Yesterday's ride:
The month is dragging on and due to poor weather and other things getting in the way I hadn't got my challenge ride in. Yesterday though looked pretty good for it weather-wise so I got out to do a favourite ride to Lake Vyrnwy and back.
Really I should have done it on one of the good bikes but having completed my installation of dynamo lights on the Hawk and also making a new mounting bracket for the backup battery light, I wanted to use it to give everything a good shakedown. So, I was ready and out of the door shortly after seven only to find that the speedometer wasn't reading. It helps if you transfer the magnet onto the new wheel.
At about quarter past seven I was on the road properly this time and heading out of town to Montford Bridge, Great Ness, Pentre, Kinnerley and Knockin. The headwind felt a little more brisk than I'd hoped from the forecast but a century on this bike was never going to be a fast ride so I just took it steadily. There were signs of the recent flooding on the way with what looks like a lake between me and the Brieddens. For this reason I'd chosen to do the short version of the route both ways knowing that the lanes round Melverley were likely to be blocked.
At Knockin I notice that the cheekily named Knockin Shop appears to be no more. All the signs outside have gone and there was builders equipment visible through the windows. I don't know whether it's being refurbished as a shop or more likely being converted into a dwelling.
From here I was onto the busy road to Llynclys which I'm not particularly fond of most of the time, but particularly so towards the end of the morning rush as per this morning. Lots of people whizzing past me and I had a Lloyds Animal Feed wagon overtake then swing immediately left into the depot. Pointless!
I had a bite to eat by the Cambrian Heritage Railway station at Llynclys then carried on plodding towards the Tanat Valley. The traffic eased a little after the Llansantffraid junction but at this point I had other things on my mind - firstly I was starting to overheat a bit so I needed to stop to take off a layer, and secondly my gears were behaving oddly which turned out to be the rear wheel having slipped in the dropouts which was easy enough to sort but I had to do the external cam quick release up very tight for it to hold so I'll have to look and see what other ones I've got in my spares box.
Continuing up the valley a lot of the traffic seemed to be farmers with livestock trailers, most of which had either no number plate or an unreadable scrawl on a bit of cardboard. One overtook on a corner with a car coming the other way - wasn't overly impressed with that. At Pedair Ffordd a set of temporary traffic lights hadn't been set up very well so that it had changed to green for the traffic coming the other way before I got through the short section - I got quite a glare off the bus driver who is now probably convinced I went through on red.
After Pen-Y-Bont-Fawr the climb up to Hirnant and over the hill to Llanwddyn starts and I was struggling a bit, plus the back of the left knee was aching again. I realised that something really wasn't right as I've ridden this route before on this bike, with it more heavily loaded up, and it didn't feel like this so I had a think about set up and tried moving the saddle forward a little. The rest of the climb was still pretty slow and plodding but did feel slightly better. The descent the other side was fun and I didn't have any traffic to bother me as far as Llanwddyn.
Having reached the lake the scenery looked great in the sunshine (it was supposed to have been thick cloud here - I'm glad that bit of the forecast was wrong). I paused to have a bite to eat and chatted to a chap who'd just parked up and was heading for a walk with his partner. It took him aback when I said I'd cycled from Shrewsbury.
Moving on the nice flat road around the lake beckoned. I was very slow to start (not helped by the wind being against me) but gradually improved to a comfortable 14-15mph cruising speed which I'll settle for on this bike. The ache in the knee seemed to be easing too so I may be on the right track with the adjustment.
As expected on a weekday the road was fairly quiet which made it a shock to come round a corner and find with a scream of the engine, a supercar come barrelling along at speed and have to swerve to avoid me, followed by his two mates in similar cars who had to do the same. Guys, it is not a flaming race track!
Thankfully it was back to peace and quiet after they'd gone and with a few drink and photo stops i made it round to the dam again and repaired to Artisans for a coffee. It was a really lovely day by now but not quite warm enough for a t-shirt in the cool air under the trees. I sat outside in the sunshine with my drink and very surprisingly none of the other customers did.
Time for the second lap and again I was slow to start off but got into a rythm easier this time. At the picnic spot about a mile from the dam there was quite a cute Austin A35 in speedwell blue parked up. I asked the owner if he'd mind me taking a photo and ended up chatting for quite a while (he turned out to be from Shrewsbury too). While we were talking, the couple I'd seen when I first arrived at the lake came past on hired bikes. We waved to each other and they said they'd taken a leaf out of my book.
By the time I got going again I was overdue for my lunch but I wanted a few more miles under my belt before I had it. I ended up in a sunny gateway with a view and sheltered from the wind. The rest of the lap of the lake was still annoyingly against the wind, then I had the climb back over the hills to consider. The ache in the knee was a lot better by now but I found the thighs wanting to cramp up if I pushed too hard up the hill so it was a low range crawl up to the top where I decided to risk taking the alternative way back to Pen-Y-Bont-Fawr which meant carrying on climbing. This road is usually pretty devoid of traffic but wasn't today. Even so, I enjoyed the long descent into the village.
Immediately after Pen-Y-Bont-Fawr the climb out of the village had me cramping up properly which needed a rest by the roadside before I could continue. Another fast descent follows (hit 32.1 mph here) then the road becomes much easier going and with the wind finally helping I could mostly move along at a comfortable 14-16mph. The traffic on the way back wasn't too bad as far as Llanyblodwel where
another Lloyds Animal Feed wagon pulled a silly move.
I took another break at Llynclys and as the afternoon rush was getting underway decided to get off this road as soon as I could and headed along the quiet lanes through The Wood, Llwyn-Y-Go and Argoed, taking a chance that the lane to Argoed wouldn't be flooded. It wasn't but it had been recently and there was still water close to the road in places.
Tiredness was really kicking in but the wind came back to help as far as Great Ness, and had changed to a due westerly so didn't hinder on the road to Montford Bridge where a driver gave me adequate room on overtaking (just about) but stayed in the middle of the road afterwards and I honestly don't know how they avoided taking the mirrors off three cars coming the other way. The evening rush was in full swing now meaning the stretch through Bicton wasn't a lot of fun so I got onto the cyclepath as soon as I could at Shelton and had the pleasure of sailing past all the slow moving traffic on the way to Meole Brace.
103.1 miles bags me the March century at a 12.6 mph moving average. Including all the stops I was out for 10 hours 45 minutes so yet another slow one.
View attachment 458536
Between Pentre and Kinnerley (around 14miles in) the recent flooding is clear to see.
View attachment 458537
Lots of daffs around on the way to Hirnant.
View attachment 458538
Arriving at the dam, the water level is clearly a lot better than last time I was here.
View attachment 458539
Lovely weather for riding today. I was down to my shirt for a little while.
View attachment 458540
The recent rain means all the roadside waterfalls were flowing.
View attachment 458549
Starting my second lap of the lake.
View attachment 458543
The Austin A35 that caught my eye. I chatted with the owner for ages.
View attachment 458544
A pleasant place to stop for lunch.
View attachment 458545
Heading over the hills on the way back.
