OP
OP
frank9755
Cyclist
- Location
- West London
I wanted to write a few words, mainly to thank those who joined me on this adventure.
When I suggested the idea, I really didn’t expect to find anyone else daft enough tobe up for it. But I was delighted when, while snuggled up in a tent on a wet night en route for Lands End, playing around with my new phone, I picked up a message from ‘Teef saying he fancied coming along. And then the whole thing gathered momentum to become – in combination with the excellent Friday night ride to The Claud – what I believe is the longest single-day ride to spring from these pages, at 220 miles or thereabouts.
If we had had a wind of 10-15mph from the East instead of the West and no bike issues,then seven of us would have rolled into Cardiff together in time for supper. But the headwind slowly sapped everyone’s energy, and the punctures clearly made it harder for Adam than it otherwise would have been. Nevertheless, to triumph in the face of a bit of adversity makes the taste all the sweeter and it really felt great when ‘Teef and I reached the Millenium Centre with half an hour to spare. I can’t remember enjoying a bike ride so much!
These were some of the highlights for me.
- Starting off in bright sunshine from Harefield and pootling through some very familiar Chiltern lanes
- The view over the Thames and Marlow from the top of Winter Hill, followed by the glorious zig-zag descent and run in, over the bridge, to the town
- A lovely impromptu café stop in Watlington after our next big descent, from Christmas Common (where the photo that Els has re-posted above was taken). I’d moved the chair across the pavement to go by a car, in LMNH style, and I recall I was starting to think about timings and contingency plans…!
- The B4507 from Wantage to Swindon. This was the longest single section that I’d not ridden before and it turned out to be a real corker of a cycling road. It’s unusual in that it runs halfway down the scarp slope of a chalk escarpment (normally they are either at the top or the bottom) which meant it was full of curves, short dips and climbs. And hardly a car on it, for about 12 miles. Not easy, but fun!
- Malmesbury. A pretty little town with the market cross making the finest town picnic site in England. It was the third time I’d eaten Co-op sandwiches there in the last six weeks!
- Cresting the top of the Cotswolds before the swoop down to Chipping Sodbury. It’s a subtle climb from Malmesbury to here and it’s easy to imagine that the slowing speed is due to tiredness. But it’s not, it's the hill, and once we hit the ridge, we flew along at 20+ for several minutes and started the much easier miles down to the Severn shore.
- The view across the Severn, with the bridge in the sunset which Martin and Mick have photographed (above) much better than I have. One sees many great sunsets but that was one I'll long remember.
- The A48 from Chepstow into Newport. Once ‘Teef and I had crossed the bridge into Wales, the headwind disappeared and we had the smooth, empty, undulating tarmac of the A48 largely to ourselves. We raced along, doing our highest speeds ofthe day, with our goal now in reach. We took special pleasure in being timed by the two digital speed cameras on the way into Newport at 22 then 25mph.
But the real highlights were the people.
- It was great to read above that Geoffrey had done his longest ever ride, despite being not long over a bad fall and broken leg.
- Very good to meet Lee, back to regular cycling after ten years, on his first outing with CycleChat people and who helped us with local knowledge of the Chilterns. Hope he comes out to ride with us again soon!
- Great to see Davy back on a bike – flying past us on the descents but being hauled in on the climbs. At one point, Davy drafted a Sainsbury’s truck and disappeared into the horizon!
- Was a real pleasure to see Mick riding back into the land of his ancestry and getting out the saddlebag flag and socks to celebrate
- Despite the tyre hassle, Adam also kept going to cycle into Wales and recovered to run the back end of the main ride.
- ‘Teef gave the impression that he would never tire – blasting into the wind all day and keeping us all going with his enthusiasm and confidence.
A shame that our delays meant that the rendezvous with the Bristol three didn’t work. Des, Rich and User482 wisely decided to get going rather than wait for us, but it was good to catch up in Cardiff.
The next day
The second part of my plan had been to do a tour of the Gower and then press on west to Pembroke on the Sunday. I didn't have any takers for this bit which, as it turned out, was probably wise.
The Gower was, as expected, very pretty with some gorgeous beaches and bays, and pretty country lanes. Here's a little taster, in case anyone needs a reason to go back:
1. the view from my bedroom window, with surfers (Langland Bay House in Mumbles - the best breakfast I can remember!)
2. Rhossili Bay
3. Worms Head, which sounds better in Welsh: Penrhyn-Gwyr (photo taken from exactly the same spot as the previous one)
I then headed west for Pembroke, but the headwind was horrendous, 25mph+.
I battled across to Llanelli but, at Burry Port, decided that it wasn't going to drop and there really was no fun in riding into it any more. I turned roundand got blown back to Mumbles at twice the speed I’d left it, for a final rendezvous with Claud and Mr & Mrs Zeqq. They had told me that they were going to go walking, but it sounded like they had only walked to the pub!
After a pleasant afternoon, we got the last train back to London – being joined by Rimas at Bristol. I then had the last few miles to roll home from the station, during the course of which my computer ticked past 300 miles for the weekend.
