We start at Newport Railway Station at 8am. Faffage Interdit! It's all about rivers. The Usk will take us, in brisk but unfurious fashion, to Abergavenny, where we will have a short breakfast stop at and rendezvous with anyone too snobby to be seen in Newport (their loss). We wind up the old Hereford road where we pick up the Afon Honddu, and it's up river again and over the most glorious of the Black Mountain passes and the world's most irritating cattle-grid. A descent to die for, and if we dare to look back we might see the sun glinting on Lord Hereford's Knob! Lunch while we're still (just about) in Wales. There will be no dawdling in bookshops! (You have to specify this kind of thing when you have erudite sorts like Rich P on the ride). Then, if we're allowed, we cross into England and forget about hills for a while, as the Golden Valley does its thing. When the hills come back, we know it's Wales again, and we turn and have a gander at two of its best mountains, without going up either of them. A pint and a packet of ready-salted, while we discuss base and superstructure in Marxist cultural theory. Or ghosts. At this point we are about three-quarters of the way round, and close to being able to put our arms around the waist of the ride, which is a sinuous figure-of-eight with crossed legs and a buxom top half. Anyone who has scared themselves witless or accidentally drunk eight pints might be reassured to know that we are close to Abergavenny Station again. Pubs will have taken precedence over rivers by this point, so we point ourselves in the direction of one of the best in Wales, and pedal until we get there. The food is as good as the booze. Luckily the mountains are now behind us, and if we can find the Usk again it will show us the way back to Newport.
About 100 miles. Who's in? And for a bonus point, what's the connection between the Gospel Pass and the most famous climb on London to Brighton FNRttC?
About 100 miles. Who's in? And for a bonus point, what's the connection between the Gospel Pass and the most famous climb on London to Brighton FNRttC?
