1H sounds great
have card, will ride , will feedback
SO---- a reasonable forecast for 27th, cloudy and dry with light winds saw me setting off from a New Radnor start as low clouds slowly dragged themselves over the hills but small encouraging patches blue sky were visible. From NR through to Knighton and thence Penybont reasonable progress was made, hilly yes but nothing inhumane and good B / A roads ensured speeds on descents made up for time on climbs.
Penybont @ 40 km and ~ 800m ascent was reached within 2 hours ---a welcome cappuccino and mince pies at Severn Arms before the ride character changed totally. A narrow and mucky lane dragged up and out of the Ithon Valley to cross over the spine of the Carneddau ---15% stretches testing the climbing legs. Sheep scattered in adjoining fields as they sighted me, their squelching feet indicating just how sodden the ground was, so very different from the winter of 2010 at Penybont when temps were dropping to -20c and all , including the rivers , was frozen. Today cloudy and +9c !
Narrow lanes slowed my descent down and as I reached Hundred House a steady drizzle started to fall. Up and down is best way to describe the section to Rhulen before the start of the Ireland Moor ascent; short (ish) 10-15% sections then down again to soften up climbing legs for the tough climb of over 250m to Ireland Moor top at 435m asl.
A normally trickling waterfall cascaded down
PC270032 by
jamesld8, on Flickr
and the Ireland Moor climb continued to stretch on for ever it seemed
PC270033 by
jamesld8, on Flickr
From Rhulen it`s a beast indeed 2km at average 10% with the lower 0.5km averaging 17%
The drizzle had by now intensified and as I got near the top of the hill the clouds closed in limiting visibility to 50m. A group of bedraggled walkers probably felt as I did by then---the forecast was wrong !
A difficult descent down to Painscastle, thick fog and now very heavy drizzle limiting progress and visibility. a DEEP puddle having a useful warning post stuck in it `POTHOLE` indicated its hidden hazard.
In Painscastle I considered my options as the rain now fell heavily; push on in miserable conditions just to do it, but see nothing, or turn left and be back home in an hour. The Roast Ox was also open suggesting a possible food stop
I turned left to leave this ride for a much better day; it was still raining hard when I got back home and the cloud was at valley level. 1H will have to wait another day for me, but still managed 90km with 1700m climbing. Next time I`d like to see a bit more scenery !
https://www.strava.com/activities/457361315/