Dams, dams and damn kites

The Elan Valley

My most recent ride (well it was when I drafted this!) was up in the Middle of Wales starting off at a place called Rhayader, which is very much a town on a cross-roads. It lies on the A470, the main artery road through the middle of Wales, roughly an hour and a half North of Cardiff. Rhayader is also home to the Red Kite centre - the National Bird of prey of Wales - and is the gateway to the Elan Valley. The Elan Valley is a series of dams that were built back in the 19th century to feed the growing population of Birmingham, the countryside surrounding the dams is quite spectacularly.

The route we took left at Rhayader and returned to the same spot, circling the dams and  stretching off to Llanidloes and running back down the A470 (which wasn't as scary as I thought it would be).

This is a good guide to the Dams: http://www.elanvalley.org.uk/dams-reservoirs/ 

Setting off from Rhayader we headed down to the visitor centre continuing straight past it and along the Elan river and up to Caban Coch dam. From there we travelled along the road up to Claerwen. This road goes no further and although means doubling back on yourself, is well worth the extra miles (I think you'll agree from the photo above).

The roads meaner through some truly beautiful countryside with breathtaking scenery before travelling across another dam, the Foel Tower. 

The road now follows the idylic reservoir to its mouth with the river that feeds it where the route turns rather steeper towards Pen y Garreg and then finally Craig Goch where we saw some filming being done on two land rovers for what I assume was Top Gear - no sign of the trio but the cameras had BBC on them.

Following the dam the route sets off for Llanidloes over what could be in bad conditions quite exposed landscapes to start with before dropping down into the valley and running parallel to the A470 - on the other side of the river and valley. At this point the ride became a little tedious as the route takes you through farm after farm over rolling hills with what seems like, a gate on the top of every hill - not fun.

So I'm sorry until you get to Llanidloes it becomes rather rubbish at this point - and quite energy-sapping. When we got to Llanidloes, a quick bottle of coke and some chocolate was in order! As nearly all my energy was gone by this stage we abandoned plans to take a longer minor road back to Rhayader and instead gunned it down the A470, time trial style which turned out to be the best part of the day!

Back in Rhayader and a quick pint was in order, as demonstrated by my mate Paul.

All in all it was a brilliant day - apart from the rolling hills with gates - and I'd highly recommend it.

Oh and in case you were wondering we saw a shed load of Red kites along the way but didn't manage to get one on my phone camera :(

My first Sportive: Pembrokeshire

At the end of April 2013, on my 33rd birthday in fact, I undertook my first cycling sportive - the Pembrokeshire sportive. Initially what was planned as a 100 mile effort turned into a more conservative 50 miler (actually 53 Miles) after the realisation that a) the 100 mile ride was actually 108 miles and b) due to a lack of training due to a hiatus by me travelling to Australia for 2 weeks to attend a funeral. As the date came round the 50+ mile ride in itself became a bit daunting, being my first ride with a lot of others.

The ride was taking part in a very nice part of the World, Pembrokeshire, which made it a bit nicer - I'll try not to get too distracted talking about the place. By the date of the ride over 1000 riders had signed up, there were three choices 50, 75 and 100 mile (although all were slightly over) with the 100 mile riders starting first between 7-8, 50 milers between 8-9 and 50s thereafter. The weather on the day was slightly overcast and very blustery - still managed to get tan lines though!

This was me (on the left) and my friend Paul at the start. Paul was riding in the 50 mile ride and as such left an hour before me and we met back up in the pub beer garden at the finish.

The ride itself was quite enjoyable, the freshly shit-sprayed fields and their stench aside, with many ups and downs. The biggest of the climbs was on the half way point where we climbed a 903 foot climb with a 3.4% gradient, relatively speaking it was mostly downhill after that. Early on there were a few nice descents down to sea level before ascending steep, short climbs to get back out but the views were great.

At the final feed station they had some unique items to choose from including cold welsh faggots (http://bizarrebritain.com/welsh-faggots-a-meaty-treat/ - yes it is strange to have these a) cold and most certainly b) on a ride) and dahl samosas oddly enough. The final stretch then was back into St David's where the ride started. What they didn't let on is that the final part of the course takes you down to the cathedral, of which the place is famous for (smallest city in the World due to said cathedral), and then has a last steep climb up to the finish line - which was tiring!

Overall I finished in 5hours and 23 mins - this of course includes the stopping times at the feed stations and all the pics I took along the way, more on that later.

For a first sportive I would recommend a 50 miler as opposed to anything more, purely because you know you can finish it and don't have to worry about making it back on time - on top of all the other things you will be constantly thinking about on the way round.

I would recommend the Pembrokeshire sportive: http://www.tourofpembrokeshire.co.uk/ it was well organised and the help on hand by Pembrokeshire bikes was great; I had a minor drama with my crank shaft and brakes - no thanks to Evans Bikes who I will never be using again (might tell you more about this later). I would highly recommend staying in the lovely city of St David's if you do intend riding this in future, there are some lovely pubs and some excellent food if you look for it.

All in all, a lovely ride in a lovely part of the World.

Something silly?

