In the shadows of the Wye Valley.

A few busy weekends coming up so I decided to plot a route down to the Wye Valley for today (Sunday). I haven't ridden in those parts for a while, in my opinion one of the most scenic rides you can ride in the UK following the river Wye out toward Chepstow. My route runs as far as Tintern via less obvious roads, avoiding the usual lengthy main roads, and the congestion of Hereford and Ross. A quick e-mail of the GPX file to Lindsay, who late Saturday evening called me up to say he could get the V - Strom back together (Air filter change) in time and would join me. We agreed 7.30 am at Great Witley.

 

Keeping the shadies in shade !

This heatwave we are having makes riding with all of our gear uncomfortable, especially as the temperature rises past 25 deg C. But the mantra 'all the gear all the time' must be adhered, so the early start was designed as a cooler ride down staying in the shadows on our side of the road through Bromyard all the way through the villages of Aconbury down to St Weonards and on to Monmouth with a brief stop to admire the valley view then to a Cafe in Tintern for tea and a bite.

The cafe was full of cyclists grrr the muppets (I don't get why cyclists insist on taking the whole of the road up riding three abreast while peddling up a hill). A nice stop though, trying to sit in the shade at the cafe catching up with Lindsay swapping stories of his recent trip to Scotland and mine to Ireland.

A word of of warning, we noticed the roads were literally melting in the heat, the tarmac was shiny and in parts attempts had been made to temporarily re-dress them with chippings so we needed to take care on the bends for loose or a slick surface. 

An equally inspiring ride back up toward home via a different route through St Briavels to Bream then on to Cannop and Mitcheldean using the canopy of the Forest of Dean to keep cool winding our way to Ledbury then Cradley in the shadow of the Malverns back into Herefordshire towards Bromyard while getting much hotter now. The temperature showing 28 degrees I waved Lindsay off at Great Whitley and was relieved to make it home just after 1 pm as the afternoon heat really started to get a grip. All in all though a very pleasant little ride!