I have long expressed the view that times starting with an “8” are far too early for cycling, and the Cockerel at Birdwood obviously agreed, giving his customary morning greeting as we cycled past. A well disciplined group shared the wind and kept the speed down on th way out, perhaps fearful of things to come. Crossing the pretty Kerne Bridge, a Heron was spotted, but no wildlife was seen from the Bailey Bridge that took us to Symond’s Yat. Fine views from the Peregrine Path, which although unsurfaced, is probably one of Herefordshire’s better surfaced routes. A photo stop at Biblin’s bridge, and a crossing of the Monmow bridge concluded our bridge spotting for the morning.
On Emma’s recommendation, coffee was taken at Y Bywty, which was excellent, where a robin settled on my handlebars. After coffee, the climbing started, gently at first up the Llanthony valley, then steeply up to the cattle grid. Cresting what my Garmin reported to be the steep bit, I was presented with a block headwind, which felt just as bad as the gradient that I had just struggled up. However, the highest paved road in Wales was reached without incident, although at a considerable cost in terms of effort.
The descent to Hay is on more open roads, which removes the risk of suddenly finding a 4×4 in the middle of the road round a blind corner, but did expose our front wheels to the significant cross wind. We soon caught a car, and were stuck behind it for most of the way into Hay, where we stopped for a can of sugary drink and met riders who were heading towards the finish of the 600km “Brian Chapman” audax.
The wayback from Hay was flat with a good tail-wind, without which I am not sure I would have managed. A large buzzard lazily cirled above us, completing our ornithological trip. By Peterchurch it was obvious that Yates & Van Aert were going to leave Del Toro and Carapaz, and so we bid each other farewell. As usual on the Black Mountains ride, I was extremely pleased to crest May Hill on the A40 on the way home.
116 miles, 7,200′ ascent @ 14.3mph
