Andy returns and new routes

14th August 2016

With Andy now back from his holidays I received the usual message in the week asking if I wanted to go out for a ride on Sunday. As the last couple of weekends I had ridden alone some company would be a welcome change. Andy suggested that we meet up at his house at 08:30 on Sunday but unusually didn’t say anything about the route.

I was running a little late on Sunday and arrived at Andy’s house just after 08:30, I thought that by the time I got there Andy would be ready and we would set off but Andy was also running a bit late. We still had decided where we were going to ride and after a discussion it was decided that Andy would take us on a new route.

So off we set heading out to Caerphilly over the mountain, we decided that we would go Rhiwbina Hill way and meet at the golf club about ¾ of the way up. I was feeling quite good and the hill wasn’t too much trouble but Andy was knackered by the time he got to the meeting point. Although he had ridden on holiday it was quite slow and he wasn’t used to the pace, it didn’t help that he had started smoking again either.

Once we had conquered Caerphilly mountain and gone through Caerphilly we headed towards Newport going through Trethomas, Machen and Rhiwderin. We didn’t make it all the way to Newport as we turned off and headed towards Pye. Andy had warned me about a short sharp hill in Pye but I was still not prepared for how steep it was and I was in completely the wrong gear to tackle it.

This was now a new route for me so it was up to Andy to set the pace and lead the way. From Pye we headed towards Risca, Crosskeys and Wattsville, this area is known as the Sirhowy Valley and the route was surrounded by woods although it was uphill for the whole of this time. Once we had gone through the Sirhowy Valley we were back onto a familiar route although a very busy one.

The next part of the ride was all downhill along the A469 and went through Maesycwmmer, Ystrad Mynach and back to Caerphilly. Although it is downhill the road is not great and it is extremely busy as it is a dual carriageway. We did manage to ride this part of the route quickly and we were soon heading towards Caerphilly again.

There are two ways to go once you hit Caerphilly, you can either go back over the mountain or take a detour and go around Caerphilly. We decided on this occasion to go around Caerphilly and head back to Andy’s house as we had already been over the mountain once. When we arrived back at Andy’s we finished the ride as all good rides should finish with a cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, Lara is still not able to ride after her accident and is now attending physio, when she came off her bike she damaged her hip and groin area and is having physio on these to make them stronger again. She is now able to ride on her turbo trainer but not back on the open road, hopefully she will make a full recovery and be able to join us on the challenge.

With only 31 days to go until our September riding challenge from North to South Wales I have set up a Virgin money giving page and if you would like to support me the page can be accessed via the following link:

I am raising funds for Mind and my Virgin Money Giving page can be accessed via http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MikeShevyn

All donations are appreciated and you will be helping a very worthy causes.

Keep reading the blog as the countdown to the challenge begins .....................................

#Newroutes #Coffee