Ping all Hereford folk

il_principe

I'm off to Huntington, Hereford this weekend (http://tinyurl.com/ynk9sm). Staying with friends and planning a hilly 100 miler. I understand that the Black Mountains are nearby, any good for cycling? Or does anyone know of any good cycling routes in the area?

robbarker

My suggestion would be drive to Hay on Wye (15 mins on the A438), ride down through the Golden Valley to Skenfrith, then cut across west to Abergavenny, go north on the Hereford road for a few miles then follow the sign left for Llanthony Abbey. Then head north on the lane over the Gospel Pass, right over the top of the mountains, back to Hay.

It will be a ride you remember for the rest of your life!

SteveR_100Milers

I'll second Rob's comments as I've ridden a similar route starting from Ross and heading in an anticlowise direction to Hay then over the gospel pass (its harder that way )

il_principe

Cheers all, I've popped in a route that includes Gospel pass via Hay, Talgarth Crickhowell, over the pass back to Hay and up to Kington.

il_principe

Had a fantastic ride in Wales on Sat. We headed from Huntington to Hey on Wye then followed the river to Talgarth, Llangorse, Crickhowell and up over Gospel Pass straight into some serious wind! I was on a compact 50/34 with a 23 on the back and coming up the last 1/2 mile of the summit was struggling to even make headway - never worked so hard on a bike in my life! Great views for the top though. The descent was fun but spoiled by the headwind that kept us to a max of 40mph and it was very hairy at times with gusts threatening to yank us off the road. I'd love to try that descent with no wind as you's absloutely fly down. Anyway according to the Garmin we climbed over 6000 feet over 65 miles so very pleased all in all.

il_principe

SteveR_100Milers wrote:

I'll second Rob's comments as I've ridden a similar route starting from Ross and heading in an anticlowise direction to Hay then over the gospel pass (its harder that way )

Anti would have been great as the wind was blowing that way, could have got up without pedalling on Sat!! We went clockwise straight into the wind, and it was seriously windy, getting to the summit was a real test of will and I was riding with 2 Ironmen, one of whom nearly gave up. Must have been gusting at 40mph or above I reckon!