Well, my gravel bike was still in the boot of my car this morning, freshly serviced and collected yesterday. It was a crisp frosty morning, and I am fortunate in having a daughter who has an early morning cleaning job at the Brecon Beacons National Park visitor centre (those of you who did the BB200 would have ridden past it), so it was a golden opportunity not to be missed for a breakfast with a view. Literally golden, as the skies were turning into stunning shades of pink and gold as sunrise approached, so I saved myself some time, got a lift with her in my car, and started riding just as the sun was about to rise.
IMG_20201206_081842 by
Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
The riding was hard going, as I just had to stop about every thirty seconds to take another photo, as it was just absolutely jaw droppingly beautiful.
IMG_20201206_082058 by
Verena Zimmer, on FlickrEventually I forced myself to keep going for a bit, till I reached my chosen breakfast spot.
I unpacked my things and put the coffee water on, real grounds, I think some of you call it cowboy style, I call it turkish style. For food, I had planned a nice little fry up, two rashers of bacon, and egg, a couple of mushrooms, and much to my delight I had found two leftover potato wedges and a bit of tomato in the kitchen in the morning, which I'd chucked in to make it even better. It then turned out that my phone battery had gone flat. I was briefly a bit upset, as the vistas were probably among the most instagrammable ones ever for me.... then gave myself a mental slap and reminded myself that that is not what I/ we do this for

. So instead, I just drank in the views all around me. Which was just as well, as it turned out there was not much happening stove wise, as my gas was running out. It just about managed a passable cup of coffee, but no sizzling bacon for me

.
Never mind, I packed it all up again, and it will have another chance in the morning, as I will head out for a bivvy later.
IMG_20201206_082452 by
Verena Zimmer, on Flickr