingle and then up Cobbler’s to Trellech grange.We then went to Tintern and then onto Trellech past Cleddon bog , we then cycled toward Usk where there was a balloon meeting going on in the showground, they were having a light show and fireworks as we ate a Chinese meal in Usk.

We left Usk at 1100pm and then on home via the traditional to arrive home at 1200pm.

45 miles

12/7/99 LLANOVER ROAD

I met Nick at 6.30pm on that warm Monday evening , we cycled to Pontypool and then onto Cwmafon where we went up the community wood track. We then set forth along the Llanover road on the sunset.

A quick ride down the slopes of the mountain led us toward Llanfair cross and then onto Nantyderry and home via the main road.

22 miles

17/7/99 WHITECASTLE

We decided to ride from my house , toward New Inn and then to Glascoed and along the main road to Usk, it was warm a nice Saturday evening .Through Bettws newydd and then to Llanarth where we saw them playing cricket ,as we cycled past taking in all the aromas of the summer air .

We took a rough track to Whitecastle along the Offa’s dyke walk.We were hoping to go to Grosmont but decided to leave that for another day.Down through the myriad of lanes toward Raglan we cycled taking in the scenery that we were quite lucky to have so near our homes.Then on to Usk and home via the traditional.

42 miles

23/7/99 THE GLORIOUS BRITISH

I met Nick at 7.00pm it was a Friday ,the weather was warm we went to Pontypool and then a hard ascent up the Tranch to the beautiful British mountain where we had good views of the channel and the Brecon beacons . I hit 50mph on the descent of the mountain and thanked the good Shimano 105 brakes for stopping me at the bottom.

19 miles

20/8/99 THE TOUR OF MID WALES

We had several rides in August ,many of them small ones of about 25 to 30 miles including the British a couple of times,this was all in preparation for our cycle camping tour.

After a week of torrential rain Nick and I left Mum and Dad’s house at 300pm Friday in glorious sunshine, laden down with camping gear, we thought that this was going to be a hard trip.

Up Jerusalem lane I was struggling ,but soon got used to the heavy weight and we learnt how to adopt a different riding style. Nick then had a puncture which proved to be the only one of the trip.

A look around Abergavenny for a map of our intended area proved fruitless, but soon found one in the new Safeway. Then a good to ride to Brecon, on the back road through Tal y bont ,saw us arriving at 6.45pm. in the shadow of the big mountain of Pen y fan.

Brecon was a noisy little town that evening, and we soon ate food from the Tandoori restaurant after chatting to several people interested in cycling. By then it was 8.30pm and it was nearing dark ,so we set off on the Upper chapel road for a couple of miles. We soon found a good field to pitch our tent ,down in a dip hidden from the main road, I felt a bit apprehensive about camping there but soon settled in to a rather uncomfortable night.

42 miles

21/08/99

We awoke at around 8.00am I joked to Nick about my back was broken in three places after the night on the hard ground, we then had a breakfast of vegetable pasties and orange juice and left at 10.00pm. The sun was shining and we had a good ride on the fairly flat road to Upper chapel ,we then started the climbing up the Myndd Eppynt, over the barren landscape which was now used as a military firing range, we had fantastic views of the surrounding mountains. We then dropped down to the Village of Garth where we had lunch of freshly made rolls in the courtyard of a pub.

We then cycled down the main road a short distance , to Beulah, where we then turned up the road toward Abergwesyn, As soon as we hit that road we knew we were in for a treat , we cycled through beautiful forests with fantastic landscapes, made even better by the brilliant sunshine.

We soon arrived at Abergwesyn , a small remote village with no pub or shop, we turned for the Irfon valley and the landscape changed into a barren glacial surround. We had a good ride up the valley , where we then hit the infamous Devil’s staircase . I had heard many horror stories of this ascent, and was quite worried as I looked at the near vertical hill in front of us. Nick stormed off up the hill , I hit my lowest gear and cycled up there very slowly, it was steep at the start, but it was quite a short climb, taking about 15 minutes.

