Day 139 Another Cycle Ride

We set off this morning on an exploratory bike ride along the Taff Trail. We live at the top of the left or eastern side of this valley and the trail runs along the western hillside.  We took the main road north to Glyntaff to where we knew we could pick up the trail and rode south on it. It runs quite high up the hilside above the districts/villages of Rhydyfelin, Nantgarw, Taffs Well & Tongwynlais, areas where LB and I worked for nearly 30 years but the trail was new to us!  Amazing that somewhere so close to home was previously unexplored.  It runs along an old railway line, through woodland, so on the whole we just had to cope with a gentle steady incline.  


The photo was taken just south of Nantgarw where a clearing gave this fantastic view looking north to Pontypridd with Nantgarw and the Treforest Trading Estate in the foreground.


Beyond Taffs Well the path climbed quite steeply so we got off and walked.  We met 2 mounted police who were on a search and rescue training exercise and stopped for a chat.  They were having an exceedingly pleasant day searching for an imaginary cyclist, far better than coping with the drunks & yobs they usually have to deal with. We parted company but bumped into them ( not literally) twice more before leaving the woods. We continued climbing and realised we'd taken a wrong turn somewhere when we reached the road much higher than we should have & had a long freewheel down into Tongwynlais.  The route home from there was on quiet roads or traffic free paths close to the road.  It was very pleasant but the final push uphill to home was a bit of a struggle - the problem with living on a hill above the valley floor! Reaching home we had a late lunch then went to bed for a sleep!  Our fitness is definitely improving and we were pleased with what we'd achieved