OK, so this was my facebook status back in Sept 2012:

"

OK, so I might have just done something rather silly, I'm all signed up, paid and accepted to do this next year:http://www.rideacrossbritain.com/ - what have I got myself into?!

Deloitte Ride Across Britain - The ultimate way to do the UK's classic Land's End to John O'Groats c

www.rideacrossbritain.com

Deloitte Ride Across Britain is the premier UK cycling challenge which sees over 700 riders take on the legendary ‘End to End’ 

                                                                                                                                                 "
With my temporary job coming to an end and my cycling still enthusing me I needed challenge, I needed direction, I needed routine. Signing up for such a big challenge, I thought, would give me all of those in spades, and being someone who has always believed that idleness breeds idleness, was convinced that by keeping myself busy I would also help me get another job. What I didn't count on however, was financial challenges, long delays of illness and bloody horrid weather.

The Ride Across Britain (RAB) would cost in total over £2000, I paid the £250 deposit back then in Sept, the next deadline being Dec 2012 which would take me over the half way mark. By now I'm sure you have realised, I had some long doses of the flu and, given the current state of the UK jobs market perhaps unsurprisingly, had remained unemployed. Come the December deadline, alas, I had to admit defeat and throw in the towel (and the £250 deposit I had already paid). Over the following months, without the challenge I had given myself to work towards, the flu, Christmas and the horrid British Winter weather I fell behind. And I am still unemployed!

I am still a little gutted that I will not be riding in the RAB this year, it remains a major goal of mine, but for the short term I need to concentrate on finding work. It is ironic and somewhat cruel when you think about it that being unemployed you have all the time in the world to plunge yourself into whatever endeavour you desire but none of the will - or financial support. The exact opposite I find is true when you are gainfully employed!

So perhaps it was something silly that I went and did, perhaps foolish, perhaps naive but at the time it was something I needed to do. Somewhat of a consolation I have signed up for the Pembrokeshire sportive later this April: http://www.tourofpembrokeshire.co.uk/  . I choose the 100 mile option so at the very least I shall get a slice of what it would have been like; I will have to see how badly my arse hurts the day later before I truly realise how bad it could have been!

anyway, thanks for reading.
God speed and good luck!

The bus route

Until January of this year I didn't know that the Taff Trail, a mixed use path running between Cardiff and Brecon following for the most part the river Taff, existed. I mean I knew it was there but in the sense I could not point it out or tell you anything else about it is true. Since January and getting into cycling, first mountain then road, the Taff Trail has become one of my favourite routes to take and - for me - further illustrates the point that 5 minutes from Cardiff you can be in the Country side. During the early days of my cycling a trip up to Castle coch in Tongwynlais and back was a bit of an effort (think roughly 10miles in total), so over the following months I steadily picked up the distances progressing onto a road bike and then the distances really took an upward trajectory.

This brings me to the Beacons Bus . The Becons bus is a bus service being trialed by Cardiff Bus, in conjunction with several other Local Authorities, which runs from Cardiff to Brecon and tows behind a bike trailer. Some friends and I have been planning on getting the bus to Brecon and cycling back for some time now (the bus only running on Sundays between June and Sept) and ever attempt ended in disaster for one reason or another, never leaving Cardiff. Last Sunday with the cold air and looming rain clouds was going to be different. I have to say before going on that the bus service put on by Cardiff Bus was very good; left on time and got there early £12.25 for a one way ticket, including bike. We rocked up in Brecon around the eleven o'clock mark and set off for the Brecon - Monmouth canal. The early stretch of the Taff Trail from Brecon follows the canal before turning off for Aber and then eventually Talybont reservoir. The route thus far is highly enjoyable and mostly flat on quiet, single lane, roads. Following a small break at the reservoir (pictured above) the hard part started! The climb over the mountain behind Talybont reservoir is a 20% gradient and is long - now the actual trail leads up the left side of the Reservoir, we decided to take the road to the right leading to a much steeper climb. Needless to say I had to get off and push quite a bit.

Once over the climb there is a nice downhill towards Pontsticill, with a slight climb just before another downhill - there is at this point a may add a T-junction where you need to turn LEFT towards the Mountain Railway. I made the mistake of turning right which leads you up to Neauadd Reservoir and a dead end - the sign has been twisted around by some funny sod. Whilst this route is quite scenic I don't recommend it as it's an extra 4-6 miles to your journey. This stretch of the route is by far your biggest "hill to get over" and is for the most part downhill after to Cardiff. Once we got to the top of the mountain however, it started to rain - not heavily just the type of rain that hangs in the air and makes you wet from all sides. A little wet and cold, and with a break in the rain, we decided to stop for a cup of tea and cake, as you do, at a nice tearoom next to the "workers Bridge" hump-back bridge near Quaker's Yard (picture 2). Very nice it was too. We then also decided to stop for a pint in the Bunch of Grapes, Otley Brewery's flagship pub right on the Taff Trail. Here the rain got heavier and heavier and we lost one of our group to the train as he was getting a little too wet. With the daunting prospect before us of a drudging ride back from Pontypridd in the rain with, by what can only be described as excruciatingly, sore bums we decided to get a shifty on. Going from the Bunch of Grapes in Pontypridd to Bute Park in Cardiff in roughly 25 mins - when positively hanging out of my derriere - was by my standards quite impressive.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the day, fully recommend people get out and try the Taff Trail and kudos to Cardiff Bus and its partners for organizing the bus which I can only hope continues and becomes a more permanent fixture. Needless to say I was buggered for a couple of days after!

my aching bones

OK, so for once in Wales it was very hot and sunny. The perfect day then to run around Cardiff dressed in a thick bumble bee costume right!? Picture courtesy of someone in Media Wales by the way, yes I'm now kind of famous!

