It is very nice outside. Finally it is warm and sunny and well worth wearing shorts and sandals. Or a skirt if you are inclined. The bluebells are out in style in the woods by PJM.
At this point in the year, doing anything indoors seems quite inferior to anything else outside. Time to go and do some ’study’ in the sun…
Just the place name is enough to justify visiting it. Eisteddfa Gurig is 17 miles from Aberystwyth on the A44, and is about 420 metres above sea level. Just about high enough to still have the random snow of Sunday morning unmelted by 3pm. I made a quick snowball (not quite as fun when there’s no-one to throw them at), and headed back.
But turn left towards Devil’s Bridge from the A44 and you quickly end up in the wild, hilly and bogglingly beautiful countryside. I’ve unicycled thousands of miles around in Mid-Wales and never been this way… why?! Once I got to Devil’s Bridge there was a hairpin bend left and a small road going steadily uphill. As the previous experiment worked out so well, I tried this new road too. It was a pretty enjoyable hill, and not quite too steep to be painful even with my short 102mm cranks (they’re best for going fast on flats or gentle hills, but I’m determined to make my legs accept them as a ‘go anywhere’ gear size).
At the top of this climb the rather modest reward is The Arch. A very Welsh monument - it seems to be a slate, erm, arch. Like the end of a barn which someone gave up on building when they realised that it is up a hill miles from anywhere. But now it has picnic benches and public toilets, appropriate to its fame.
This is the domain of the sheep. There are lots of little ones frolicking around, which is always nice. A farmer on a quadbike passed me with one of these lambs held under his arm. Quite touching, assuming that it really was a farmer… and not a (fairly unambitious) sheep-rustler.
Mostly downhill from here though. The weather also went downhill though. The snow which I had gone to find on a sunny, fine afternoon started driving into my ears and eyes. It is limited how much fun one can have when one can barely see the road and one’s face is numb. But it’s all good wholesome fresh air.
The sun did come out intermittently though, and I got back, legs a bit like jelly, and in time to not miss the whole evening service at church. 46 miles, 4 hours, 800M climbing. Nice afternoon.
I leave you with this little riddle near Pontrhydygroes. Eggs. Or No Eggs?
I’ve been away from Aberystwyth for a week. With about 50 other student type people I went to spend time with a church in Hyson Green, Nottingham. There is a small (about 20 people I think) pentecostal (amen, yeah! testify…) church there who are passionate, passionate people. They are commited to their community and to building the Kingdom of God there. Us white (yes, every single one of us), privilaged (university students) people got to let some of that rub off on us. We did some stuff they wanted doing too.
For those not familiar with bike-geek stuff, this is not how a pedal is meant to look.The spiky bit on the top is meant to be bolted to the sole of your shoe. Then you can twist your shoe and it becomes unclipped from the pedal.
But when one of the bolts fails then it becomes impossible to twist the cleat and your shoe is fixed pretty securely to the pedal, however you wiggle it.
Error.
Luckily it was only a few miles away from home.
P.S. Using clip-in (also misleadingly called “clipless”) pedals on a unicycle is ‘a power for the hills’ and generally a pretty cool thing. Why I didn’t try this longer ago I don’t know. But it has risks.
When the news is of ‘Floods! Argh!’ getting wet up to the ankles isn’t much to claim. But then my ankles do start half a metre of the ground riding like this.
Minor Admission: I could only ride a couple of metres like this - it quickly becomes a case of wading at knee-depth with numb feet. But worth going back in to get a decent photo! :)
Luckily we do have plenty of drops to drink though. This photo was from 7.30 this morning, on the A44 at Lovesgrove near Aberystwyth. Usually that sign is standing in a field.
There are stories about the trains being cancelled and roads impassable into Aberystwyth. The Pont Dyfi bridge at Machynlleth often closes during floods, but that’s not the main route in from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth.
Still, it’s pretty, isn’t it!
Walnut halves look a bit like little dried brains, or is that just me?
I have just made a banana cake with them in (chopped) though, so I hope that they don’t think too much.
