[butcherboy]

Too busy…… can you enter on the day?

[butcherboy]

Such a beautiful day and a beautiful place to start a bike ride. That is why Ian got me up there so early so we could have a look around the gardens without any crowds. In fact we had the place to ourselves for nearly an hour!!

I will let Ian go into detail about the ride. I really enjoyed the route, good fast start with some great climbs and the descent down the mynydd ddu was superb.

Even though the weather was very hot,I would take those conditions instead of rain, wind and cold every day of the week. I will certainly ride this one again.

PS Well done Swancvs on a great time.

[butcherboy]

Just entered the merlin 104 miles. 5 days left to enter. Anybody else doing this one?

[butcherboy]

Not a bad time though. And well done to Celia and Mike who posted good times. Next year we shall put in a team from the Dynamos.

[butcherboy]

Jon from Tenby cycles has asked if you would all like to bring along your front wheel he will show us how to change the tube quicker than a formula 1 pit stop!

[butcherboy]

If today had been any other sportif rather than the Tour of Pembs I would have stayed in bed! But as it was our local sportif, felt I had to make an effort to take part. Well done to all those who did. Roger and I decided to do the short route as did 99% of those who registered. Well done to anyone who mangaged the long route – not sure if they’re brave or mad! Considering the poor conditions, Roger and I were pleased to get around in 3 hours 50 minutes. Well actually, I again won our unofficial race; despite Roger elbowing me out of the way and desperately scrambling to get his chip read before mine to gain those extra few seconds, he still managed to come in a long 5 seconds after me! Roger being Roger he took it all in good spirit and rumours that he was heard to loudly declare “he allegedly beat me by 5 seconds” are totally unfounded!I think that makes it 6-0!! Never mind Roger – always next year!!! 😉

[butcherboy]

Just another reminder about the AGM. We will need an idea on numbers for the catering asap. Please let us know either on this forum or you can phone/txt me. Cheers

[butcherboy]

I know of quite a few Dynamos riding this. It would be nice to meet up for a couple of club photo`s before the off. We should try and meet up at the start at say 7 15. See you all Sunday.

[butcherboy]

Rumour has it Roger`s new bike is being fitted with one of them!!

[butcherboy]

They are looking for volunteers to marshall the cycling coarse on the saturday. I have heard that for every 10 people the club will get £200. Any one willing to help?

[butcherboy]

Just a reminder about this date. Hope you can all attend.

[butcherboy]

Roger, Mark and myself set off for Llandovery early for a 8.30 start time. On the start line it started raining and we all looked at each other with grim faces and wet gear on, but that was the last bit of rain we had until we finished.

Roger set off like a bat out of hell (suprise) and i caught him up after about 7/8 miles. Mark was much more sensible and paced himself.

Guess what? Roger and i went the wrong way again. We seem to do this on every sportiff we ride. We were in a small group that contained a local rider with Llandovery CC on his back, you would of thought follwing him would of been a safe bet. The arrows pointed to a forest track and he thought some kids had changed the direction of the arrows. I must point out that the arrows/directions for this ride were superb.

By the time we got back on the route Mark was in front of us and we caught him up just as we were coming into the Abergwesyn valley. It is a stunning valley and the ride down was amazing, narrow track with a fair drop on the left.

There was a feed station at the bottom of the valley and i was ready to refuel but no one else wanted to stop so i stuffed half an energy bar into my face in one go. Trying to chew the bar we rode around a bend and there in front of us was the Devils staircase it honestly looked like a wall. It was very uncomfortable trying to climb this 30% hill with a gob full of food! I managed to grab the wheel of a snail in front of me and sped up at 3mph!

Thinking we had cracked the mountain, no sooner had we descended at 25% we were faced with another climb of 20% and i think this one was longer.

For the next 20 miles to the feed station at 53 miles it wasnt that bad, i managed to hook onto a group of 6 riders who were going at a fair pace. We came to a junction about 3 miles before the feed station and guess who was the one who had to stop for traffic? I didnt see them after that.

Riding through Llanybydder was tough, strong winds and a long climb. We had to turn sharp left then a right over a sheep grid and you just knew what was coming. Llanllwni mountain wasn`t that steep but very windy and bleak up there, it was a long hard grind for at least a couple of miles.

For the next 15 miles or so it was very up and down, bit like the preselli angel.

The last 6 miles into Llandovery was flat and very welcome, i was glad to see the finishing line.

The 3 of us finished well under 6 hours which i think wasn`t bad considering the route.

Perhaps next year we could do this as a club ride!!!

[butcherboy]

I have asked Nick if we can do the test again towards the end of June. Once we get a date i will let you know.

[butcherboy]

Count me in.

[butcherboy]

i would like to do this if it is this weekend. any one else interested?

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