I picked up the club run coming through Llantwit Fardre this morning so there was;
Me and coming from Bridgend;
Harpo,
Greg,
Mark,
Paul (who also cycled to Bridgend for the start),
Nige,
Steve
We had an excellent pace going up to Merthyr where we turned off and headed towards the reservoirs, Mark then peeled off just above Trefechan as he needed to be back early, we kept the pace going and climbed to the highest point before descending towards Talybont. The pace down here was excellent, so much so we kept it going to Brecon where we arrived nearly an hour ahead of schedule.
Harpo fancied stopping at the same cafe as last time.... much to Steve's disgust
After ordering our coffee (which I think was Mellow Birds) and the guys having what appeared to be their Tesco Value Flake Cakes we set off for the Devil's Elbow.
I think this was a new route out of Brecon for some, I've ridden it a couple of times as it's much nicer than heading back down the A470, a slow long climb to some very nice straight and fast roads. We then took the usual road towards the Devil's Elbow which I think was the first time Nige has climbed it, after regrouping at the top we smashed it down to a different road which Harpo suggested we take, after some climbing it actually turned out to be a better climb than the planned one through Ystradfellte (who would have thought it
).
After popping out on the main road above Penderyn we had a quick discussion, due to the pace should we take an easier and flatter route back or stick to the plan and go over the Rhigos and Bwlch... we chose the latter.
Climbing the Rhigos wasn't too bad but I used a lot of energy trying to chase Paul, Hapro and Steve down to Treherbert as we were all faced with an unwelcome headwind.
We all regrouped at Carpanini's Cardiff Arms Cafe in Treorchy, a place untouched by time, at this point the temperatures were starting to hit the high 20's so I thought I would treat everyone to a drink. I quickly mentioned that we were still looking for a captain but didn't have any takers, my plan of treating near delirious people to a cold drink and suckering them in failed
We then set off for the last major climb of the day, or so I thought, and we all hit the Bwlch. This was a bit of a beasting, nearing the top Steve looked like he had been slapped around by the boogie man. Again, we regrouped at the top and I think it's safe to say we were all suffering in our own ways at this point, so off we went down to Nant-y-moel where some of us and a bit of a hairy moment with an oncoming car and Paul fishtailing while trying to stop in time.
After this point we were in survival mode, every little rise was giving my legs a kicking which started to feel worse than the whole climb of the Bwlch.
Harpo, Paul, Steve and myself made it back to Bryncethin as a group, Harpo headed over the common while the rest of us made our way across to Heol-y-Cyw.
Steve then peeled off at the Pencoed roundabout and Paul and myself headed back to Talbot Green, Paul was starting to suffer from what sounded like an awful hot spot on his foot so hopefully his return leg wasn't too bad.
Hopefully everyone made it back Ok and good on everyone for sticking to the whole route, I think it was worth it
I'm off to try to rehydrate, I don't think that I've ever seen my top with so many salt stains before.
