Day 5 – I only ride with people called Matt

I was joined today by Fiona’s brother Matt who started proceedings in grand style with two breakfasts at the Riverside Hotel.  He might claim it was a mix-up over some scrambled eggs, but we saw the full English breakfast arrive!  We were both stocking up for a day of riding from Monmouth to Bishops Castle.  The original plan had this day as the shortest distance of the whole route, but I had extended it with a diversion to see my grandparents’ old house at Cholestrey and to end at Bishops Castle rather than Clun.  We started out rather late after retrieving the bikes from their overnight store in the function room and re-fitting my front wheel with a new inner tube.

We set off with a typical initial climb after leaving an overnight stop, passing the Monmouth school under their covered pedestrian bridge to the playing fields.  We soon crossed back into England and reached the hills above Hereford enjoying the ride in warm sunshine.  We paused for a snack break at Wormelow before continuing for several miles and joining the busy A49 into Hereford.  Matt’s entirely justified verdict after dodging several high speed HGVs was “that road sucks” so we took a detour via the back roads.  After half the detour, we accidentally re-joined the A49 for a few hundred meters and had to wait to perform a U-turn to get back on our intended road.  As we waited, Fiona passed with a cheery toot and wave, probably wondering why we were stood at the side of the road like a pair of Muppets rather than doing any pedalling.  The reason was confirmed later when she reported that she was stuck in a traffic jam after the A49 was closed by an accident.

Matt and I routed via the village of Grafton and then finally into Hereford on the A49 which had very few cars as most were stuck in the traffic jam.  We were quickly through the centre of the city with great views of the cathedral.  We continued north for a couple of hours having agreed to meet Fiona at the small hamlet of Cholestrey for lunch.  My grandparents lived there when I was growing up, but unfortunately I didn’t recognise the main road and we cycled too far north before retracing our steps back through Kingsland to reach Cholestrey.  I remember by grandmother answering the phone “Kingsland 321” which seemed like a different era even when I was a kid.  We had a great picnic in the quiet lane and were greeted by two local residents who made an on-the-spot donation to the Buwan Kothi charity when they heard why we were there.  On returning to our previous position, we had added a total of 10 miles to the route!  Oops.

A Darlek in the garage!

The afternoon ride was mostly a steady climb as the landscape changed from rolling farmland to steeper hills with wooded top slopes.  A few small, steeper climbs came and went without problem as we debated the benefits of different mobile phone service providers and the new features of iOS8.  My phone provider appeared to have no coverage whatsoever while Matt had 3G most of the afternoon.  As we passed an isolated farmhouse we saw a full size Darlek in a garage – now we know where the invasion started!

Reaching the top of the steepest climb

Just when we thought that we must have done all the climbs we had read about in the guide book, we turned sharp right and were faced with a narrow road littered with pebbles and going diagonally up the side of the hill.  After a snack break to gather our resolve, we hit the hill and it hit us back!  I now rank hills by how many rest stops I have to take and this one was a “two breather break” hill.  You pedal until your lungs are bursting and you have lost your momentum then take a few minutes break for your breathing to slow and your heart rate to drop below racing.  I find it only takes a couple of minutes to get some power back in your legs.  However, this time the hill was so steep and the road so narrow that I couldn’t even get a full crank turn and so made the first couple of wobbly zig zags with one leg pedalling and then reversing to push again.  Pushing as hard as I could, I just got the bike moving again.  Matt cycled passed sitting down and in bottom gear doing wheelies with every push - show off!

We congratulated each other on reaching the summit but were soon faced with an even bigger challenge.  A similar road, strewn with even more stone debris and with no end to the climb in sight.  We didn’t pause before making a start and with tired legs from the first stage, this one became a “three breather” hill.  I was determined not to take any more breaks and pushed on and on in the last few hundred meters to reach the summit.  Matt said at the top that he had been worried that I might have a heart attack I had been breathing so hard, but I’d been more worried about bending the handlebars or snapping the chain!  Fortunately, with both bodies and bikes intact we larked about at the top of the hill doing slo-mo ride by videos with the huge expanse of Herefordshire countryside laid out below us.  I managed to accidentally start recording when Matt passed me his phone and so stopped the recording when I pressed the button just in time for his ride by.  On reviewing the recording we had shots of my feet, handlebars, GPS and the sky and none at all of Matt looking epic.  He had to ride back to the start point and do it twice more before we finally got a decent shot.  Fortunately it was flat on the top of the hills.

The Bowling Green at Clun

With spirits lifted knowing the “sting in the tail” was behind us, we careered down a huge descent through woodland and farmland to reach the valley as we headed for Clun.  I realised that it would take me a good distance to stop with both brakes full on, so wound on a bit more braking when I reached the bottom.  On the outskirts of Clun we successfully forded a river without falling in before a gentle climb through the town centre.  We paused briefly to photograph the Clun Bowling Green under the walls of the ruin of Clun Castle.  The scene was reminiscent of Warwick Boat Club’s Bowling Green under the walls of Warwick Castle.  I think Clun’s pavilion may be cheaper to maintain as it is shed, but the location is just as beautiful.

Tree lined road in the evening sun

The last few miles to Bishops Castle were easy but we were faced with a surprise final climb up the steep main street to reach our hotel.  Fiona thought Matt was having a religious experience looking at the sky when he arrived, but he said he was just trying to catch his breath.  We met up with my Mum and Mota who was looking rather bashed up after accidentally falling on a ladder through his greenhouse roof while picking plums.  We were all glad to see him in good spirits after an operation on his nose and a few days in hospital.  We’ve banned him from doing stunts on his own from now on.

We had cycled 69.1 miles in 8 ¼ elapsed and 5 ½ hours moving at an average of 12.6 mph and a rather scary top speed of 43.4 mph.  A great day, followed by a beautiful meal and excellent service at the Castle Hotel.