RHYSWG ROAD

ABERCARN, NEWPORT

The entrance to this crazy little road is so well hidden that it’s almost invisible. I rode past it the first time and had to take a closer look at the map to make sure I was in the right spot. Ramping up away from the main road, you have to negotiate a jumble of turns through some houses. The first twists left, taking you back on yourself, and then you’re faced with a hairpin – don’t follow it around to the right, take the left-hand turn that disappears into darkness. From hereon in this impossibly narrow road is a horror to climb – really, really hard. On and on and on it rises, through dense shadowy woods. The gradient does ease back for a short while, but then you hit a set of twin hairpins. Steep and dramatic, first right and then left, you swing through them and then head back into the grind. You’re now lined up for the summit, which I called the spot just past a left-hand turn where the road seems to plateau, well before the farm at the end.