More from the archive... this one goes back quite a few years and was rather intense, but we had a blast. I hope you enjoy.
High up in the Brecon Beacons National Park of Wales is a reservoir called the Talybont. You may have heard of it. You may have even visited it. I, on the other hand; had not done either until I went for a ride with a crazy man from South Africa.
We started out innocently enough on simple ride to Ebbw Vale from Llanhilleth at 10am Wednesday morning. It was to be nothing particularly long, breakfast and maybe 20-25 miles up the Ebbw valley along NCN route 466. We planned to be home by 4 or 5 pm that evening.
I started taking pictures here:
and perhaps I should have considered more about where we were heading here...
But I am a trusting sort of fella. I believed his vivid descriptions of the route... a route, I should add... that was on his map... that he did not have with him. I just tagged along, innocently beleiving Will new where we were going.
We did ask for directions... although, I don't think this guy knew any more than we did. I certainly don't think he had ever cycled the way were planning.
We were at the end of the road, but we did not let that stop us. We simply began walking and pushing our bikes across the moor. But without a compass, we didn't actually know which direction we needed to go...
The moor was wide and flat and pretty non-descript. Additionally, it was quite wet and muddy in places forciing us to zig-zag our way across.
Soon we noticed a samll road in the distance. Actually, it looked more like tracks in the grass, but it was something to aim for, so that was where we headed.
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| photo credit: Will Rossouw |
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| photo credit: Will Rossouw |
Unfortunately, nothing on this rock gave us a clue... we forged ahead simply following Will's instinct.
Eventually, we discovered the top of Talybont valley and not only was it stunning, but reassuring to see our goal.
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| photo credit: Will Rossouw |
And slowly that lead to a better road... a difficult one to ride, but in the distance we could see our destination. The views across this saddleback were simply amazing.
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| photo credit: Will Rossouw |
Summary
Cycling down to the reservoir put us back on the Monmouth & Brecon Canal at Talybont on Usk. However, it was nearly 7:00 pm and we had over 20 miles ahead of us just to reach Pontymoile Boat Basin. After that we still had 15 miles along the road (and in the dark) to reach home reach home.
It was well after midnight, before I dragged myself through the kitchen door. My wife was a wreck with worry. It had been a long and exhausting day.
We had cycled over 60 miles and hiked approximately five miles over rough moors and along steep rocky roads. I made many mistakes from which I have learned. We were very fortunate in many ways because it was dangerous and we took some big risks. However, it was a great adventure and one that will forever be remembered.
