Moving house has eaten up far more of my weekends/spare time than I'd have liked.  But spring has appeared and things have settled down, so a gloriously warm sunny Sunday seemed like the perfect opportunity to carry on hacking away at the Wye.

So off I went to Builth Wells - armed with a bike, a map, and the NCN8 guidebook.  (not that I used the last two, hurrah for well signed routes).

Plans were fairly fluid, depending on time and how knackering I found the hilly cycling - either get to Newbridge on Wye (13km), or to Llanwrthwl (23km).  And then back again.

I ended up doing something in between.  Getting to Newbridge wasn't too bad - riverside path out of Builth, then cross over the River Irfon to tackle what is accurately described in the book as 'undulating lanes'. I did walk the bike a fair few times when it got too steep for my liking...  Beautiful views though.

To avoid a straight 'there and back' I took a slightly detour from the marked cycle route, instead flying down a bit of the B4358 with a top speed of about 45km/h!

My lunch spot just outside Newbridge.  Beautiful daffodils!

Stopped for lunch in a shady spot under a tree, and decided to continue a bit further.  No 'undulating' here - just up! Managed another 4km, reaching a convenient point where the Wye Valley Walk footpath meets the road, before deciding I was too hot and tired to face any more hills.

31km in total - not a bad afternoon's effort!  Slightly sunburnt arms, which is a new one for March!

This now puts the Wye at 89%.  In theory only about 25km left, although those figures depend on how well I've estimated the total distance.  It does finally feel like there might be an end in sight now, phew.

tags: cycling wye