Whoosh 26 Day 2
May 2nd, 2026
Whoosh 2026 Day 2 Llanidloes to Shrewsbury 56.5 miles, 3,097ft of climbing
Shortly after we left the little market town of Llandiloes at 9.15 on Saturday morning, we encountered the first stiff climb. It was on a narrow country lane, high hedges on either side. It kept one guessing all the way up whether one would make it all the way by pedal power. Then, after a short, sharp descent, there came another sharp climb as the rural roads snaked up and down into the scores of streams flowing into the nearby Severn.
It was, in a way that might surprise people not used to riding a bicycle, a nearly perfect reminder of what makes riding long distances so enjoyable. The rain held off all day, while the sun peeked through the clouds. The hills were demanding but compelling. Each climb dared us to see if we could make it. Then the descent felt like a reward for the climb. But there was no stopping or slowing after the descent. The momentum was needed to provide impetus for the next climb.
The structure of the day made me think about Thames 21, one of two charities this year’s ride is supporting. The climbs were concentrated in the early parts of the day as we rode through the upper reaches of the Severn watershed, crossing all those streams. We had covered around two-thirds of the day’s climbing by the time we stopped for lunch in the market town of Welshpool, just past half way.
Thames 21 is determined to work to improve the Thames basin, cleaning up polluted areas and ensuring the whole Thames basin is returned to functioning in a more environmentally sustainable way.
I also had plenty of chances to think about the sheer range of bicycles now available – and, hence, about World Bicycle Relief, our other charity. My heavy steel touring bike was probably not the optimal machine for tackling the gradients and I cast envious eyes on the super-light carbon-fibre machine on which Andy Griffiths, one fellow rider, skipped up the climbs.
[World Bicycle Relief](https://worldbicyclerelief.org/) Is committed to providing suitable bikes to people in developing countries so that they can access work, healthcare and education more easily than at present. Each of their £120 Buffalo Bikes can transform a life even more comprehensively than our machines improve ours.
On the road, meanwhile, the enjoyable day threw up other challenges beside the climbing. It was tempting, after a particularly brutal ascent on the road out of Welshpool, to assume that the road was going to become straightforwardly relaxing. But the quality of the roads suddenly deteriorated, meaning our focus was on dodging loose gravel and potholes.
I surged ahead of other riders during the climbs, knowing how hesitantly I tend to ride on such surfaces. Sure enough, other more confident riders kept catching me up on those sections. We moved like a strange millipede across the countryside, spreading out then bunching up as we headed eastwards, across the border back into England.
But there was a joy in that strange cooperation. I shouted out to others as we passed the three-quarters stage in the day’s riding, then 80 per cent and 90 per cent in a steadily less undulating landscape.
I was not, however, only expressing eagerness to reach our hotel and showers and the possibility of food. It was also a determination to grasp the moment. Even the most pleasurable day’s cycling, it seems, has to come to an end. Measuring its length felt like a way to eke out every bit of its pleasure.