Aaaw! The anticlimax... WRT done for another twelvemonth
Before I say anything else, I must add my many thanks to those of others' to Stu & Dee. This event is the highlight of my cycling year and it would be a much duller place without it.
Anyway May BAM done,.Twice. 5/5
Two bivvies. Bivvy 1 in a forest with no name, but close to Llanwddyn :-
I'd got cold riding into a very chilly wind and I was shivering while setting up camp. A hot cup of tea and a marzipan bar helped. In bed with a hot water (platypus) bottle, after a meal of pasta I was toasty and slept 'til just before dawn when a cuckoo started shouting at the top of his voice. If I could've got my hands on him ......
My knee had started to hurt after about 25 miles and by the time I'd reached my planned stop, I could barely walk. A funny thing - it was less painful to pedal than to push. It was OK while the joint was compressed, but agony when I swung my leg to walk. Even funnier, throughout the rest of the ride the pains would switch on and off.
Day 2 was down to Y Trallwng. (where?) I was going to stop here for lunch but it was too early, so I pressed on along the Montgomery canal towpath, getting bored. It's quite nice in parts though...
At Y Drenewydd (Newtown. Sorry, just having a bit of fun
) It was a chicken kebab and a visit to the Spar for supplies.
For bivvy 2 I had to sleep on the ground. This was because I'd got to my planned spot too early, so carried on in the hope of finding some trees to pitch up in. It was not to be and I ran out of steam up a mountain, close to Llyn Y Tarw . Lucky I brought ground-dwelling kit, (Neoair and groundsheet) just in case.
I was a bit worried by the spread of used shotgun cartridges where I had to pitch..
...and for a while after going to bed I twitched at every little sound from outside, but 49 miles, 6000 ft of climbing and half a flask of port put a stop to that.
Bivvy 2...
I started setting up to use the bike as a pole, but a 10x10 tarp is a bit too big for that. Luckily, the site had been used as a dumping ground by the farmer and an old fence post was drafted in to make a pyramid. It didn't quite work - it was all a bit flappy. Note to self, make sure the ground sheet doesn't stick out from under the edge of the tarp when it's raining. Yup, water ran under and pooled under the sleeping mat. I slept high and dry on top.
Having pinched a few miles from my last days' ride the previous day, day 3 was a doddle. Down to Carno where there was a car boot sale on, with the promise of refreshments. A bacon bap ("We're not doing eggs, sorry"), a mug of tea and a slice of bara brith came at just the right time. Then past the "No access to wind farm" notice, up to and through the wind farm down to Pont Crugnant. "Too early to go back yet", I thought and turned away fromBB Towers to visit the Spirit horse camp, where I was given a mug of tea and had a chat - life, the universe and all that
Then at last, back to the ranch for cake. I'd never got back so early before - lots of folks still coming in with smiley faces.
At home, after a shower, I found I'd picked up a passenger
a tick nymph. Soon pulled out with a tick tool, but now I'm paranoid about every new itch....
Good Times!
IMG_20190504_204608 by Simon Kirk, on Flickr
IMG_20190504_195103 by Simon Kirk, on Flickr
IMG_20190505_054908 by Simon Kirk, on Flickr
20190505_065104-01 by Escape Goat, on Flickr
20190504_054749-01 by Escape Goat, on Flickr
indeed.
