Secret Knowledge of the (Gower) Backroads
Having recently become single (ladies, form an orderly queue) I have started going out on the weekend for a few swift vodkas and a packet of self-loathing, this could play havoc with my cycling but I’m old enough and wise enough to know when to stop the pop and drink water now.
On Saturday night I went to see John Cooper Clarke, he was on for over two and a half hours and a bit pissed I think. I then went to (what was left of) Exist Skatepark’s 1st birthday celebrations and from them on to Mozart’s where I escaped before reaching the bottom of my glass. I nailed a litre of water before bed and woke up fresh enough to ride, amazingly the bed was dry too, bonus!
I don’t usually ride the Gower Peninsula, the main roads are tight, often fairly busy, quite flat and with high bushes at the side so I just find it boring. But seeing as I had nowhere to be and was desperate to make sure a sneaky mid afternoon hangover didn’t get me I went out and freestyled it, I took the backroads.
I wasn’t too adventurous, I had some sort of plan but I found a few sneaky little climbs and didn’t see many people which is always a positive in my book. I’ll be riding the Gower more often from now on I think, I need to build up a mental map and increase my Secret Knowledge of the Backroads.
I visited Oxwich Castle, not sure what it’s like inside, they wanted cash money to get in, maybe another day.
This is the kind of thing you find in the webbed network of lanes that connect the villages of the Gower.
The highest point on the peninsula is Cefn Bryn, this red kite flew right over my head just before I turned onto the hill. It was actually only about 3-4 meters above at one point, so cool!
Two mountain bikers were up the road a bit so I got out of the saddle and powered past them for shits and giggles, one of them (who was clearly off his chops on Monster Energy) sprinted up to my wheel, I didn’t turn around, I just threw down the hammer and shot off way faster than he could even have understood, then I turned around and saw his head dropped in shame.
Coming off Cefn Bryn there was a serious case of Garminitis because I’m pretty sure I didn’t actually hit 82.8mph. I hit that on the way up, knowwhatimsayin?
I then took the very sneaky backroad along the marches, where I rode no-handed and took in the bloody lovely view. The last portion of the ride was great, you know when the wind is behind you, your cadence is just right and the bike purrs like a kitten? It was just like that.
You know the drill, Strava and Ride With GPS
