Rhayader to Aberystwyth 70km.

Three punctures in three days! When we bought the new E-Bikes, I noted that the tyres were Schwalbe special e-bike tyres and naturally assumed that they were the heavy duty type with the kevlar thorn barrier. As I was replacing the tube on Les' bike, it suddenly occured to me that these tyres are not heavy duty at all which explains all the punctures. So, when we arrived at Aberystwyth I raced into a Halfords shop and bought their last two Schwalbe Marathon tyres. I've put them on the back wheels, which are more finicky to replace on the road.

Great ride today which involved a 30km steady climb and then 40km descent.

Route: Rhadayer - Elan Valley Trail - Craiig Goch - Cwmystwyth - Lon Cambria - Ystwyrth Trail - Rhydyfelin - Aberystwyth.

Brecon to Rhayader 76km.

We had to backtrack to Tregoyd, and then turn left and north towards Builth Wells and Rhayader along the Sustrans route 8. Unfortunately, there was a large tractor on the narrow path near Glasbury, with a big aerial chainsaw contraption which was trimming the hedgerows. We had to squeeze past him and shortly afterwards we discovered one of the very sharp offcuts from the thorny brambles firmly stuck into Les' rear tyre. Two punctures in two days! Increyible, as the say in France! Anyway, we replaced the tube easily enough.

Wales is very beautiful and the people are lovely. We stayed at Ty Morgans Apartments in Rhayader - very nice.

Route: Brecon - Talgarth - Tregoyd - Glasbury - Newbridge-on-Wye - Llanwrthl - Rhayader.

Hereford to Brecon via Hay-On-Wye by E-Bike. 62km.

The first 10 km going out of Hereford are a little complicated and the traffic was busy in some places, but after that the route was quiet and very scenic. There were occasionaly some very steep hills, which would have defeated us on our old bikes, but the E-bikes really made a huge difference. We still had to pedal hard in low gear with the assist on.

We were delighted to meet Les' sister Diane in Hay-on-Wye for lunch. Hay-on-Wye is famous for all it's new and used bookshops and is quite charming.

As I was wheeling my bike into the hotel in Brecon, I was amazed to discover a puncture! The tyres and tubes on the bikes are really tough and punctures are quite rare.

Route: Hereford - Belmont Pool - Kingstone - Peterchurch - Dorstone - Cusop - Hay-on-Wye - Llanigon - Tregoyd - Felindre - Talgarth - Llanfilo - Brecon.

Hereford

Hereford is really lovely, and it is so good to spend some time with Ally.

One of the unforseen benefits of cycle touring in a foreign country is that you really have to exercise your brain when you are memorising maps and complicated routes. We have downloaded Sygic maps, and Osmand Maps on to our Samsung Tablet, both of which are stored off line, so we should be able to find our position easily without having to worry about wi fi. The GPS always works, regardless of where you are. Google maps won't work offline unless you pre-save an area beforehand. One can also do screenshots on the tablet of the planned ride map, as well as satellite screenshots if any intersections are complicated.

Today we are going to go for an exploratory ride around Hereford, just to make sure that the bikes are OK and to orientate ourselves with the maps.

London to Hereford by train

We were wide awake at 6 am on Friday , in our apartment in Bayswater, so we decided to go for a walk in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. It was nice to see the sun come up through the trees and hear all the birds. We are very pleasantly surprised to see literally hundreds of cyclists riding through all the streets of London. The number of cyclists has grown enormously since we were last in London two years ago.


We cycled from our apartment back to Paddington Station, and caught the train to Newport and then on to Hereford. Hereford is as beautiful as ever, and it is really good to see everyone here.

Our bikes are fine, and the batteries survived their journey, so now we just have to orientate ourselves and study the local maps carefully, before we set off for Wales in about a week's time.