BACK IN THE GOOD COUNTRY
1/06/02
Summer seemed to have really arrived as we met at 7.00pm on that Saturday evening. The sun shone brightly, the birds were singing, yes all that ! We were near Llanfair Kilgeddin, a few miles from Usk, Nick was sporting his new Carradice bag and it looked quite useful. We cycled on well used lanes to Llanarth, past the cricket pitch as a match was in progress and then upward, on the gentle climb to Llantilio Croessenny. Nick had just come back from Spain, he had cycled there on a charity ride with the Fire Service. The route they had taken went through good scenery in France, but he remarked none of it compared with the beautiful golden lanes of northern Gwent. We were in no hurry as we arrived near Llantilio, we decided to take the road to Abergavenny , this is a bit of an up and downer, but before long we were eating kebabs. from the Abergavenny Kebab house. It was nearing 10.00pm as we cycled on the main road to Llanover , here we took our usual quiet route to Nantyderry. The dark had brought out the aromas of the country , as we cycled we smelt them as if we were trying a new wine! My Petzl L.E.D. head torch was a good innovation stuck on my helmet, I could look all around not just in front , my 10 watt Vistalite lit the lane well and coupled with Nick’s Lumicycle lamp, it was not far from nearing daylight vision. We quickly arrived in Goytre, then down the lane to Monkswood and up to Glascoed village. From here we cycled up to the Semen World farm and then onto Jerusalem lane, here we saw Venus which seemed to shine unusually brightly in the sky. It was then a short ride to New Inn and home at 11.30pm....40 miles.
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