The city of Nice seen from the surrounding hillside bathed in sunshine

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Strange Woman

Blog Date - 21 July 2014

She's a strange creature, the gf. She's been learning to ride this last year and she's gone from being the wibbliest wobbliest novice to a competent and roadworthy learner. There's always room for improvement but she's got all the basics down pretty well now.

She's still nervous at times and worries about several things. I took her down a long cobbled road and when we stopped she was shaking like we were still on the cobbles. U-turns and slow manoeuvres are coming along pretty good but she'd rather not be doing them. Nipping up back roads and awkward streets can faze her. It's all understandable as a learner, especially as a learner that's only 5 feet tall and 7.5 stone. Her 125 is her pride and joy and she doesn't want to drop it.

So we find ourselves heading towards the Ponderosa Cafe near Llangollen. Time is on our side so rather than go straight there I take a side road or two. This side roads leads to that corner and that corner has a turning down a single track lane. I wonder where it goes? I follow it. Oh it's narrow. Blimey it's steep! Yikes, there's moss down the centre. The tarmac is all broken up. These trees shade the road and the road is damp. It's dark, steep, slippery and rough. I'm at least alert if not coming close to crapping myself in places.

I'm also terrified for another reason. The gf, if she manages to stay upright, is going to kill me. If she falls off down here it would be simpler and easier to kill myself. I've lead her down the track from Hades and it's all my fault. I would turn around but the road is actually too narrow to turn a 125 around in. It's too steep to even try. Damn. I am doomed, doomed I tell ya, doomed. Whoa! nearly lost it myself there. 

At the bottom of the steep track there's a ford. Luckily it's dry at the moment. I stop. I brace myself for the attack. I wonder how long it will take to ride her bike back up the hill, walk back and get mine. "Wow! That was fun!" Errrr...I wasn't expecting that, it's worse than I expected. It seems the gf has a penchant for narrow, empty, steep and scary lanes. It seems the notion of being away from the traffic in the beauty of the Welsh countryside and gingerly weaving her way through bits of tree foliage and gravel whilst at 45 degrees is somehow exciting to her. Freak.

sharon in orange vest stands looking into a rocky river bed at the ford
Little Miss Adventure

She's a bit concerned about climbing out of the valley, she can't quite get her head around gears and power and revving the nuts off a 125 to get it to climb. She's lying, she rides out the ravine just as easily as she rolled into it. 

At the Ponderosa she informs me she is loving the quiet, empty lanes. She prefers them to the A roads and established biker routes. As such I spot a lane on my map app that doesn't follow the Horseshoe pass, rather it cuts a way through to A5104 and the A5. After our brew I take this road. Here we go again! Less trees this time and not so dark but steep, gravelly and a nice thick layer of grass down the middle in places. There's a natty awkward switchback or two and some extra steep bits for good measure. We're only moving at 10 to 15 mph, cycling pace and this is ideal, it makes navigating the hard bits manageable. I know most riders think it's all about speed but at this easy pace we can look, we can see, we can enjoy and apart from the obstacles we can relax.

Throughout the day we take in many more miles of these particularly challenging lanes. 3 miles up the steepest of hills with countless hill starts as a farmer moves his sheep. Lots of miles to a dead end gravel car park. Moss and stones, twigs and branches, fighting away nettles from the roadside, sharp bends and high hedges. We cover it all at our steady gentle pace. And our reward? Some of the most stirring, exhilarating, uplifting and beautiful perspectives of the Welsh mountains and countryside I have ever had the pleasure to see. 

the welsh mountains in the distance, green lush fields in front
Our reward.

The gf's been talking of a ninja 300 after she completes her test. While I think the 300 is a noble machine it is not best suited to this kind of riding. This is trail bike territory. I'm thinking a Yamaha Serow 225 or Honda CRF 250 L. However both these machines are far too tall for the diminutive gf. It's gonna be a 250 motor shoe-horned into a kiddies crosser innit.

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