My only good night’s sleep of the week and after a good breakfast we bought picnic provisions at the nearby Co-op and made up our sandwiches in the hotel room since it was raining. After an initial easy run to Presteigne, which we bypassed, we decided to take the shorter, lower B road rather than stick rigidly to the Ring to reduce our exposure to the wind and rain.
There was hardly any traffic on the undulating B4356, the rain was light apart from a short heavy interval. We were pleased to come across a community shelter and library in Llangunllo at the right time for our lunch break. The rain had stopped by the time we finished so we were able to ride unencumbered by waterproofs though still bothered by the headwind.
We rejoined the Radnor Ring soon after, which led us onto another quiet B road. We were startled by the sight of a cow leaping over a farm gate a short way ahead of us and trotting down the road. Soon after, we saw it going along a farm track. Not long after, we saw five more beasts ahead of us, moving briskly along. This was sparsely populated country but after a kilometre or so, we came across a farm and reported the incident. The farmer took charge aand went off on his quad bike to round them up off the road.
We had to repeat a small section of narrow potholed lane before leaving the Ring to make for Llanidloes. The hills were not so steep and the cycling was enjoyable in the warm sunshine until Rowan sustained a puncture about six miles short of the town. On inspection, it was worse… his rear tyre was ripped. We repaired the puncture and patched up the tyre, which bulged alarmingly, then proceeded cautiously to the Trewythen hotel.
We were surprised to find a note on the door asking us to telephone to check in, someone soon appeared to show us up to our room. It’s rated four star but we were the only guests that evening, they said they were fully booked tomorrow and the weekend. We struck lucky for dinner at the Angel Inn, Rowan and I had mediterranean vegetable tart while Christine had mushroom stroganoff, the best food of the week and the beer was good too.
61.3 km, 1140 m of ascent