Welsh Trip March 2007– The first Day.
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March 2007, I have to say, has been very special for me. I’ve successfully launched my website (www.redbikejohn.com) and the fledgling club the goes with it had their inaugural outing. Club “Dirty Bastard’s world tour of Wales” was a great success but for some was a complete washout! My trips have proved such a success that everyone who took part in last September’s trip re booked for March 07, so I promptly booked the entire B&B.
Unfortunately Mike could not make it so Rhomech stepped up at short notice as he’d never ridden in the mountains before, his normal habitat being the Salisbury Plain area. Regular readers of my reports will already know the others -Tyron, Pistolpete, AndyT, Scottrider and finally Twowheelsdad. Unlucky for Scottrider his KTM ate its starter gear so he never did make it!
Monday morning TWD and I (RBJ), set off early so we could get a ride in
before booking into the B&B. Having poured over the OS maps for a
while I had decided we should explore the Byways North West of Hay-on-Wye
as they were all legal post nerc. We found a lay-by just outside the town
of Newchurch and got kitted up.
The weather could not have been better as the sun was shinning but the
temp was low enough to stop you cooking while riding.
We headed off towards Glasnant and tackled the gentle byway over towards
Rhulen. These gentle lanes were great for TWD as this was the first time
he’d managed to get out since last year September!
The views were fantastic so I stopped several times just to take it all
in, and to snap some photo’s.
dirt bikes – better than work!
Sometimes riding in a small group can be a disadvantage, and so it was
today on a small lane that started up near Glascwm, it was so liberally
intersected with gates it was difficult getting into a rhythm.
Afterwards we headed up the A481 turning right at a small water body called
Llynhellyn on the OS map. The small tar road quickly turns into a byway
that goes right and left. We set off on the right hand leg and again found
the going fairly easy but this lane had the added bonus of a few large
puddles and a stream crossing.
TWD and puddle….and styling it up on the stream crossing
I was really pleased with the way TWD’s stream crossing photo came out! Unfortunately when a camera points at me I normally go for the ‘speed is good’ approach and end up looking unimpressive, must learn to slow down and style it up!
Set camera on ‘timer’ for this one
What TWD did not see while taking the photo of me was what happened after
I hit the other side! A small bump followed by a little furrow had me
all over the place, arms and legs flying in every direction and not really
in control! Still it all calmed down as it normally does. I set the camera
onto timer to record a ‘just the two of us moment’ and then
we pressed on to the end on the lane, turning around once we saw some
telephone poles after the next gate. Oh yes did have a bit of fun by one
of the gates, unfortunately not caught on camera. TWD had opened a gate
and when opened it was above a deep puddle. I stopped to close it but
was not keen to walk though the water so after checking it was nice and
new I hung onto the gate and pushed off curling my feet/legs up to clear
the water! As I acrossed the water I thought to myself "this is going
to be either the biggest disaster or the best idea I had all day".
Fortunately it was the latter, drier, option that won through in the end!
After completing the left hand leg we shot up towards to A44 and on the
way a mangy old sheep dog decided to have a go at me. Now I really like
animals and they normally like me, but when you’re on a bike or
MTB it’s a different story. I’m sure farmers get a local dirt
biker to beat their dogs when they are pups as they always seem to have
it in for us! Anyway I could see in this ones run that it meant business
so I raised my boot off the peg to fend it off (we were at a tight 90’
bend), sure enough he had a right go and I’m sure I only just missed
a good biting!
We followed the A44 down towards the ‘water breaks its neck’
byway in the hope the TRO had been lifted, but no luck, it’s still
in place until August 2007.
Having a quick drink and discussing whether we should come back in August
I spotted a pair of ravens which is always nice, as they are fiairly scarce
in the wild.
We backtracked more or less our entire route (swung on the gate again)
and packed up, satisfied that we’d had a better day than the rest
of the crew who were due to meet us later.
We joined up with Rhomech at the B&B and once we’d washed up
we set off for the Wellington Hotel in Brecon as we'd had such fantastic
steaks there. Only this time things did not work out quite according to
plan. The steak was only ok to be honest, not bad but defiantly not the
same cut of meat as before. Look, I grew up in South Africa so I know
what a good steak should be like! Anyway we had a few more drinks and
then Tyron and Pete arrived. They had driven straight to the pub so still
had the bikes in the back of the pick-up. It was only half past nine but
the kitchen was closed so they had no option but to grab a burger somewhere
else. They then asked nicely if they could eat inside with us (they had
already bought drinks). The manager got really snotty and said no so I
tried reasoning with him, saying that we were seven guys who would be
eating and drinking in here the whole week so surely he could bend the
rules for one night as his kitchen was already closed? He was still not
moving so they went outside and ate on the windowsill! We finished up
and left and I told him (the manager) that I’d never bring another
group back. Turns out Rhomech had a case or two of beers in his car so
we went back to the B&B and got stuck in. The B&B also said they
would no longer recommend the Hotel.
The following evening we tried the Seland Newydd Inn in Pwligloyw (01874
690282) and boy what I difference in attitude, they could not do enough
for us and the food was great! (I’ll elaborate in the next report.)
So all in all a good start to the trip!
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