Just a wee jaunt until I reach the Severn bridge I thought.
Hmm. No matter how many miles I covered, through dusty, polluted industrial parks and makeshift nature
reserves dotted between the man made ugliness, the Severn bridge seemed to get
further and further from me.
At 10 am it was time for my second breakfast and
so I stopped off at a truckers cafe. Met the loveliest woman who was so keen to
hear about my adventures. She seemed even more excited than me! She told me of
a hiker who had passed by the café a couple of weeks previously, hiking to John
O groats. Biking is tough enough, I can’t even contemplate how hard hiking that
distance would be! Demolished my sarnie and hopped back on old study to catch up
with the Severn bridge before it decided to move away from me again.
With motorways and busy A roads apparently surrounding me, I
managed to weave my way through small lanes and finally reached the Severn
bridge. Bit ugly really isn’t it? Left behind the blue sunny skies of England
and entered an overcast Wales.
In a Chepstow park I
re-oiled my bike (thinking I was being a
dab hand at bike maintenance) and got chatting to Mr ‘I can’t walk too far as
I’ve just had heart surgery’. Leaving Chepstow I found myself having to peddle
downhill…Yes you read that right. Peddle DOWNhill. It seems I should have
cleaned my bike before oiling. Dirt and
grease combined in the chain to not make for easy cycling.
 |
| Approaching the mountains and getting strangely anxious AND excited |
My love for SUSTRANS began on this day. National cycle
network route number 42 became a firm friend of mine up to Abergavenny. Back
home in New Milton, I had dissected maps and tried to plan which route I wanted
to take to Hay on Wye. It was a case of either taking the easier ride by the Wye
valley, with some larger roads, or heading on the cycle route through the Black
mountains... the wrong way. Meaning many miles of uphill. I opted for the strenuous up
hill route as I am completely bonkers.
A second wind in Abergavenny propelled me
upwards to Llanthony past grassy mountain sides, rugged peaks and meandering
rivers where I then spent the night in a basic campsite, watching the sun set set against the ruins of an old priory.
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| Heading into mountain country |
 |
| Campsite for the night |
Daily total: 67.19miles
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