This was the ride that almost never was (well for me anyway!). I was all kitted up and ready to go, bottle filled, waterproof rolled up and stuffed in my bag. All I had to do was get the bike out and I would be off. I went to pick up the garage keys but they were not where they should have been. This was strange, more than strange really because without actually admitting to being pedantic about it, the keys are always there.

But they weren't.

I knew I had opened the garage the previous day and I looked in the pockets of all the clothes that I had worn (and that didn't take long) with no luck. I looked on almost every surface in every room, but no luck. I was in a perplexed panic. How was I going to get the bike out? I tried to recount what I had been doing the previous day, I had done some gardening and gone to the tip. Surely the keys would not have found their way into the rubbish! Then I remembered, I had done some washing. Could they possibly be in the washing basket? Sadly no. What about the peg-bag then? I tipped the contents out on the floor and spread them out.

And there they were!

Then I remembered the weather forecast. By lunchtime it was going to be awful. The weatherman had painted a graphic picture of heavy rain building up in the north and spreading south together with some heavy rain building up in the south and heading north. When and where the two bands of rain met was going to be pretty uncomfortable. At about lunchtime that was going to be just about where we were.

So why had I been so eager to find my keys?

Well you can't spend your life looking for excuses not to do things otherwise you would end up doing nothing, albeit with a perfect reason for doing so.

So off I went.

I arrived at the Railway Inn and one by one everyone arrived. The impeccably dressed John Cardy regaled us with stories of his holiday in Lanzarote and the wonders of volcanos, lava tunnels and marauding pirates. I had better not tell you more because I know he is planning to give talks to Womens' Institutes and Mothers' Unions and if I told you everything he'd have no more to say.

The great John Cardy is not used to having nothing to say!

We set off towards Gowerton where we hoped some others would be waiting near the surgery. There were rumours that Big Trev would be riding with us. We all hoped these rumours to be true because he has not been able to join us for a long while and we have rather missed him.

We approached the traffic lights by the surgery in Gowerton but there was no sign of Big Trev. Perhaps the rumours were not true after all! Oh dear a sad day - bitter disappointment after such expectation. But wait! Isn't that his bike leaning against that rather tall lamp post? Don't be silly, of course it isn't! That's no lamp post - that's Big Trev!

Now you would think that not having been with us for a couple of months he would have been inclined to be friendly towards us and given us an easy route but as soon as he mentioned turning right at the bad bend going out of Gorseinon I knew that we were in for punishment. So off we set, no complaints from us for we are trained to obey. If Big Trev says we must do it then we must. It must be for our own good. It may be tough but we can do it. We got to the turning took it, we rode past the garden centre where they probably made great breakfasts, erase such thoughts from our minds we must. We reached the A48 between Pontarddulais and Pontlliw and stopped before the first big climb. The rain started so on went the waterproofs. We set off up the hill, I thought I was doing quite well then I heard this humming getting louder and closer, but I knew what it was. Dynamo Dai Harris shot past me as if he was rocket propelled. With his fixed wheel and the dynamo on the tyre for extra resistance he was soon ahead of the bunch.

Now there’s a man of substance! He must be on some sort of substance, energy like that doesn’t come with a bowl of Sugar Puffs.

Riding up hills is not so bad but having got to the top of one why descend only to have to climb the next? We reached the top of Mynydd Pysgodlyn, down then into the valley of Cwmcerdinen before a steep ascent on the other side. This was the last ascent but we were faced with a white knuckle run down to Garnswllt. We reached the bottom with red hot brake blocks and rims and regrouped.

Ammanford and lunch next stop.

We lunched at Jenkins Bakery Café, a busy place with good food, clean tables and reasonable prices. And, of course, that’s why its busy!

We decided that, although the rain had eased it was probably prudent to take the quickest route back home so we retraced our steps to Garnswllt but kept on that road all the way to Pontarddulais.

At Gowerton John and I headed back towards Swansea while the others went their separate ways.
Big Trev had enjoyed his day, it was great to have him back riding with us and we hope Pat’s recovery continues so that he can be let out again soon.

I shall be off taking pictures in Northumberland next week so you will just have to cope without me.

See you in two weeks.

Lew Spokes