# The Trip



## HovR (5 Mar 2013)

So for a while I've been wanting to do a weekend tour. I'd been thinking about it, but never actually got around to planning anything. In order to get the ball rolling I rang my brother, Tom, and asked if he wanted to come with me. He's a decent runner, but doesn't cycle much - Always one to accept a challenge, he was up for it.

The plan was to head to Llanthony, Wales. A nice location only 50 miles from our start point of Gloucester, but the distance could easily be expanded to our taste.

Neither of us had specific touring bikes, but we did have two racks and my small panniers. With the majority of the load precariously balanced on the back of my bike (think I got the rough end of the deal here), we were ready to go!








Our plan was to follow the country lanes along the southern bank of the River Severn through Frampton, then Berkley, followed by Oldbury until we reached the first Severn crossing.






Only a few miles out of Frampton I glanced over to the left to spot this massive herd of deer! I'm unsure if these were wild or not, but I found it rather amazing as I'd never seen a herd that large on the route before.






With the Severn crossing in sight, the weather was picking up and it was turning in to a gloriously sunny day. Can't complain!






I have to admit that it took us a while to work out how to get on to the bridge's cycle path, but we got there eventually!






From the bridge the Severn was flat calm, and not a breath of wind. It was the perfect day to be out on the water (or a bike). The pictures off my compact camera don't do justice to how nice of a day it was.






I asked Tom to take a picture of me on the bridge, at which point he dropped the camera, with it very nearly falling off the bridge in to the water. Ooops! It then started only taking pictures like this...






Not to worry though, the camera was build to be shock-proof, and luckily it started working after I rebooted it. 

We then started ascending the very scenic Wye Valley, during which time we descended into Tintern to see the great Tintern Abbey (the picture below isn't mine, I was too busy enjoying the descent to get a nice picture).






And a couple of pictures from lower down in Tintern, in the shade of the valley.


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## HovR (5 Mar 2013)

At the top of the Wye Valley we reached Monmouth, one of the final stages in the trip. From here we only had to cross the rolling countryside to Abergavenny, and then follow the road up to Llanthony. Before commencing, we stopped on the outskirts of Monmouth in order to have a quick snack and drink.






The 15 miles of lanes between Monmouth and Abergavenny truly were hilly. The constant steep up and down undulations were tough on a bike loaded with camping equipment, so I unfortunately have no pictures of this section. We later found out that the Strava segment for this stretch of road is nick-named 'Leg Sapper' - it's for a good reason!

It was on one of these steep downhills sections that I discovered my bike has a tendency to speed wobble with all the weight piled on the back. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but I got used to controlling it quickly.

With the sun setting, we finally descended into (and rode through) Abergavenny. The relatively small slopes up to Llanthony were a welcome change.






We completed the last 6 miles in near darkness, arriving at the campsite exhausted, but with that sense of satisfaction I'm sure you're all familiar with.






The mileage for the ride came out at 82.4 miles on my Strava, with a total climbing of 4800 feet, in a moving time of 6 hours and 43 minutes. This completely surpassed my previous longest ride of 62 miles, as well as my target of achieving a metric century! 

Finally we set up the tent, ate some chili that was supposedly enough to serve 6, and got in to our sleeping bags!


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## HovR (5 Mar 2013)

In the morning we woke to the sound of these turkeys outside our tent, which was unexpected. They moved away briskly as we got out of the tent.






We cooked some porridge in the Trangia (great bit of kit), admired the scenery we didn't get to see the night before, and went for a look around Llanthony Priory.





















We then packed ourselves up and made our way back to Gloucestershire, this time via the Forest of Dean. The route was 55 miles, something which Tom was thankful for as he wasn't used to the time in the saddle.






Into Gloucestershire - Almost home!






Overall we had a great weekend, with the excellent weather making it all the better. Now with the first weekend tour completed, hopefully there will be many more to come, especially through the summer.


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## Pat "5mph" (5 Mar 2013)

Great pictures, enjoyed reading the trip report!


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## RWright (6 Mar 2013)

Looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing.


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## Martyn H (6 Mar 2013)

Reading your post has really cheered me up. Sat here with manflu and pondering the universe etc. Have now got the maps out and have started planning


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## HovR (8 Mar 2013)

[QUOTE 2350615, member: 9609"]Good trip report, liked the pictures, it gives a clue to the countryside you were in - could do with a map!

Great to see a steel bike with the gear levers down near the knees, I think yours is the only other bike on this forum that is in the same style as mine - what make and age is it ?

must do a TR from my mini tor the other day.[/quote]

Here's a map of the route there. Unfortunately I don't have a tracked map of the way back, but it was a much more direct route from Monmouth across to Gloucester through the forest. 







Thanks for the comments, my bike is a 1978 Dawes Echelon, with a Reynolds 531 frame. More detailed pictures can be found here, although there have been some changes since then, such as new levers/calipers and new tires etc. It's a lovely bike to ride, especially with no weight on the back!

I have to admit after 130+ miles on a fully loaded bike, riding my relatively lightweight commuter felt extremely odd! Took me a while to get back used to it.


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## taximan (15 Mar 2013)

Excellent report, I really enjoyed the read and the pics.


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## monkeylc (16 Mar 2013)

brilliant stuff


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## London Female (23 Mar 2013)

Really enjoyed reading your report and some beautiful photos. I am hoping to purchase a new bike this year and would really like to start with some short tours just like that (minus the leg sapping hills though).


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## PBB (30 Jul 2013)

Great report, plus the photos are brilliant. That campsite looks good aswell, no over-crowding issues there!


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## summerdays (30 Jul 2013)

HovR said:


> Only a few miles out of Frampton I glanced over to the left to spot this massive herd of deer! I'm unsure if these were wild or not, but I found it rather amazing as I'd never seen a herd that large on the route before.


 
That looks like Whitcliff Park, I've walked through there several times (as part of longer walks or sometimes just a quick walk around the park itself), and it was first enclosed as a deer park back in the 13th Centuary from what I can see on the internet. Looks a good trip, I've only just spotted it.


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## HovR (2 Aug 2013)

summerdays said:


> That looks like Whitcliff Park, I've walked through there several times (as part of longer walks or sometimes just a quick walk around the park itself), and it was first enclosed as a deer park back in the 13th Centuary from what I can see on the internet. Looks a good trip, I've only just spotted it.


 

Just looked up Whitcliff Park on Google maps, and comparing it to the Strava route map it looks like you're right! Thanks for the information. 

Since this trip I've bought a nice lightweight and compact tent & sleeping bag (Vango Tempest 200 and a Vango Ultralight 900), so I'm looking forward to doing more rides like this in the future!


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## Easytigers (6 Aug 2013)

Awesome report...thanks for sharing. You've inspired me to plan (or start thinking about!) a similar trip!


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## end2ender (6 Aug 2013)

Great post, i'm looking forward to sharing my stories when i get the time to type it up


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## CafGriff (21 Aug 2013)

what a lovely trip u guys had. Well done ... do some more!!


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## big_dummy2013 (10 Jan 2014)

Looks like a great trip the two of you had.Very nice pictures I also enjoy reading about your trip.
I love the down tube shifters on the bike.


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## alans (23 Feb 2014)

[QUOTE 2350615, member: 9609"]

Great to see a steel bike with the gear levers down near the knees, I think yours is the only other bike on this forum that is in the same style as mine - what make and age is it ?
.[/quote]

I too have down tube gear levers;on a 1986 Longstaff tourer


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