“I can almost see the appeal.”
When they publish the history of the FNRttC , this 3am endorsement from my wife, on her first ever night ride, is going to feature prominently on the dust jacket.
This ride had a long gestation, going back to 2011 and the inaugural Cardiff-Swansea ride. Destinations were considered and dropped as too far, too hilly or lacking easy access to trains. Babies arrived and time went. Fast-forward to 2016, a family day at the seaside in Barry Island and the penny dropped: this was definitely something that could be made to work. Possible routes were plotted, ridden, discarded, re-plotted and re-ridden. Magor services was discarded in favour of a local café whose owner quite staggeringly answered “yes” at the first time of asking. I wanted a ride that would speak of its place, and what better way to do that than ride its bridges.
So, to the beginning: for the first time ever I was able to take a pre-ride snooze, not leaving home until nearly 11pm for an amble to Pizza Express and rendezvous with the pre-ride meet-up. A short cut through by the Cathedral, on to College Green and time for the safety briefing and official departure. Col de Park Street may have mixed reviews at the very beginning of the ride, but it transported us to the quickest and most spectacular exit from the city via Clifton Suspension Bridge: London peeps may be surprised to learn that we were in North Somerset at 12.20.
We descended to the mouth of the Avon, crossing via the motorway bridge, and the biggest climb of the night through Shirehampton. From there it was quiet lanes, following routes very familiar to locals, and out to meet the estuary. Rain briefly threatened in defiance of the forecast, but soon blew through. A splash and dash at Aust services then onward to the Severn Crossing (which actually crosses the Wye too), eerily quiet as it was shut to traffic, and into Wales. Some sketchy lanes, a short climb and a nice, easy-rolling section all the way to Magor with the wind at our backs, as having ridden up one side of the estuary, we rode down the other.
Shortly before the stop, the FNRttC system broke down: I had sent an advance party to the café to make serving the food easier, but part of the group got detached and lost their way due to a lack of waymarkers. I was just remembering that there is no phone signal in the area, and preparing to race after them when I saw headlights in the distance. Speaking of waymarkers, if you want to ride at the front with me, you need to take your turn when asked. The guilty parties know who they are.
It went pretty well at Goldcliff. Wendy dispensed hot food and drinks with efficiency and enthusiasm, and most were taken by the charming collection of kitsch paraphernalia and the wind chimes. Warmth was somewhat lacking, but in my view it easily beats the alternative of the motorway services
Out into the dawn and through Newport, following a last-minute route change due to roadworks on the A48. That meant missing out on my fascinating talk about the wonders of the Transporter bridge, which will have to wait for another time. Having negotiated some perfunctory urban road and the bridge over the Usk, it was onto St Brides Rd, which made up for its sketchy surface by being quiet and completely flat. By this point I realized that an absence of mechanicals and a strong tail wind was going to have us at the finish about an hour before the café opened, so the pace was slowed, giving riders the opportunity to study the craters and speed bumps that bedevil the route into Cardiff.
From there it was down to the splendid-looking Millennium Centre and across the barrage with Flat Holm and Steep Holm visible in the distance. Up through Penarth and the final five miles were at best functional: I have a plan for a more scenic route to the finish. Arriving at Marco’s Café (graced by the man himself) a little early, we admired the fine promenade and beach, and then devoured coffee and bacon baguettes, though the lack of warm shelter did take its toll on many of us, and arrangements were hastily made for drinks in Cardiff.
All in all, I think this was a success. I’ve had some nice messages from some riders who had never ridden more than fifty miles, some riders who had never done a night ride, and some riders who had never done either. That’s good enough for me, and if we can find room for it, I think we’ll do it again in 2018.
