Buttso
Registered user
We had to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of our buddy "Biker Dave", so what better way than a bike trip..
So off we set, me on the GSA, Essjay on the R1100-GS and Davey on his new Africa Twin.
The plan was, after looking at suggestions from this site, route maps from other sites (http://www.motorcycleroadsonline.com) ,
and google maps (satellite view) to find any interesting routes down through Wales, chucking in some off-road sections and
back roads. Nothing too hard core.. we were all running road tyres and fully loaded panniers. Just routes you could plod down,
ride with your visor up and breath in the air ( And maybe a bit of Mud)
so starting from Holyhead we took the old Holyhead road and headed towards
Caefarnon, then took the road to Betws-Y-Coed via BeddGelert, fab road with some cracking views.
After arriving in Betws-y-coed we settled down for food (steak pie, chips and mushy peas..lovely)
and to have a chat about the rain which was supposed to be washing us out of it this very second.
we then headed south toward Llyn Celyn and on towards Bala, where we intended to camp for the night.
Essjay then spent his time relaxing and laughing at me and Biker dave trying to put up our new tents,
(we had both refused to read the instructions, claiming .. how hard can it be????).... 20 mins later.. no tents
... and here comes the rain.... more laughter from Essjay
Dave then took a good 10 mins to complain about the shoddy manafacturing quality of his
20 quid tent..
but after much swearing.. tentville was complete.. and off down the town for food and booze.
getting up the next morning we gathered our belongings and headed toward Ty-Nant, and onwards to Bwlch y Groes
Bwlch y Groes was also known as Hellfire Pass, and was used between and after the wars by the Austin Motor Company
and the Standard Triumph Motor Company to test prototype cars and their performance during Hillclimbing.
The southern ascent of the Bwlch y Groes, which is approximately 1.7 miles long with severe gradients throughout
(steepest 1 in 4), was renowned throughout the 1970s and 80s as the most challenging climb used in the Milk Race round-Britain cycle race.
the roads were great to potter along, some narrow, some with drops off the side..
and a google maps link
http://maps.google.ie/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Bwlch+y+Groes,+Mawddwy,+Gwynedd+SY20+9,+United+Kingdom&sll=53.020773,
-4.066658&sspn=0.161703,0.308647&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FRqNJQMdoePI_w&split=0&hq=&hnear=Bwlch+y+Groes,+Mawddwy,+Gwynedd+SY20+9,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.802761,-
3.612785&spn=0.162519,0.308647&z=12
from there you head down to circle Lake Efyrnwy (Llyn Efyrnwy) which is a great spin, and some nice pics of the dam
the next stage of the route, was from Llyn Efyrnwy down to Aberytwyth, nice roads, good turns and nice views...
and just in time to stop for a chat with bikers and a cuppa... (maybe more pie)
After much tea.. a good natter with some of the lads there.. we headed off down to Claerwen Resevoir for the first of the off road sections
I hadnt really seen that much of the route, except from what google images could show me, and some pics of fellas on tenere's I found on xrv.co.uk
but it was fun..
coming off the the main road into the area, the first thing you have is a wee water crossing
then heading off passed a farm house to the main lake
had a nice run around the lake, and ended up a Claerwen dam
now we did have another section of the route left to do which was down in the lower resevoirs, but we had sorta run out of time
if you open the mapsource file(see link at bottom), you can see the other route running below claerwen
we decided to head south to Brecon Beacons and stay down near the lower half of the park, in this case Merthyr tydfil
but that changed fairly sharpish when a skin head taxi driver (fair play to him) stopped and advised our buddy Dave that if we left our the BMW's
outside the Castle hotel in the secure parking, we would be pedestrians the next morning, the Honda would be ok appearantly.. but not the beemers
Biker dave was not amused... "that cheeky c*nt" says Davey
So we headed off to find a hotel on the outskirts of the town with more secure parking, which we did an a very nice lady in the Premier in gave us
3 wet smelly bikers a family room for the night
£58 for the room.. CHA CHING!!!
so getting up the next morning, we headed for a nice wee section, just south of the Strata Florida called "The Roman Road"
I marked it in red here so its more viewable
it is just outside Trecastle, and is a nice run with a steep rocky descent at the end .. just over 2.3 miles
here is a google maps satelite view of the roman road
davey was the first casualty
and off we went home after this.... cause we ran out of time.
one of the local lads said that the Philips Navigator was a great source of off road information
he did suggest the Strata Florida, but I am glad we didnt after seeing this.
although the video did make me laugh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWgvFAq0OpE&feature=related
but here is the Garmin file (hope its the right one) for the entire thing in case you fancy a blast, including the route we missed out on
www.essjax.com/files/GDB/wales.gdb
buttso
So off we set, me on the GSA, Essjay on the R1100-GS and Davey on his new Africa Twin.
