Day 2 and the main event Hay Bluff and with Ken leaving us and Geof joining us we were like a military unit all lined up ready to go and stood watching a torrential downpour for 20 min outed so with Andy looking rather shocked as we don’t think he has ever rode in wet well today he was in for a treat. Wet weather gear on as we left, but before the first climb it all came off and the sun made an appearance. The first 35 miles to Hay were as testing as the first day and some road surfaces were quite bad but all this led us to the start of the climb. With a coffee stop at the bottom Ian, myself and Martin decided to push on while our legs were warm, and a good job too as within a few yards the road went up and early on there were section which eased off but after crossing a cattle grid the climb was relentless and no respite with the others catching and passing us and disappearing into the distance, Maggie passing me and saying it levelled out well she must have forgot about the next 2 km before it levelled out. But level out it eventually did and a photo stop to admire the views which were spectacular and a realisation of how far we had climbed. Everybody up and a bit more climbing past Lord Herefordshire Knob which looked splendid shrouded in the approaching storm which hit us as we started the decent which was narrow wet and full of danger so extreme caution was taken and the brakes took a hammering. A lunch stop nearing the bottom in the dry and as we hit the road again a huge storm hit us and the roads were rivers but at the bottom it dried up and now after about 20 miles of downhill peddling felt a bit strange but as we followed the contours, an Adrian quote, home all I can say is Hereford is a lumpy county. Near home a call into Tesco and a polite word with the poles at the car wash they cleaned our bikes off before we took them into our rooms.
A lovely meal to finish the day and a good chat.
Adrian and Maggie deserve a huge thank you for organising another fantastic tour.
Yellow Leader.