Cardiff World Half Marathon

I braved the rain and cycled into Cardiff to have a look at the race and take a few pictures, but what started out as light showers ended up turning into a full blown gale.

I parked my self by the 20k mark and the guys from Seiko gave me a very basic overview how it all worked.  It recognises each runners electronic tab and then records their times

The gizmo that controls it all

The strip that picks up the signal

The elite womens race was first.  I was amazed how tiny these athletes are, they seem to bounce effortlessly  and almost silently over the the road surface.

Just as the men were coming through the heavens opened, here's the winner.

as you can see the weather put many spectators off.  A shame as it was a big event in the athletics calendar.

Here's Mo Farrah [Britain] who finished third.  As he said afterwards this event has been a great motivator for him and the Rio Olympics.

I like this shot of the different sized runners...sport for all!

I was frozen just standing there so on the way home it was full steam ahead to get the legs moving and warm up.

Sunday ride to Llanwonno

A beautiful early Spring day and the group ride was up to Llanwonno mountain and back, with lunch in the pub, there. On a Sunday it caters mainly for lunches but they will do some rolls, which are big and many a time I've had to bring half of it home.

If you dont fancy a pub lunch, then on the way there we pass this cafe.  The only problem with stopping here is that you then have to cycle up some 15 - 20 % hills with a mug of tea and a bacon sandwich inside.
Many South Wales valleys cafes have Italian names as they were originally started by Italian immigrants.  The Welsh Italian history is interesting and these cafes have been part of Valleys life for many years.

 There's more here on the Welsh Italians

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Stunning views from the top especially with the clear skies.

Whilst this isnt a long ride the height gain in a few miles is about 1300 feet.