Instead of riding with the club on Sunday I visited the in-laws in Aberdare…
I cycled to Neath on a wind similar to that of the Carten ..obviously at 180 degrees to that one..I wouldn’t have gone if it wasn’t!
I then started the climb that is The Bwlch……urged on by the wind, I flew past the houses on the built up early part and began to relax with knowledge that it wasn’t that steep and although not “a piece of cake” it was ok as ..a biscuit perhaps ?!….I then continued the climb and left the built up area behind..past lovely wooded scenery…all easy..and then I turned a corner…a ribbon of road stretching ever upwards was revealed and as the sky greyed so did my mood…on and on up and up..a bit like a never ending Llanddowror hill with no chips and warm beer at the top. Finally I reached the top and began to freeze as my efforts lessened….down and down…what a waste of all that potential energy!…in minutes I was in Treorchy and in a few more minutes I was climbing …again….hairpins made me confront the gale that I had ridden most of the morning and, again,although not Pendine steep it seemed to go on for ever…at last I was on Top the Rhigos and not far away from a slightly late lunch. I was then struck by the sobering thought…if I was now on The Dragon Ride I would be flying down Glyneath up the other side and eventually back to Neath to then climb The Bwlch all over again and then cycle another 25 miles of so after that…I need to loose some weight big time…
