BIRTHDAY RIDE
2/03/03
I met Nick at the square in Usk at 15.45, it was a Sunday and it also was his birthday. We were to ride out on the main road along the Usk valley. The sun was shining and it seemed as though springtime had finally arrived! We turned off the main road and took the lane through the village of Bettws Newydd. I had some new tyres; I was fed up of the flimsy 23 mm road tyres, which did not give a good ride on the severe roads, we sometimes encounter, on the mountainous sections of some of our rides, so I had bought some Specialized Armadillo 26mm tyres. These are supposed to be tough and resistant to puncture, which I seemed to have a lot of on the smaller tyres! The plan was to do a test ride on them up the rough lane which is part of Offa’s Dyke to Whitecastle. I was now on my best bike, my Mercian; it was now all ready for the new season with its FSA crank set. The going was good as we cycled up one of our favourite lanes through the village of Llanarth and then to Llantilio Croessenny, we had splendid views of the Sugar Loaf and the Black Mountains. We then started our ride up to Whitecastle, this back road is truly rough, in the past I wrote about Nick sending stones and dust flying. Today however we were sending stones and mud flying! The new tyres gave a good ride and handled the rough stuff easily, no punctures yet, but there is always time for them! Up the top of the lane we viewed a brilliant sunset over the mountain, we then cycled to the castle. Fortunately Cadw, the agency entrusted with the castles up keep had not stated taking money yet for entry, as it was too early in the year. Until recently the castle was always open and free entry all year round, we have visited here late in the evening during the summer. In the last few years Cadw have annoyingly deemed fit to employ someone to take an outrageous fee to enter this splendid castle and padlock the gates out of hours! However no such problems today as we climbed the main tower of the castle, to view the glory of the countryside! We carried on homeward in the dark; I had my 10watt Vistalite while Nick had his 10watt Lumicycle. We now have no difficulty with illumination at night and it was a pleasant ride past the Bulmers apple orchards to Raglan. We then went on the main road through Gwhelog to Usk, this was a mistake as it was quite busy with traffic, but it did not take long to get to Usk. Here we decided to have some Chinese food, it was now 20:00, we ate the food but unfortunately I had cooled down and did not have a good last 7 miles or so ride, on our traditional route home via Prescoed and Coed y Paen. However before long we were back in Croesyceiliog at 22:00....50 miles.
Click on a photo to see a larger image.
