My Favourite Rides, 30 rides over 30 years with CTC Swansea

The Picnic Stop

My Favorite Rides, 30 rides, 30+ years with CTC Swansea.

I am Ian Davies, Secretary of CTC Swansea. I would like to tell you a story.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. Once upon a time, long, long ago, before mobile phones, before the internet, when serious computers were nearly all IBM and a PC with hard disk of 40MB was “The Dog’s Bollocks.” Before the Channel Tunnel, before Tony Blair or Nelson Mandela became Prime Ministers or the National Lottery, before the Vicar of Dibley, even before Forest Gump. Yes, that long ago! I had a bike, an ASP Special (All Spare Parts), it must have cost me about £20 altogether, it was some bike. Anyway, I had done the Gower Ride a few times and had been cycling on my own for some time and as what usually happens – boredom set in. I thought maybe I should join a group, maybe I was too old? I was about 40. I saw an article in the Evening Post which included a snip about a Swansea Cycling Group named CTC and it included the Secretary’s name and telephone number, Mr. Des Radford. I gave him a call.
I told him who I was and what I had done, where I lived and what I thought I wanted to do next although in hindsight I confess I had no clue what was coming! He was very patient and understanding and invited me to join him on the ride the following Sunday to Dolaucothi Gold Mine. I asked “where the hell is that and how far would the ride be.” He replied without any concern “oh for you it will be about 85 miles.” I said “whoa, I think I have made a mistake, I have never ridden anything like that distance before.” He said “bring the car to Pontarddulais and we will meet you there as we come through, it is different riding with a group, you will be pulled along, you won’t slow down when you get tired, you will keep up, get faster and fitter much quicker that riding on your own, everyone will help you.” Well I did go along and he was right, he took me to places I had never heard of on roads I didn’t know existed, every ride was an adventure. I followed him for the next 20 years until he retired and then I had to think about the routes for myself, where the hell had we been going for all of those years? OS Maps and numerous ride reccies, later, we have our current rides programme and still every ride is an adventure.
Now there are cyclist, proper cyclists, you know the type, 5’10” tall weighing 9 stone soaking wet, all the go faster gear and stripes in the right places and those glasses, the ones that make them anti-social, well, they never acknowledge me anyway, and their bikes weighing less than my tool bag! They are the bike equivalent of the Ferraris. And then there is me, you know the phrase “horses for courses,” well compared to the racing thoroughbreds mentioned above, I am like the Shire horse riding the bike equivalent of a Land Rover and pulling a trailer with my tools and accessories, a good old fashioned steel tourer. A former rugby player, a number 8 forward, doing his best to keep moving and carrying so many injuries from that stupid bloody game with the constant reminders on every ride of what happened and when it happened all those years ago.
I am now in my 74th year, I am ageing, my body is ailing and failing but my memory is still functioning OK, I think! So while it is still working, I thought I would document and share my 30 favourite rides over the last 30+ years with CTC Swansea. Now I have to confess here that these days I can do the distance and the lumps but the pace is much, so much slower, so wait for me at the top and I will share my wine gums with you.

These are the rides I have chosen, in no particular order, come and enjoy them with me. I will post one new ride every week until there are 30. So far, we have the following rides published below: