Or the first ride-out on my 1100.
A couple of mates in Oxford TRF arranged a day's trail riding in Wales. So I loaded the old girl up and went along too.
We had a great blast up from Oxford to this place - but had to have lessons to pronounce it properly.
Camping? Oh no no not for me. I checked into the local B&B/Pub. It had great rooms, a top bar, an excellent chef and plenty of bike parking.
After eating my own weight in steak, I turned in and dropped off ...
The following morning we all met up. There was Bill on his KTM, his mate on an Africa twin, me on the 1100, our guide Marianne Walford on an XT600 and Andy Cadney (of Big Bike Challenge fame) on his CCM 404, who was checking out tracks for a long distance trial. I felt some trepidation - but not as much as the others who were worried how many of them it would take to lift the 1100.
Off we set - as usual sense of direction is not my strong point.
The riding was great, with mixtures of stony track, river crossings, climbs, descents and beautiful views.
Shh, don't wake up the sheep ...
A couple of tricky spots got us working as a team. The Africa twin had rubbish tyres, and the GS just couldn't handle one steep muddy climb so man-handling was the order of the day.
In other spots we sailed up (sort -of).
I dipped out after about 50 miles to make it home in time for tea and medals, but the others put in a full day. Thanks to Bill for organising and Marianne for taking us along some superb Mid-Wales tracks. I will be back ...
Marianne is catering more for big trail bikes, and is happy to guide you around trails to suit you sir for a nominal fee - It was £30 each for us this time, which I thought was a sound investment. Take a look at her website here: if you want to find out more.
A couple of mates in Oxford TRF arranged a day's trail riding in Wales. So I loaded the old girl up and went along too.
We had a great blast up from Oxford to this place - but had to have lessons to pronounce it properly.
Camping? Oh no no not for me. I checked into the local B&B/Pub. It had great rooms, a top bar, an excellent chef and plenty of bike parking.
After eating my own weight in steak, I turned in and dropped off ...
The following morning we all met up. There was Bill on his KTM, his mate on an Africa twin, me on the 1100, our guide Marianne Walford on an XT600 and Andy Cadney (of Big Bike Challenge fame) on his CCM 404, who was checking out tracks for a long distance trial. I felt some trepidation - but not as much as the others who were worried how many of them it would take to lift the 1100.
Off we set - as usual sense of direction is not my strong point.
The riding was great, with mixtures of stony track, river crossings, climbs, descents and beautiful views.
Shh, don't wake up the sheep ...
A couple of tricky spots got us working as a team. The Africa twin had rubbish tyres, and the GS just couldn't handle one steep muddy climb so man-handling was the order of the day.
In other spots we sailed up (sort -of).
I dipped out after about 50 miles to make it home in time for tea and medals, but the others put in a full day. Thanks to Bill for organising and Marianne for taking us along some superb Mid-Wales tracks. I will be back ...
Marianne is catering more for big trail bikes, and is happy to guide you around trails to suit you sir for a nominal fee - It was £30 each for us this time, which I thought was a sound investment. Take a look at her website here: if you want to find out more.
