A SPECIAL DAY.

The last time that I rode a bike out on the road was 21st September last year. That is five months ago. Regular visitors to this blog will know the reasons why I have been confined to an indoor trainer for all this time-well last week I had the go ahead from the hospital to get back on a bike out on the open road. All is not perfect yet as I still have 8 to 12 weeks of radiotherapy to get through but having said that- today was a special day.

I woke up this morning to bright sunshine and decided that today would be my first outing on a bike for five months. I must admit that I was a little nervous after such a long lay-off and the plan was to only venture out on my hybrid as it is probably the easiest of my bikes to ride.

The ride seemed to go well. Not a great distance for this first trip (15miles) and I kept my speed down to an average of just 13.75mph and a top speed of just 23mph as I was paranoid about potholes and wasn't disappointed as they seemed to be everywhere. The local roads have really deteriorated since last summer. As it was a pothole that caused my crash at the end of the ACCR last June I had no wish to repeat the experience hence the paranoia.

I tackled a couple of the local hills and was pleasantly suprised that I managed them in a smaller rear cog than I managed last year-must be all those hours spent on the trainer plus my reducing weight. About mid December last year I had a wake up call on my weight. All those weeks of sitting around following the crash and subsequent medical problems had caused my weight to increase to 15 stone-the highest it has ever been. I embarked on a strict weight loss programme of my own devising and have been losing a steady 2 pounds a week since then. By 31st March I will have hit my first target of 12 stone 7 pounds and by the Duncton Sportive on 5th May I will be 11 stone 11 pounds which is my final target weight.

So there you have it- I have 11 weeks to continue to get fit enough -light enough and confident enough on the bike in order to beat last years bronze banding at Duncton at the same time as starting the treatment on a 5 days a week basis. But hey- I can only function if I have a challenge.

AT LAST- THE END OF THE BEACONS WAY.

From Bottom to Top-

Llyn y Fan Fawr (Lake of the Big Hill)

Two views of Bannau Sir Gaer.

And Finally---

Roadside village sign at the end of the walk.(No need for backpackers to look for a stable...........!!)

THE BEACONS WAY CONTINUES.................

Pictures from bottom to top:-

1) The standing stone called Maen Madoc on the side of Sarn Helen. This stone was moved in 1940 from it's original position some 25 paces to the west of it's present location. Prior to 1940 it stood directly beside Sarn Helen which is a Roman road.

2) Another of my pitches- this time in a field belonging to a public house.

3)Some small falls on the stream called Nant Tawe Fechan. I had a very pleasant lunch break by the side of these falls. The escarpment of Fan Hir (Long Peak) can be seen in the background.

4) Another shot of Fan Hir. At the foot of Fan Hir a curious ridge can be seen. This has been interpreted in different ways, but it is believed to have been formed by a small glacier. In all this escarpment stretches for 4.3 miles-as far as Llyn y Fan Fach.

YES-EVEN MORE......ALONG THE BEACONS WAY

Continuing with my April 2007 solo backpacking trip along the Beacons Way- some more of the photographs from that file.

Starting from the bottom picture which is a view taken from the track leading to the gap known as Bwlch ar y Fan between Cribyn and Fan y Big. Pen y Fan can be seen in the distance.

The next picture is a bit further along the track and is looking down on

Upper Neuadd Reservoir.

The next shot is looking up Pen y Fan and shows the erosion that to some extent ruins its appearance.

Then we have a picture of Liwyn-y-celyn Youth Hostel where I met the rudest and most obnoxious Youth Hostel Warden I have ever met in the fifty years that I have stayed at hostels.

My plan was to camp in the grounds of the hostel- (according to the hostel web-site that I had checked two days before I had left home this was possible). When I arrived at the hostel the warden was out so I waited for over an hour until he returned. When I spoke to the Warden he informed me that he didn't do camping anymore and he informed me of this in a very rude and offhand manner. He offered no advice regarding an alternative place to camp and he seemed more interested in families arriving by car and mini coach than a traveller arriving under his own steam. Oh how hostels have changed since my first YHA visit at the age of eleven. After the poor treatment that I had received at Liwyn-y-celyn I vowed that I would not visit a YHA hostel ever again..!!

I set off again -up through a nature reserve and on to the hill side above where I found a good spot for a wild camp. The top picture is of that pitch. As it turned out it was a great spot-really quiet with super views. The grouchy old warden had done me a favour-but I still won't go near a Youth Hostel ...!!

EVEN MORE......ALONG THE BEACONS WAY.

Even more from April 2007-I should really have posted this picture at the very start of all these postings of the Beacons Way but for some reason it was tucked away in another file.

It is of 'The Holy Mountain' the 'Big Skirrid' or Ysgyryd Fawr which is situated near the start of the walk.

The picture above that is another shot along the Hatterrall Ridge.

The next photo was taken at Pen Rhiw-calch and the top picture was taken at the same viewpoint and is looking down on the Talybont reservoir. (There are sixteen reservoirs in the Brecon Beacons National Park). The Talybont reservoir dates from 1927 and supplies water to Newport and other towns and villages along it's route.

MORE......ALONG THE BEACONS WAY

Just a few more photographs taken on my April 2007 solo backpacking trip along the Beacons Way.

The first picture is one of my wild pitches-

The next shot was taken when I came off route near Crickhowell in search of a pub for lunch and the final shot follows on from my last posting and is looking down on Llanthony Priory where I camped for the night.

The Priory is in a splendid setting and has some very interesting ruins.

This trip was one of those routes that for me was better for walking it alone. I can remember really enjoying the fact that I was walking solo with the freedom to stop whenever I wanted and even come off route on a few occasions to find a pub without having a discussion about it first.

Some times walking is like a form of meditation-time passes without me even being aware of it and it almost feels that I am totally at one with my surroundings and the further landscape.It is almost like floating along. I have experienced feelings like this on a number of backpacking trips-usually after the first couple of days and always when solo never when I have a companion.

PREVIOUS WALKS

Due to my on-going hospital treatment over the next few months I will not be getting too much in the way of new material for my blog postings.

Because of this I thought that I would use this time to look back over some of my previous trips both backpacking and cycling.

April 2007 saw me walking the Ffordd y Bannau or The Beacons Way as we English folk know it.

This was a week long solo backpacking trip that I enjoyed immensely helped by the superb weather.

I remember setting out from Abergavenny on a Sunday morning with the most glorious weather and thinking to myself how lucky I was with no work for the next seven days.

The pictures I have included in this posting were taken on the Hatterrall Hill before I descended into the Llanthony Valley to camp over night.