near Newcastle Emlyn
rain morning then clear and mostly sunny!
11:00 am Cardigan coffee shop
Slept 12 hours last night then laid in bed for another hour angsting over the weather (rain...duh!) and how to get up the courage to venture out into it...arrgghhh! Why oh why did I leave my warm dry nest yesterday? But then again, when I put my hiker head on, life is good. I love the challenges...remember?!!! I do this because the cushy life bores me. That's why I couldn't stay yesterday.
Last night the rain started about 5 pm and let up at 11 pm. All night I heard the rain dropping from the trees onto my tent whenever the wind blew. This tent will not dry under all these trees.
So I dragged my sorry ass out of my sleeping bag and had to figure out what clothes the day required. How warm or cold...how wet or dry. How to stay cool but not cold. Cool enough not to cause hot flashes but warm enough not to cause freeze flashes. Have I mentioned my thermostat is BROKEN? Completely broken. Doesn't work on either end of the spectrum. If I'm the least bit warm, the hot guns fire and I'm sweating in no time...right over the top. And if I'm the least bit chilled, I'm frozen to the core. It's so hard to find that middle temperature and it requires a lot of adjusting of gear: coats, hats, gloves, pant legs etc. If there's something that affects my temperature you can bet it's been on and off my body several times during the day.
I got my coffee made and my gear packed up and started pedaling on up the hill. I camped halfway. Up and up. And I too got to point where my rear tire was spinning because the road was so steep and wet. That was the first time I've ever gotten off and pushed Blaze. And it was no easy task. First, the parking brake doesn't hold well so I was holding the hand brakes and trying to stand up on a very steep hill. Once up I had to release all the brakes and not let her runaway backwards. Yikes. Push! I had trouble finding my own footing. Get your back into it. Come on, wimp! We made it!
It was actually a beautiful morning for cylcing...in the light rain, I was grinning with happiness. The Welsh countryside is gorgeous: manicured pastures, tree-lined fencelines, the white caps on the bay in the foggy distance. And I'm right here!!
Some thoughts as I pedaled along:
- why do they have locked gates on cemeteries? Is that to keep the dead locked in or the living locked out?
- the roads have very high hedges growing out of very high banks...I couldn't see a view even if I stood up!
There were more thoughts that I so wanted to remember to write down, but they're gone now. I have great ideas while I'm pedaling...earth-shaking, life-changing...and I tell myself "Remember them!" And then when I have a moment to write them down...nothing...what were they? They're in there somewhere...think! Nope, not coming.
Sitting in a cafe in Cardigan, watching the sun break through out there. Making plans for this afternoon to go visit a castle.
7 pm winding my way to Newcastle Emlyn
Next time someone suggest you might want to go back around because of the hill up ahead, you might want to listen to them. I was not on the road I thought I was, even after talking to the guy, and have winded my way through the back hills not getting much closer to where I wanted to be. Oh well, c'est la vie!
After I left the cafe, with the waitresses suggestion, I went to see the cardigan on display.
She said it was done to honor the 900th birthday of the town. Can you even imagine a town 900 years old? Boggles the American mind! Well this cardigan was a knitted quilt of different buildings and scenes of the town. Most artistic and clever! Many kids helped too. She said a jumper her daughter had outgrown but dearly loved us unraveled and knitted into the cardigan. It was so amazing to see this enormous sweater hanging in an art gallery. THat's the stuff I travel to see.
Then I wandered out of town after chats and hugs with some women working in a 2nd hand shop. I was suppose to be finding the cycle path that went along the river to the next town and a castle I wanted to see. Asked 2 different guys, got 2 different instructions and following first one then the other, still didn't find the path and had to take the main road. Of course, I did see where the path came into the town on the other side!
Ok, this castle, built on the river, was between 2 neighboring "tribes" and had no friends. They had to leave via the river at high tide. It was from the 14th century and built of slate which is plentiful in this area. I sense the harsh conditions and violent lifestyles when I visit them. I can't fathom being a woman during that time - a beast of burden, for sure. THis one didn't have a tour, darn it all. I love the tours because so much information is shared and I know so little about that period.
The little villages I cycle through are right off a postcard. Window boxes with flowers, stone walkways and iron gates, and lots of children out and about.
Tonight I'm camped in a large circular cutout closed off except for the opening where I pulled in. It appears that this may be a pit of some sort where soil or rocks or gravel is dug out of the hill. I can't be seen from the road and I don't think anyone will need any soil tonight, so it seems a good place to be. Plus, I'm sheltered from any wind there may be tonight. After my supper of their version of Pasta Sides with broccoli (and my own added to it) I wandered up the hill further to a big field and for a moment had wished I'd cycled a bit further and camped up there...until I felt the wind, and then was glad I didn't.
I was biking along and saw this little stand of eggs for sale and couldn't resist buy a 1/2 doz.
Right from the farmer on the honor system...love it! So I boiled up 4 of them tonight for lunch tomorrow and a salad tomorrow night. Before my AT hike I researched about storing eggs out of the fridge and found fresh eggs can be stored on the counter for up to a month. So I travel with fresh eggs quite often in my pack or on my bike. And here eggs are not usually in the fridge, they're just sitting on a shelf. See, they know they don't need refrigeration.
Oh, I took this pic of Welsh for y'all to see. I met a guy today that explained some of the letters: dd= th as in the, f=v, but ff=f....and that's all I remember:)
BagLady
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