Despite our 135 km effort sound sleep was difficult as our two storey b&b doubled as a Roman sauna in the UK heat !
We left Abergaveny with the help of a local Postie who soon had us heading into the Brecon Beacons or the Black Mtns as they are ominously named.
Only a few days ago the British Army on exercises sadly lost two of its men in this area related to extreme heat conditions.
Our road skirted the massif plateaus as it ran along a valley through beautiful foliage covered lanes just wide enough for 1 car.
Henley who'd done such a good job running interference for trucks in Bristol as we negotiated roadworks continued his fine form by banking up cars in the Brecons although in his defence there were few places here even to pull your bike over !
We were both struggling with tired climbing legs after yesterday's effort and while today's climbs weren't long they were steep and frequent giving little respite.
We wound our way up the valley climbing to the uniquely named Gospel Pass (600 metres) doing battle with the ferocious UK flies who loved to take a nip and were traveling considerably faster than us !
The views from the top were stunning overlooking the misty Wye Valley and making the climb worthwhile.
The descent was a beauty allowing us to open up on the narrow roads with good forward visibility I.e. no bloody hedges !
Henley rocketed pass one intersection on his descent and with me not following assumed he had missed a turn and climbed back just in time to meet me descending ...
I'd in fact been having a Mr Whippy Ice Cream and an ice cold Pepsi from a van parked in the middle of nowhere that Henley had so recklessly raced past !
The descent continued all the way into Hay on Wye a lovely village where we lunched at a local convenience store and spoke to a couple of locals courtesy of Henley wearing his Aussie jacket.
The remaining 30 odd kms to Builth Wells were a delight being mainly flat and with little traffic on this hot day enabling us to have a late afternoon cuppa on the way.
Having secured another b&b sauna i took off to the local pub and the towns cinema leaving Kev to do his washing - good drying weather at least !
We are now well and truly into Wales and in desperate need of some missing climbing legs !
P.s.
For those interested and there are a few e.g. those with a medical background, those with concern for Kevs health and those that accidentally sourced this blog looking for adult entertaiment, Kevs urinary problem has somewhat improved. I say somewhat as gone are the razor blade symptoms now though replaced by an urgency symptom which gives H about 2.4 seconds ... some times leading to strange sights in the middle of nowhere as H hurtles into the bushes !
Look forward to more rivetting in depth reports of Kevs urinary condition and maybe a side paragraph or two of the trip itself !
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