Re: New fella saying hi.


Well, as it was a lovely day today, I thought I'd catch the bus from my
village (Pontardawe) to where I work and also where my unicycle was
(Swansea) and have a bit of a potter about.
After catching the bus in to Swansea, I picked up my uni (24") from
work, went back to the bus station, and caught the next bus down to the
Mumbles sea-front. Around 5 miles from Swansea, Mumbles is a very
pretty village, popular with tourists. It's got it's own pier and
everything.
[image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Paper1970/mumblesx.jpg]

It also has a great bike path which runs along the sea-front
[image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Paper1970/golfx.jpg]

So off we go!
Leaning against a post to start off with that is.
(I really need to learn to freemount)

It's a perfect day, not too windy. Lovely flat path, not too many
people about. I've got to a stage in my learning now where if you start
me off on an airport runway, I'm pretty sure I could get to the end of
it without falling off, so It's only dogs and little old ladies that
I'm wary of.
Before I know it, I've completed 2 miles of the bay already in what
seems like no time. I decide to take a detour down the Clyne Valley.
This area was once a railway track but has now been tarmaced over, but
if you look hard enough you can still see the remains of old platforms
hidden in undergrowth now and again.
[image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Paper1970/clynex.jpg]

Riding through the valley is great. On either side local lads have worn
out mountain bike trails through the undergrowth, and I pass the
occasional biker heading for them. I stop at the Railway Inn about two
miles down the valley and have a Coke. It's very warm, almost humid.
There's a group of about twenty cyclists, all from the same club, who
are sitting at tables when I pull up. They all give a cheer and start
clapping. I get most of the usual good natured remarks.
I finish my drink and head back for the coast.
Back on the coastal path and it's another three miles to Swansea.
On the way, the bike path and main road run close to each other and I
get the occasional honk of a horn and a wave and smile from drivers.
All in all, it's turning out to be a good ride.

I get in to Swansea and stop for lunch.
It's at this time that a silly thought enters my head.
I think to myself "Well, I've just done nine miles, and I don't feel
-too- bad. Instead of catching the bus back to Pontardawe, why not ride
back on the uni? It's only ten miles. You can do it!"
I've done it as a daily commute to and from work thousands of times. I
know the path like the back of my hand. Most of it is flat and
tarmaced. I'm in no rush to get back so I say, "What the hell. What's
the worst that can happen?"

So off I go out of the marina...
[image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Paper1970/Marinax.jpg]
and off up the River Tawe. The bike path follows the river more or less
all the way up to Pontardawe and is relatively flat all the way.
The last few months I've spent mentally gathering uni information as
I've cycled to work. "Right, there's a post to lean on there, if I UPD
-there-."
All of this information will come in useful for the ride.

After about a mile I have to leave the bike path, traverse som soft
gravel and continue on pavement until I get to Swansea's new football
and rugby stadium...
[image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Paper1970/stadiumx.jpg]

All is going well. I had one UPD right at the start of the marina (a
bad omen!)
but now I'm sailing. Sitting up, breathing regularly, looking straight
ahead (something I've only recently started to do).
I go past a cricket match and a bowls game and smile as everyone stops
to look. A little further on I stop on a bridge over the Tawe and have
a banana and a drink of Lucozade.
It's about this time that I realise I'm getting some 'chaffage' in the
nether regions, and it's starting to feel uncomfortable. My t-shirt is
soaked with sweat, and when I put my rucksack back on, the cold wet
cloth on my back gives me the shivers. I figure I've another six miles
to go before I get home.

It's unbelievably quiet for such a nice day, and I'm glad in a way.
Coming up to the halfway stage, and there is a part of the path I'm not
looking forward to. It's where the path dips to go under the M4, and
then rises steeply. The dip down I'll be fine with. It's the climb that
will be tricky.
As I approach it, I get my game face on.
I sail down the dip, ride under the M4 and pedal up the climb. It's
only short but...
Arse!
I UPD in a tricky spot. I know I can't remount before this climb as it
is too much for me, and there is nothing to lean on to mount for the
next mile or so.
Except for that post with the dog poo bin on it, which is about five
foot off the path.
Hmm. It's rough earth, and a little bumpy, but worth a try.
My first attempt, I -almost- make it, but UPD just as I get to the bike
path. My second try is succesful, and I'm so happy that I don't see a
low branch which almost brains me (I have my helmet and gloves on).
I can feel myself getting more and more tired and my back is starting
to ache. The chaffing is starting to get painful too and I wish I had
my bike shorts on. Another mile of quiet bike path and I'm almost in
Clydach. The bike path now leaves the river, but joins up with the
canal, and is just as pretty. As I join the canal I dismount to get
through a gate. An old fellow srikes up a conversation with me and I
explain how the bike works. His son and grandson are a few yards away
watching. As I make my excuses and leave, he shouts out to his grandson
"Look! Look at the funny man!"
I didn't think I was -that- funny.

Leaving Clydach, I'm on the pavement next to the road for about 400
yards, and then I turn into a local path to join the canal again. In
the park I go past a group of four boys, one of whom honks his bike
horn as I go past. He smiles at me and I smile back.
Then past a tennis court which has a group of about twenty teenagers in
it.
I wait for the usual "Oh my Gawd, look at that!" and sure enough, it
comes.
One girls shouts out "Are ew with the Chinese Circus that's in town?"
I laugh and shout back "Yes, it's my day off!"
One of the alpha males gets jealous and tries to get me to fall off by
walloping a football against the fence as I go by.
Yeah, right. Like that's going to do a fat lot of good.
Much to the alpha male's annoyance, the girls all start to clap. I wish
I could have seen his face.
But on to the last stretch now. About two miles of canal path to go.
It's not smooth, but not unridable at the same time. Lots of loose
stones and the occasional small hole.
The chaffing is starting to get -really- painful now. I'm wearing my
loose fitting combats and boxer shorts underneath. I have the
occasional planned dismount, and it's really difficult to get *ahem*
comfortable before I start off again.

But only a mile or so to go now. Here's where the canal path joins my
regular practice loop, and suddenly I'm on familiar territory. And boy,
does it seem easier than my normal practice runs!
I fly down the last mile of my loop, and head up the small incline back
to the house. I look at my watch and find it's taken two and a half
hours to do the last ten miles. All in all, I've done nineteen miles on
the uni today. My t-shirt is wet through with sweat.
Tired, but happy.

Things I've learned today:
If you are going on a long ride, take some music with you.
If you are going on a long ride, wear suitable clothing.
If you are going on a long ride, put sun-tan lotion on.
If you are going on a long ride, take a puncture repair kit with you (I
didn't actually have a puncture, but -did- have a couple of dodgy
moments when I went through glass and thought "Uh-oh!"
If you are going on a long ride, learn to freemount beforehand.

At the moment I'm walking like John Wayne. I've just had a cool bath
where all the water turned to steam when I sat in it, but I have cake,
and a pint of cider (with ice, of course) in front of me, so the world
is good.
Blue.

(Man, these things take ages to write out! I don't know how Mikefule
does it.)


--
Into the blue

"Now listen up, you primitive screwheads...See this?...This is my -BOOM-
stick!"
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