And curiously enough today I rode a 150km DIY taking in Gospel Pass coming out of Hay
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/9362419 ---to be continued write up post rehydration (beers and milk based, separately !) ---it was very warm out there today
so suitably rehydrated now
Originally I`d planned a 300 ultra hilly DIY, 5500m ascent but a lingering viral infection saw me delaying and then deciding to shorten it to a 10km, still with 2500m ascent.
After the torrential Tuesday night downpours the air at 7 am was thick and heavy still and low clouds hung on the hills, but it was dry and warm with little breeze. Climbing started almost immediately with a 1km pull up to old Radnor before a series of rollers leading on towards Hay on Wye, curiously quite as the festivals were coming to an end, hardly a soul to be seen.
Gospel Pass certainly earns its position of Wales` highest road pass, the climb of over 400m ascent 7km is a big pull up; but it was glorious, fluffy cotton wool misty clouds dragged across Hay bluff and skylarks sang and sang in the summer air. After about half an hour I gained the col , 35 km and already nearly 1000m ascent.
I took great care on the narrow lane down, heavy rain had washed a lot of gravel onto the road and soup plate sized potholes threatened in the dappled shade, but eventually the road opened out and I was able to gain some speed
. Turning right just after Cwmyoy I followed a series of narrow and delightful lanes towards Crickhowell for a Welsh Breakfast at café 18.
Following the B road up towards Brecon, passing through Talybont and Pencelli I enjoyed the relative respite of flatter ground in the knowledge of teh big pull up onto The Epynt MOD range road. But today it didn`t seem so bad, the steadily rising road to Upper Chapel passed quite quickly before I turned left onto the military range road. Plenty of troops around today on various manoeuvres and firing practise. The sun was now high in the sky, a few big cumulus clouds threatened, but didn`t deliver fortunately, and the temperature was soaring so I took it very easy across the three rolling ascents on The Epynt before reaching the northern escarpment and fantastic views into mid Wales, a little hazy today but still a most wonderful vantage point.
20160608_124902 by
jamesld8, on Flickr
I enjoyed a brief stop there, hearing a peregrine screeching in the deep cwm below, before the fabulous 10% descent, nearly reaching 70kph
, before taking a right turn at the X roads and following a roller coaster little lane back towards Builth, the A road out to New Radnor and eventually home
A really enjoyable ride and a long tiem since I`d ridden some of the roads and lanes made it a real delight on a beautiful sunny, but very warm, day---how often in Wales does one wish for it to be a wee bit cooler !