The Year that Was!

Well, even before COVID we were embarking on a lot of change. Not least the decision to move north, away from the Oxford area after 10 years enjoying everything it had to offer, including the lovely riding. That being said, and as a Lancastrian myself, we are both really excited about the lifestyle up here, definitely for the riding but also other pursuits and the general way of life. Only being here 3 days it's nice to get back into the slower pace of life; maybe that will suit the tandem more!

 

So, that's what's to come. In the meantime I realise the last post was April 2019, just following the Isle of Wight tour, wow. 

Just going back through the Strava data, we've done a lot of riding since then on Betty. Not crazy miles, but at least 50 activities mostly around the 20-30 miles mark around Oxford. Some rides have been really memorable, discovering new bridleways and gravel tracks, which seems to be a natural 'hunting ground' for Betty. That being said we did a nice route for an overnighter to Henley on Thames up over the Christmas Common climb near Watlington in south Oxfordshire. Definitely using gear #1 on the Rohloff there! On that note, during the start of lockdown it was a good opportunity to get an oil-change kit from SJS Cycles for the Rohloff hub. Really straightforward to do and SJS have even made a tutorial video on YTube. 

Looking forward to riding around here and revisiting old haunts. I'm aiming to post most rides and activities as we move forward. Here's some shots of the adventures we've had on Betty during the last year or so. 

Two rides to note are a couple we did during a short stay in the Brecon Beacons. Fantastic roads round there, some a little too steep for the tandem but fun nonetheless. I'd definitely recommend the trail running up and around the Beacons reservoirs, eventually down to Meythr and Cardiff (The Taff Trail I think). Some truly stunning views, albeit after a hard slog up the side of the reservoir. Also, going north out of Brecon into the MoD Sennybridge training area, we had the roads to ourselves for long periods, eventually descending beautifully into Builth Wells. Here's the routes we did:-

https://www.strava.com/activities/2653102198   Brecon-Builth Wells - Brecon

https://www.strava.com/activities/2647039284  The Taff Trial (partial)