Only 36 miles today but still a really hard one and still against a strong headwind. Breakfast wasn’t served until 8:30 and we had to buy picnic provisions, there being nothing else on the way. We began with a climb up to the Kerry Ridgeway, an ancient track and a few miles of off road but with a good surface. Its origins are unknown, but it is believed to be older than the Iron Age and Dark Ages earthworks which cut its line. Drovers used it to shepherd sheep, cattle and geese to markets in England.
After the fairly level Ridgeway, the hills and wind sapped our energy. We paused at the old estate village of Abbey Cwmhir and chatted to a man tending the churchyard before strugging on to the Elan Hotel. Rhayader is the town that time forgot, the hotel hosting a dominoes night and there being nowhere appealling to eat. There aare no restaurants so we risked a pub pizza and left most of it.
57.7 km, 1217 m of ascent