We then carried on our ride , down to Llyn Brianne , we cycled in the late afternoon past the reservoir that had been made when the Towy valley was dammed in 1973. The sun shone down on the water and we had a good ride to the dam , with the roads quite quiet ,probably because it was a Saturday. We then rode down the valley and had a quick look at the Towy Bridge Inn , where we used to have a family caravan in the early 80s.

Down to Rhandirmywn and then the 8 miles to Llandovery which was flat but seemed to take ages. The town was busy with tourists and locals, enjoying the evening sun . We stocked with food and drink from the shop , then we had a Chinese take away, and cycled up the main A40 road to find a field to spend the night , after 2 miles we found a spot down a steep bank off the road by a river, we set up camp in the light , and soon it was dark at 9.00pm so we soon fell asleep.

53 miles

22/08/99

We awoke early on that Sunday morning at 6.00am and we quickly ate our food and took the tent down as it was a bit chilly down by the river. We set off at 7.30am ,we had decided to cycle on the main road hoping it would be quiet as it was a Sunday morning. Fortunately it was quiet, with the odd car or lorry rumbling past, Nick set off at a murderous pace , but I found it a bit hard to get going .

However we soon arrived in Sennybridge where we stopped for a break, we hit the A40 again and arrived in Brecon at 10.00am, where we had a different outlook on the town compared with the Friday . Brecon seemed very pleasant on the Sunday morning full of tourists, some planing their walking trips in the mountains. The ride now warmed up,as we rode in the sun,along the back road that followed the canal through Tal y Bont and Llangyndir .

Crickhowell was our next stop where we ate some food from the chip shop at noon .Down the main road then to Abergavenny .but we were soon glad to get off it at Llanover,where we cycled on the lanes to Llanfair Cross ,Nantyderry Goytre and then home via the main road to the Jockey,then through New Inn.

We arrived back at Mum and Dad’s house at 2.30pm , we were tired but not exhausted ,we had cycled 54 miles that day, bringing the total to 149 miles , amazingly we had an average speed of 11.4 mph ,higher than our day out rides.We both agreed that cycle touring certainly had a great appeal and we hoped to do more next year.

30/08/99 The Grynne Fawr

The following week was the bank holiday and we decided to head for the mountains again on the Monday. I met Nick by the crem at 2.00pm we set off the same route as the previous week and soon arrived in Abergavenny. The weather was warm after a week of rain, but there was a bit of a wind blowing , we then went on the old Hereford road to Forest coal pit ,where I was attacked by a small dog , which I warded off with the bottom of my shoe.

We then took a good gradual ascent to the dam of the Grywnne Fawr reservoir ,and then climbed up to the top to have a good look at the Black mountains . A good sprint down the valley saw us in Abergavenny where we ate a tandoori meal at around 8.00pm. We then set off home via Llanfair cross, Nantyderry and New Inn .

60 miles

05/09/99 Organy Pool

I met Nick on the Sunday afternoon at 400pm , near Newbridge on Usk , the weather was warm and sunny ,we had decided to go to Organy as we had not been there for a while , We went the usual route up Llewwlyn’s dingle and then on to the Cobbler’s plain , we set a good pace , I felt the tour of mid Wales had improved my stamina and we were soon by Organy pool.

We then went to Trellech cross and had to light our lamps, as it was now getting dark at around 8.00pm, we set off for Usk, we did not stop but carried on and had a good ride home on the ‘traditional’ route through Prescoed , finished at 10.00pm

40 miles

12/09/99 Blaenavon

We decided to take it easy on this ride after all our exertions in the mountains ,We set off from the crem at 6.30pm ,we hit the cycle path all the way to Blaenavon, where we turned around and sprinted down the main road. After stopping in Pontypool for a tandoori meal and eating it in the park we set off home.

22 miles