Seasons Greetings

All the very best and we all know what we want in 2021.

A ride above the clouds

 

A very misty start to the ride, low cloud and no sun.

Then as we rode the major climb of the day we came out of the mist.

to sunshine and stunning views.

Copyright Alison Edwards

Riding up and down the hills the temperature drops between was a good example of temperature inversions, so for some it was jackets on jackets off.

But Sue below, had a fall towards the end of the ride and was concussed so had to be taken to hospital for a CT scan.  Luckily all was OK.

Another ride to look back on.

Gazing out of the window on a dismal day full of rain and wind its pleasing to look back on an enjoyable summer ride.  This route was mainly off road on forestry trails.  

This reservoir is no longer used but was built to serve the local Llanwonno community and a pub!

 These waterfalls are near Llanwonno, a hidden gem as not many are prepared to walk / cycle to get to them.

This the Daerwynno Outdoor Centre, it offers basic accommodation for 20 people and caters for team building, canoeing and orienteering.  However due to Covid its now closed for the year.

It has its own water supply nearby and a convenient lunch stop.

Onwards and upwards to another reservoir , Lluest wen,with a bit of history.

Fifty years ago a man was horse riding in this area and fell into a five foot deep hole, the rider managed to get out and ran to get help.  Firemen and forestry workers took two hours to free the horse, but the hole alerted the authorities to problems at the reservoir and fears that the dam would collapse and flood the towns in the valley below.  There was a mass evacuation of the area for two months until the dam was made safe.

Finally the track down to Hirwain and the paved roads home.

Boardman Bike - brake upgrade

 

I've been thinking about doing this for a while and the recent rides over gravel trails and steep descents spurred me on to do it.  The brakes on the Boardman where Avid BB5 which dont have a particularly good reputation for effectiveness as they are regarded as entry level single sided cable operated brakes.  I got on with them but you had to be cautious in descending and give yourself plenty of braking time.  However I  I found that after nearly every ride I needed to adjust them to keep them at peak effectiveness.  I was probably ultra conscious of doing this as a cycling friend had these brakes on his bike and  going down a steep hill, failed to slow down enough and crashed resulting in a broken collar bone, which took ages to heal.  

We oldies dont bounce so well.  

So I bit the bullet and upgraded to TRP Spyres, which although still cable operated have dual pistons so the pads are operated evenly on both sides.

Old brakes

New brakes

They were easy to fit as they were just a straight replacement.

I took it for a test ride as the pads need to bed in before they are really effective and so far they feel good but the test is always on a good ride.  

On the way back I pass the rugby field and saw this in the distance, initially I though they were birds as we do get Fieldfares flocks here but its a bit early for them, so I had to take a walk over.

They were toadstools, Inkcaps 

Ink caps and I think',Shaggy mane inkcaps.

Clydach Vale Country Park

 

A recent ride was to Clydach Vale Country Park, which is just outside Tonypandy. 

Its a beautiful spot with great scenery but for some reason there are no signposts directing you to it.  Why I dont know, do the Council want it kept solely for the locals.....who knows.?

I'm not sure how this cross got onto the mountain side but its been there for a few years now and judging by its whiteness it gets renewed regularly.

Yes it started to rain on the way home.

 And on the way home I pass a local brewery, Treforest Brewery, on an industrial estate so in order to help the economy in these dire times I bought a couple of bottles to take home.

About time

 

Yes it's about time I posted as its two months since the last post.

All credit to other bloggers who have kept posting during this pandemic as I have enjoyed reading your blogs because I just lost the will to write  / post something.  Mainly because most days are just groundhog days and I had lost the motivation to go and do something that would generate a post.  I did do this once took my camera along to record only to find that when I got home there was a fault with the SD card and lost all the pictures.

We are again in lockdown as is most of South Wales, but this time its more restrictive than previously  as we are confined to the county, the only upside is that there is not the panic buying like before.  From a cycling viewpoint its good and bad , bad because most of the club members live in and around Cardiff but good that there are four of us in Rhondda Cynon Taf [RCT] so we are a splinter group!  Also RCT is a large  county with lots of suitable trails and roads.

One ride I did which was memorable because it was different, it was a gravel ride along the Forestry trails.  As you can see we kept mostly with the county boundary [black line] apart from one little bit.

There was one 7 mile climb, gaining 300m and peaking out at 590m,  and although long with that gradient gain it was, luckily, a gentle incline.  Well worth it if only for the views on a lovely day.

Some great boys toys along the way !

From what I have read a lot are having trouble with the new version of Blogger, but it will just take a bit of time to get used to it.

All the best.