When I suggested the idea, I really didn’t expect to find anyone else daft enough tobe up for it. But I was delighted when, while snuggled up in a tent on a wet night en route for Lands End, playing around with my new phone, I picked up a message from ‘Teef saying he fancied coming along. And then the whole thing gathered momentum to become – in combination with the excellent Friday night ride to The Claud – what I believe is the longest single-day ride to spring from these pages, at 220 miles or thereabouts.
If we had had a wind of 10-15mph from the East instead of the West and no bike issues,then seven of us would have rolled into Cardiff together in time for supper. But the headwind slowly sapped everyone’s energy, and the punctures clearly made it harder for Adam than it otherwise would have been. Nevertheless, to triumph in the face of a bit of adversity makes the taste all the sweeter and it really felt great when ‘Teef and I reached the Millenium Centre with half an hour to spare. I can’t remember enjoying a bike ride so much!
These were some of the highlights for me.
- Starting off in bright sunshine from Harefield and pootling through some very familiar Chiltern lanes
- The view over the Thames and Marlow from the top of Winter Hill, followed by the glorious zig-zag descent and run in, over the bridge, to the town
- A lovely impromptu café stop in Watlington after our next big descent, from Christmas Common (where the photo that Els has re-posted above was taken). I’d moved the chair across the pavement to go by a car, in LMNH style, and I recall I was starting to think about timings and contingency plans…!
- The B4507 from Wantage to Swindon. This was the longest single section that I’d not ridden before and it turned out to be a real corker of a cycling road. It’s unusual in that it runs halfway down the scarp slope of a chalk escarpment (normally they are either at the top or the bottom) which meant it was full of curves, short dips and climbs. And hardly a car on it, for about 12 miles. Not easy, but fun!
- Malmesbury. A pretty little town with the market cross making the finest town picnic site in England. It was the third time I’d eaten Co-op sandwiches there in the last six weeks!
- Cresting the top of the Cotswolds before the swoop down to Chipping Sodbury. It’s a subtle climb from Malmesbury to here and it’s easy to imagine that the slowing speed is due to tiredness. But it’s not, it's the hill, and once we hit the ridge, we flew along at 20+ for several minutes and started the much easier miles down to the Severn shore.
- The view across the Severn, with the bridge in the sunset which Martin and Mick have photographed (above) much better than I have. One sees many great sunsets but that was one I'll long remember.
- The A48 from Chepstow into Newport. Once ‘Teef and I had crossed the bridge into Wales, the headwind disappeared and we had the smooth, empty, undulating tarmac of the A48 largely to ourselves. We raced along, doing our highest speeds ofthe day, with our goal now in reach. We took special pleasure in being timed by the two digital speed cameras on the way into Newport at 22 then 25mph.
But the real highlights were the people.
- It was great to read above that Geoffrey had done his longest ever ride, despite being not long over a bad fall and broken leg.
- Very good to meet Lee, back to regular cycling after ten years, on his first outing with CycleChat people and who helped us with local knowledge of the Chilterns. Hope he comes out to ride with us again soon!
- Great to see Davy back on a bike – flying past us on the descents but being hauled in on the climbs. At one point, Davy drafted a Sainsbury’s truck and disappeared into the horizon!
- Was a real pleasure to see Mick riding back into the land of his ancestry and getting out the saddlebag flag and socks to celebrate
- Despite the tyre hassle, Adam also kept going to cycle into Wales and recovered to run the back end of the main ride.
- ‘Teef gave the impression that he would never tire – blasting into the wind all day and keeping us all going with his enthusiasm and confidence.
A shame that our delays meant that the rendezvous with the Bristol three didn’t work. Des, Rich and User482 wisely decided to get going rather than wait for us, but it was good to catch up in Cardiff.
The next day
The second part of my plan had been to do a tour of the Gower and then press on west to Pembroke on the Sunday. I didn't have any takers for this bit which, as it turned out, was probably wise.
The Gower was, as expected, very pretty with some gorgeous beaches and bays, and pretty country lanes. Here's a little taster, in case anyone needs a reason to go back:
1. the view from my bedroom window, with surfers (Langland Bay House in Mumbles - the best breakfast I can remember!)
2. Rhossili Bay
3. Worms Head, which sounds better in Welsh: Penrhyn-Gwyr (photo taken from exactly the same spot as the previous one)
I then headed west for Pembroke, but the headwind was horrendous, 25mph+.
I battled across to Llanelli but, at Burry Port, decided that it wasn't going to drop and there really was no fun in riding into it any more. I turned roundand got blown back to Mumbles at twice the speed I’d left it, for a final rendezvous with Claud and Mr & Mrs Zeqq. They had told me that they were going to go walking, but it sounded like they had only walked to the pub!
After a pleasant afternoon, we got the last train back to London – being joined by Rimas at Bristol. I then had the last few miles to roll home from the station, during the course of which my computer ticked past 300 miles for the weekend.
