Quiet Rewards

I like climbs. I’ll ride along way to get to them, and today was no exception. After enduring 1.5hrs of stiff headwind, and drizzle that wouldn’t give up, I found myself at the bottom of the climb that goes from Llangadog to Brynaman – the Black Mountain. For nearly half and hour I climbed, eventually up into the cloud meeting the rain at its source. As I neared the top, I turned the last corner and with it put the wind onto my back. Then it hit me.

Silence.

All I could hear was the sound of my breathing and my tires on the road. There were no voices, no far off buzz of traffic, no birds, no noise from the wind as it pushed me gently along as I rode, just silence. Its not often you “hear” silence these days, and even less so on the road. Moments like these don’t happen [to me] very often, and in an odd sort of way it felt rewarding.