What a difference a day makes! It’s as different as night and day when we wake up this morning: overcast, much cooler, and showering off and on. Back to our practice of gaming the weather, we stay around the room until 10:30 aiming for the sweet spot in the day’s weather. We do pretty well too, staying essentially dry except for a brief misty period partway through the ride. So much better than wilting under the heat.
And it’s a day of transition in another respect: it feels like we’re starting to leave Wales. It’s not an easy ride by any means, particularly with the course two mile path over a hill that we push a good share of the way up and down both. But the contour is flattening. The grades are definitely getting easier, and the last fifteen miles were quite pleasant, probably the easiest stretch of this long we’ve ridden since leaving Conwy.
About a mile into the ride we cross the Elan River, just below Caban Coch Dam.
We more or less follow the Wye all the way to Hay, but we seldom see it. Here we’re climbing up in the hills above its right bank. You can see its course ahead though - it flows straight at that high formation in the center and then bends left and cuts through the gap.
But then a few miles are like this. Rising fairly steeply, enough so that it might have been a challenge for me and my derailleur issue. But it’s not really because we’re walking much of the time.
Annette SchneiderTo Scott AndersonUnsophisticated knitter here and have no idea really. Google shows 11 black faced breeds, with names suspiciously similar to the area in which you're traveling. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Lunch stop in Builth Wells, by the confluence of the Irfon and Wye. While we eat the swallows are feeding too, skimming the water, repeatedly dipping to it with a splash and bouncing off again like a skipping stone.
The bridge over the Wye at Builth Wells. The Wye is just a modest stream when it passes through Rhayader, but by the time we near Hay it’s like this after it’s engorged the Elan, the Chwefri, and the Irfon.
Ride stats today: 38 miles, 2,400’; for the tour: 1,868 miles, 107,600’
Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km) Total: 1,867 miles (3,005 km)
Rate this entry's writing
Heart
12
Comment on this entry
Comment
2
Rich FrasierScott, looking at that picture of you riding from behind sparked a question in my mind. Do you think your derailleur problem could be caused by having the panniers on the bike? I was thinking you had a bent derailleur hanger, but that would show up with the bike on a stand. Is it possible that your right-hand rear bag is pushing on a cable or cable housing somewhere? Easy enough to test I guess - just try riding in your lowest gear without panniers. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Rich FrasierNo, but it’s nearly that simple. The bikes back now, and twice in a week I walked out feeling like a dope but a happy dope. More tomorrow. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
