Estuary Welsh: April 19th

[Nuncio]

Anyone else here doing this one?

[Andydauddwr]

Yes, we'll be there  .

Doing John Ridge's ride the following week too, having thoroughly enjoyed it last year.

It's nice having some rides a little close to home at this time of year so that we can stop splashing out on hotels.

AC

[Nuncio]

Indeed.  And for this one I have a 2km ride to the start so a closer to home for me than you.   Dave dropped the route sheet in on his way home yesterday; your's will be in the post.  Two pub controls (including the arrivee) and two cafe controls, including the Ferryside one.

I'm also thinking of doing John Ridge's, but two consecutive Audax weekends would be a first for me.  It's not that I don't think I'm capable of riding them both, I just need to hone my domestic negotiating skills and strike at the right time.

[Andydauddwr]

Well for what it's worth, John's ride is a real cracker, probably one of the best 200s we did last year. 

AC

[Jasmine]

Fantastic ride yesterday!

Despite the poor weather forecast for rain to hang over west Wales all day, I think we only had a couple of spells of light rain which weren't really enough for a soaking (although my feet got wet from road spray).

Andy & I had a 5.30 am start to drive down from Aberystwyth to Pontardawe.  I thought it would take about 2 hours to get there, Andy thought 1 & 1/2; Andy was right so we arrived early for a change  .

First leg was Pontardawe to Ferryside.  This was a storming leg, with a massive tailwind where we were paced out by Dai Harris & Ron on their tandem.  This involved 2 climbs out of Clydach, but easily doable on the granny ring of the tandem.  We arrived at the Ferryside cafe 20 mins before the control opened  and settled down for some late breakfast.

We contined around the coast towards Amroth with a small group of riders.  We lost the group on two succesive climbs out to Llansteffan, the second of which was marked on the routesheet as 'Climb!' (quite steep and too narrow/gritty to weave).  This was a serious granny gear moment as the candence dropped to 40.  The stop in Amroth was the Pirate cafe.  They were really helpful & friendly, fast service and good food.

Third stage was 60 km to Ffairfach via Carmarthen.  We got lost briefly in Carmarthen, but Andy managed to find the route again (I was a bit useless here, not having a clue what was going on).  We arrived at the Torbay Inn in Ffairfach, where Andy couldn't find the door (hint: it's the door shaped opening at the front).  We stopped for some sandwiches before pushing for the finish 27 km away.

This is the first ride all season where I can honestly say I enjoyed all of it, and felt strong the whole way round.  At the finish, I felt I could have easily done another 100-150km without problems.  I hope this is a good sign for the longer rides ahead this season.

If anyone is thinking of doing this ride next year, I can highly recommend it (but you might be walking some of the hills on fixed).

Jasmine

[Nuncio]

We lost the group on two successive climbs out to Llansteffan, the second of which was marked on the routesheet as 'Climb!'

At Amroth I pointed out to Dave the mistake in his route sheet: it should have read 'Climb!!'

Yes, a good ride, the weather not being as bad as forecast.  I was not looking forward to the B4300 stretch from Carmarthen to Fairfach into the wind but it was OK.

Good controls.  The 'spread' at the  Fairfach pub being particularly welcome. 

I look forward to clearer views of the estuaries and castles (all 6 of them) next year.

It was a real pleasure to finish on home turf and to finish in a stronger state than the last one.

I hope the chap who rode down on Friday from Shropshire, and who stocked up on food at the Gwachel before setting off northwards into the wind, made it back home OK.