Summer for a Day

The weather wasn’t great last week. There was quite a bit of rain most days as far as I remember and it was chilly too. The sun did come out now and then so I managed a windsurf in the sunshine on Saturday afternoon despite the fact that the morning was pretty wet.

Sunny Windsurf

Riding in the Hills

Sunday was supposed to be nicer and I had a 9am bike ride planned with a few other people. As is often the case everyone else backed out or changed their minds. I was up early on Sunday morning and by then, judging by the messages I’d had it was likely to be just me riding. I therefore did some work, did a bit of video editing and then rather than waiting until 9am set off for a ride at 7:30. It was pretty chilly at around 10ºC and there were even a few drops of rain as I headed into Machynlleth. The roads were pretty wet here and there too. I headed up to Corris and then off through Aberllefeni and up over the steep hill to Aberangell. The descent here was a little sketchy thanks to the road surface and the greasy nature of the damp tarmac.

Next I took the back road into Mallwyd, only to find it closed. It was only closed because there was a small patch of tarmac dug up so I managed to squeeze around the barriers and continue on my way. At Mallwyd I joined the main road towards Welshpool for a while and then turned off for the Pandy Road climb. I was joined by a guy called Ian here who was out for a shorter ride from Aberangell. I rode with him for a while having a chat and then told him to head off without me as I was out for a long slow ride.

My plan had been to stop in Llanbrynmair for a coffee but once I got there I decided just to keep going. I caught Ian back up on the road out of Llanbrynmair and then showed him the turning he needed for the road up through Abercegir. I however continued on to Staylittle and then took the mountain road up through Dylife.

I met a couple of South African cyclists here about to tackle the climb up to Glaslyn. I had a quick chat and then left them behind as the road steepened. The sun was shining by now and things had warmed up to around 15ºC, although it was back down to 12ºC at the top of the climb. It was now a descent back into Machynlleth and then back home along the main road for a ride of just over 65 miles. It did have a fair bit of climbing in it though.

A Day of Summer

Back at hone and summer had returned for the afternoon. That was handy as it gave me chance to inspect the bees. All was looking good, we had successfully mated.

Anna and I then spent some time planting up some bedding plants in various pots and doing some gardening here and there. Things have been growing like mad thanks to the rain and it’s already beginning to look a little out of control in places. I don’t have time to keep it immaculate though so I might just let the plants do their own thing without too much interference.

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.