The plan was, after looking at suggestions from this site, route maps from other sites (http://www.motorcycleroadsonline.com) ,
and google maps (satellite view) to find any interesting routes down through Wales, chucking in some off-road sections and
back roads. Nothing too hard core.. we were all running road tyres and fully loaded panniers. Just routes you could plod down,
ride with your visor up and breath in the air ( And maybe a bit of Mud)
so starting from Holyhead we took the old Holyhead road and headed towards
Caefarnon, then took the road to Betws-Y-Coed via BeddGelert, fab road with some cracking views.
After arriving in Betws-y-coed we settled down for food (steak pie, chips and mushy peas..lovely)
and to have a chat about the rain which was supposed to be washing us out of it this very second.
we then headed south toward Llyn Celyn and on towards Bala, where we intended to camp for the night.
Essjay then spent his time relaxing and laughing at me and Biker dave trying to put up our new tents,
(we had both refused to read the instructions, claiming .. how hard can it be????).... 20 mins later.. no tents
... and here comes the rain.... more laughter from Essjay
Dave then took a good 10 mins to complain about the shoddy manafacturing quality of his
20 quid tent..
but after much swearing.. tentville was complete.. and off down the town for food and booze.
getting up the next morning we gathered our belongings and headed toward Ty-Nant, and onwards to Bwlch y Groes
Bwlch y Groes was also known as Hellfire Pass, and was used between and after the wars by the Austin Motor Company
and the Standard Triumph Motor Company to test prototype cars and their performance during Hillclimbing.
The southern ascent of the Bwlch y Groes, which is approximately 1.7 miles long with severe gradients throughout
(steepest 1 in 4), was renowned throughout the 1970s and 80s as the most challenging climb used in the Milk Race round-Britain cycle race.
the roads were great to potter along, some narrow, some with drops off the side..
and a google maps link
http://maps.google.ie/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Bwlch+y+Groes,+Mawddwy,+Gwynedd+SY20+9,+United+Kingdom&sll=53.020773,
-4.066658&sspn=0.161703,0.308647&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FRqNJQMdoePI_w&split=0&hq=&hnear=Bwlch+y+Groes,+Mawddwy,+Gwynedd+SY20+9,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.802761,-
3.612785&spn=0.162519,0.308647&z=12
from there you head down to circle Lake Efyrnwy (Llyn Efyrnwy) which is a great spin, and some nice pics of the dam
the next stage of the route, was from Llyn Efyrnwy down to Aberytwyth, nice roads, good turns and nice views...
and just in time to stop for a chat with bikers and a cuppa... (maybe more pie)
After much tea.. a good natter with some of the lads there.. we headed off down to Claerwen Resevoir for the first of the off road sections
I hadnt really seen that much of the route, except from what google images could show me, and some pics of fellas on tenere's I found on xrv.co.uk
but it was fun..
coming off the the main road into the area, the first thing you have is a wee water crossing
then heading off passed a farm house to the main lake
had a nice run around the lake, and ended up a Claerwen dam
now we did have another section of the route left to do which was down in the lower resevoirs, but we had sorta run out of time
if you open the mapsource file(see link at bottom), you can see the other route running below claerwen
we decided to head south to Brecon Beacons and stay down near the lower half of the park, in this case Merthyr tydfil
but that changed fairly sharpish when a skin head taxi driver (fair play to him) stopped and advised our buddy Dave that if we left our the BMW's
outside the Castle hotel in the secure parking, we would be pedestrians the next morning, the Honda would be ok appearantly.. but not the beemers
Biker dave was not amused... "that cheeky c*nt" says Davey
So we headed off to find a hotel on the outskirts of the town with more secure parking, which we did an a very nice lady in the Premier in gave us
3 wet smelly bikers a family room for the night
£58 for the room.. CHA CHING!!!so getting up the next morning, we headed for a nice wee section, just south of the Strata Florida called "The Roman Road"
I marked it in red here so its more viewable
it is just outside Trecastle, and is a nice run with a steep rocky descent at the end .. just over 2.3 miles
here is a google maps satelite view of the roman road
davey was the first casualty
and off we went home after this.... cause we ran out of time.
one of the local lads said that the Philips Navigator was a great source of off road information
he did suggest the Strata Florida, but I am glad we didnt after seeing this.
although the video did make me laugh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWgvFAq0OpE&feature=related
but here is the Garmin file (hope its the right one) for the entire thing in case you fancy a blast, including the route we missed out on
www.essjax.com/files/GDB/wales.gdb
buttso