So for the formalities, I ran the 10K in 1hour 13 mins - a little disappointing but just glad to finish in the end. To date I have managed to raise £80 to save the bees! if you would like to donate by the way, here you go: http://www.everyclick.com/bees10k it is officially for the Welsh Bee Keepers Association. In all honesty however, I now believe that I will no longer run. From now on I will concentrate on cycling and possibly a little swimming - as well as of course my ambition to get into the 2016 British Olympic archery team: more on that some other time.

I mean the blister aside my muscles held up pretty well and recovered quite quickly but I still have a little aching on the joints and this is why I think I will stop. I am no longer as fit, light or young as I would like to be so I think I will concentrate on exercise that limits pressure on the joints.  

Save the Bees

Oh before I forget. I have agreed to run the Cardiff 10K fun run on the 9th Sept and I have agreed to to run in a big bee costume to try and raise money for the Welsh Bee keeper's Association. Bees are a very important issue to me - and they should be to everyone! The population of honey bees around the world have been in decline for a few years now, due to various factors, some still unexplained.
So what I hear you say? Well if all bees on this planet disappeared tomorrow it has been estimated that we would only have enough food left for 6-9 months, then we're all buggered! In the meantime, the more bees decline the less pollination there will be, less food produce and higher food prices. You see it all matters!

So there, if you'd like to sponsor me, you can do so here: http://www.everyclick.com/bees10k

things anew

OK, after several attempts of "serious" blogs and procrastinating on the road to nowhere I've decided to bore anyone who reads with my everyday life with particular emphasis on my drive to get fit, to get my life back on track and what makes me vent. So without further adieu...

Having turned 29 in 2009 I was faced with a choice for my future career path. Having always wanted to travel the World - in my own way - and always wanted to gain a Queen's Commission in the armed forces, the cut off for both (I'll come to that) being the day before my 31st Birthday, I had as I said a choice to make...

Now the history.
 I had wanted to travel: spend several years working in other Countries, ie. Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The easiest form of working visa for all three Countries is the Working Holiday visa - the cut-off 31 years old. I wanted to spend one year in Australia, one year in New Zealand culminating in the 2011 Rugby World Cup (well I am Welsh) and possibly a year in Canada.

I had previously spent 9 months at Sandhurst (2002) working towards my Officer's Commission and left of my own free will for various reasons, the main one being injury. It had been one of my dreams since I was 11 to become an Officer, initially in the Navy - don't ask me why I decided on the Army but it's safe to say I probably should have stuck to my guns, or rather ships!

I'm not going to go into much more on the history or I'll be here all day. Just to give you a flavour of where I'm coming from though. Oh and travel won btw! Returned to the UK in Nov 2011 and drifted back into a job in the Welsh Assembly - which has just ended. Photos of the trip can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/people/valleytaff/

Right, forgive the tripartite above it was bursting to get out. Since returning to the UK I have been having a small mid life crisis, especially in terms of fitness. having at one point in my life weighed 56KG and been the peak of my physical fitness I was suddenly very upset in being a rather portly 83KG (think from under 8stone to 13!). What was to blame for this? Desk job and happy relationship - not sure if I'll go there (bit raw and all my fault btw). Also with my experiences picked up travelling it has fired my desire for discovery rather than quelled it. Overall I think it is fair to say I don't know where I'm going or how to get there!

Not all is lost however, whilst my head seeks a way to sort itself out, there is one sphere that I can control. my desire to regain some sort of fitness. I initially started running around Bute Park in Cardiff when I returned to the city. The extra weight I was carrying proved to be an extra burden on my joints, knees in particular, so progress was slow. With a friend of mine already being an avid road cyclist and purchasing a brand new bike I had the opportunity  to buy his old bike and try my hand at cycling. Just to add a bit of perspective, I was interested in cycling such as the Tour de France and track cycling (mostly following the Beijing Olympics and the huge success of British Cycling) however I hadn't rode a bike since I was 18 and had never rode a road bike. To ensure I was going to be happy cycling, at first I dug out my old mountain bike and took to the Taff trail - one of many cycle routes around Wales, this one following the river Taff from Cardiff to Brecon. My initial rides along the river Taff were quite enjoyable and my interest levels remained so I purchased my friend's old bike.

It has been 3 months since that point and I am pleased to say I have stuck with the cycling and even done a little running in between, the weight remains a stubborn constant but I am continuously informed by friends that "you look like you've lost weight...".