Welsh National Rally; May 2008
Barmouth Bridge and Anglesey Circuit
The 2008 Welsh National Rally was run Saturday 10th May and for once the weather was lovely. We took the Blackbird as planned. Last year I managed to lose the front wheel spacer so we ended up taking the CB1000F much to Chris' dismay. (No gell packed seat on the CB1000F.) The route we planned for the Rally is shown in the table below. As usual we did a lot more miles than 371 which is difficult to understand as this year it pretty much went to plan. The Dragons for this year were based on a bridge theme.
We rode up on Friday afternoon after Chris had finished work. We took in a couple of RBR landmarks on the way, no. 94 Monmouthshire and no. 22 Hereford. We ran into a few RBR's at Hereford. Some interesting positions they took up whilst having their picture taken with the "Resting Sheep". Appropriate for the Welsh! Chris had booked our usual B&B just outside Welshpool back in January but unfortuntaley someone got their wires crossed. When we arrived there were already 3 bikes outside. I knocked on the door and jokingly said to the lady who runs the B&B "any room for some more bikers?" "No" she replied. Now we know her quite well so we thought she was joking. She wasn't! Her B&B was full. Luckily she was able to put up us up for the night in the self catering place she also runs. Very comfortable it was too.
In the morning we rode to the start the start at Castle Caereinion and met up with all the usual suspects. Always a few RBR's loitering around. We had a natter, checked in and got going.
I was honoured this year to discover they had picked a stop named after me. Trevor! The Glyn Ceiriog stop was memorable as it involved a bit of dirt tracking through forestry land. Sometimes I do wish the Blackbird had a smaller turning circle but then there's always reverse gear. "Chris get off and pull". The Llanwrst Dragon wasn't easy to find but I think our RBR training helped us out with that one. The bridge wasn't obvious and the plaque on it was even less obvious. The manned stops all offered rest with food and drink available. The Ty-Croes manned stop was the Angelsey Circuit. It was the last of our 3 manned stops and we made it there in plenty of time. (The manned stops all close at 6pm.) We took a long break there in the lovely sunshine watching the bike racing. Brilliant!
The Rally went to plan apart from the Barmouth Dragon where we ended up crosing the Barmouth to Fairbourne bridge which is primarily a railway bridge with a walk way alongside. We didn't mean to cross the bridge but I couldn't turn the bike around when we went down to find the answers to the Dragon question, the cost for a motorcycle to cross and the speed limit on the bridge. It's a long bridge made up of railway sleepers and we slowly trundled over it trying maintain our dignity and stay on the walk way as we navigated the pedestrians using it. Unfortunately it was the wrong bridge. The bridge we wanted was further up the estuary at Pen-y-bryn! Never mind, didn't take us too far out of our way and we can now say we have ridden across the Barmouth bridge. "Big deal" I hear you say.
After we left Anglesey we rode through Snowdonia via the A4086 (Llanberis) and A498 stopping at Nant Peris on the way to Portmeirion. I love those roads, nice to ride with stunning views of Snowdonia.
We got to the last stop, Llanymawddwy, just as the light was fading. and we finished at Castle Caereinion around 9pm, which was good for us. The special test was skittles which Chris took on. After that we collected our Platinums and had a meal and chat with our old mate Rob. It's nice to catch up at the end of the Rally with old mates who like doing the same thing. The thing we like about the Welsh is that its very well organised and run from start to finish by people who are very enthusiastic about bikes, Clive MCC. I'm afraid the catering firm the English National often used just didn't have the same personal touch. After a good rest, Rob escorted us to the Shrewsbury Travelodge where we said goodbye to him and he rode off home to Coventry.
Next day, Sunday, we picked up 5 landmarks on the way back home, no. 40 Shropshire 2, no. 39 Shropshire 1, no. 30 West Midland, no. 59 Worcestshire and no. 19 Gloucestershire. It was a very hot day and we stopped frequently for drinks. One pub we stopped at was a meeting place for guys running old bikes. There were some real "labour of loves" there. None that we could identify. Unfortunately not all of them went home under their own steam.
We weren't sure about doing the Welsh this year because but we're glad we did. It was a good break. The scenery and roads in North Wales are lovely and this time, the weather was good. Once again, a big thanks to Clive for organising it.