Really good turnout today - 15 of us met at The Railway Inn for our ride to Pennard, great to see Chris and Ken with us for the second week in a row. I had the responsibility of leading and after attending a DA meeting last week and being told about Risk Assessment and so on I must say that I felt a bit apprehensive. Its not a case of covering oneself against any blame, I also did not want an accident on the ride. So when I explained the route we were taking I did point out the places where we particularly had to take care.

Boring I know but perhaps wise.

The route was to take us up the hill out of Killay then a long circle through Welsh Moor, Fairy Hill, Cefn Bryn, Park Mill then the lunch stop at Pennard. Usually on this particular run we all seem to disperse after lunch because it is close to so many people's homes.

Big Trev was not with us today because his grandson was graduating. So today, for Trev, lycra is banned (unless Trev puts his foot down, that is!)

The biggest test was Cefn Bryn but I remember the first time I rode up it and its nice to know that it isn't such a struggle these days.

What am I thinking of! No, that was not going to be the biggest test - a much tougher ride was to follow.

Once at the top of Cefn Bryn it is traditional to enter the 'Who can go down the fastest' competition. A search through the archives throws up just one consistent winner. He is not hampered by a slight but muscular frame, nor is he hampered by a sense of danger. He is Colin! Not even Dynamo Dai, who makes pure mincemeat out of us all when it comes to riding uphill, can compete with this absolutely incredible athlete. (Hopefully, when he reads this he might not be so insulting towards me in the future!! We can but hope.) The rest of us were compensated by the knowlege that we managed to hold back the Gower Bus, if you've been on a Gower Bus you will be really impressed by that! Colin claimed 44mph - I only managed 38mph. All very exhillerating nevertheless.

We turned off at Llethrid Bridge and went through Park Woods stopping at the neolithic burial ground where Bruce Bowbanks, the scout warden , very kindly gave us some of its history. Along with many of our castles and other ancient monuments a great deal of the stones have, over the years, been taken and used for other purposes. Not many people know that a castle existed in Builth Wells and indeed only a mound still remains, the stone was all removed when the town was rebuilt after a fire. Here at Park Woods the stone from the burial grounds was used to build the lime kiln nearby. In those days history carried very little sentiment.

Reaching Park Mill we had two choices, we could either have ridden through the ford or used the footbridge. Colin chose the ford and only by using incredible agility when reaching the slippery part at the far end did he reach the other side safely. I wasn't quite quick enough with the camera so he obliged by going through again. Not wanting to be outdone now that he has his own claim to fame, Walter, he who outstares bears, had a go as well. Sadly neither fell in!

We could leave matters there and I'm sure Ken would wish that we did. You see Ken didn't want to risk the ford, preferring to use the footbridge instead. Unfortunately just yards away he and his bike collapsed in a heap. We really hadn't seen such a thing since Mike's Brewers Droop. No-one really knows how or why Ken did it - surely not attention seeking!!

And now we move on quickly because lunch is calling and we are not far away. There is just one short hill to climb.Unfortunately although the hill is short it is extremely steep, even cars struggle. It is also badly surfaced, slippery and narrow. I think some managed to get up, I wouldn't know, I was right at the back. Ken probably wished I wasn't, but I was so I saw him and his bike collapse once again. Personally I think he has been practicing because he seems to have it down to a fine art. He was soon up, nothing damaged - not even his pride.

And then Dynamo Dai shot past, no-one really knows how he does it. There we were with multiple gears basking in our failure and Dai shoots past from a standing start on the hill. Just awesome! As the Americans would say!!

We were soon at the lunch stop to be greeted by the Dapper Bob Smith, one-time regular, now just an occasional rider. It was a sunny day and all the tables outside were taken by the time we arrived so we had to eat indoors, which was almost empty.

As predicted most riders went their separate ways after lunch but Mike, Colin, TGJC, John White and myself made our way through Bishopston, Murton and Newtown reaching the sea at Bracelet Bay. Here Colin, the sand expert, explained how the look of Bracelet Bay has changed over his long lifetime. Well, he is approaching 93 you know!! A leisurely ride then along the cycle track after TGJC pointed out places of interest in the far distance across the bay.

At Black Pill we went our separate ways after a very enjoyable ride.

Aren't bikes great!!

And finally!!

When I am not cycling I am often to be found on the Gower buses. Not only do they take me to destinations where I can walk and take photos but the actual journeys are real interesting experiences.

Take last Thursday for instance I was heading out to Penmaen and sharing the back seat with three girls in their late teens. The one was proud of her shopping skills and was revealing her secret to the others.

" I'm really good at shopping," she says "but my father is hopeless, when we go shopping I tear the list in half and we both head off in different directions then meet by the sausages."

I just have to feel sorry for her Dad.

I walked from Penmaen to Oxwich and I was on the bus back to Swansea which was carrying quite a few of the regular travellers. One such was sporting a cap which proclaimed to the world "I got laid in Blackpool." What a great achievement I thought, then I started picturing the whole thing in my mind, well not quite the whole thing, perhaps just the peripharies. Just imagine now, a man enters a red-lit salon, makes his choice, pays his money and in the fullness of brief time emerges with a brave grin tinged perhaps with apprehension. He is presented with a cap suitably printed with a message which fills him with so much pride he is prepared to wear it in public. Meanwhile the lady he is talking to takes a coach brochure out of her bag and shuffles through the pages until she reaches the one advertising the delights of Blackpool.

The bus stops outside Shepherds of Park Mill as it always does and I've never worked out why but this time all is revealed because the driver announces that we would be there for a few minutes so that the oncoming bus can come through 'the narrows' unhindered. He tells us that if we want to visit the shop there would be plenty of time. No-one moved but after a few minutes an elderly lady slowly gets off the bus and heads for the shop. We wait. The oncoming bus comes past. We wait. People start murmuring and all eyes are on the shop doorway. At last the lady emerges and when she gets on the bus the passengers clap and cheer.

The lady gives a broad smile and with a twinkle in her eye and a wagging finger says "You just don't realise how much trouble I was in just then."

Well, it happens to all of us as we get older.

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Short break at Prisk Farm		All present at the top of Cefn Bryn but who took the picture?
A talk by Bruce Bowbanks
Colin crosses the ford ......		....... followed by Walter