Feasting & frolics in the Welsh Borders

 

I'm told they have more weddings than Blind Date and somehow I'm not surprised. The Bicycle Beano is not your average cycling holiday.

It's not just the carefully planned routes, honed during 23 years in the business, or the idyllic country lanes, the comfy accommodation, tasty food and heady country air. It's more to do with the white arrows chalked at key road junctions to keep confused pedalers on track; the Beano helper who pumps tyres and oils chains while you're enjoying dinner, and the Douglas Adams-inspired guide to places en route.

But mostly it's the Beano team – Rob Green, Jane Barnes and their mechanically-minded sidekick and helper, John. Rob, is not quite Cilla Black, but he does LOVE it when people get on. In fact he spends much of the Beano making sure we're all having a good time and getting to know each other.

It obviously works. On one memorable Beano, Rob recalls "everyone was falling in love with everyone else". There were two weddings as a result. His efforts are not just because it's good for business – though it clearly is: 60 per cent of beaners come back for another go. It's because Rob really is passionate about cycling and passionate about his piece of countryside.

All the Beanos are in Wales or its borders, near to Rob and Jane's home in Powys. Rob argues visitors should always have a local to show them round and refused repeated requests for Beano holidays in other parts of the UK or abroad. It makes sense. Rob and Jane love their part of the country, and know every country lane, the pubs, the churches, and most importantly, where to find the best cakes in the county.

Their enthusiasm is infectious. I joined them for a weekend at Poulstone Court in Herefordshire. Each day began at 8am with a help-yourself breakfast of cereal, toast, and coffee, or for the strong of stomach, last night's leftover dessert. By 9am we were all gathered in the lounge, maps and written notes in hand, ready for Rob's route talk. With much hopping, arm swinging and finger twiddling, Rob enthuses about the wonders we are about to enjoy. It takes a few exasperated pleas from Jane for Rob to "shut up and get on with it", before we are released onto the roads.

The main routes are typically 35 to 40 miles, with optional short cuts and longer detours. There is usually a shared lunch stop at a pub. Our group of 25 or so was a mixed bag of mainly thirty-and forty-somethings. We soon split into smaller posses of people with similar pedal power and interests.

I must add this time there were no flickers of romance, though many had come on holiday alone. Then there were the families. Two couples with two children apiece who managed some 25 miles a day, despite the weight of offspring perched on child seats or pedaling behind on trailer bikes. Others less encumbered tackled extra hills and miles. However, no one went so far as to miss dinner – a delicious vegetarian feast served up at 7pm.

We saw ruined castles staffed by costumed re-enactors, wondered at the canoeists in the scenic Symonds Yat river, and at the remains of an 1845 attempt at self-sufficiency by a community of town-bred "good lifers".

We ate and ate and ate. We puffed our way to the top of hills, and lost ourselves in the ecstasy of freewheeling the hard-won miles downhill. We saw views we would not have noticed from a car window. We made friends. We had that very rare holiday – absolutely and entirely free of hassles. The Beano, meaning a long awaited holiday or feast, is aptly named. Many of us will be back.

 

© Kamala Hayman, London Cyclist magazine, May 1999. London Cyclist is produced bi-monthly by the London Cycling Campaign. The LCC promotes cycling in London. Website: www.lcc.org.uk.
© Photos (not from the article): Bicycle Beano.