West Wales Posse Ride out

[(RIP) Dennis]

Well the sun shone on the righteous(and us lot) today, as five volunteered as guinea pigs for a new route I was itching to try out on some unsuspecting GSers

Andy Leett, RCC54, Campbell and myself meet up at Carmarthen for a cup of tea at my place before setting of to join up with Humvee and A.N Other (sorry I just didn't catch the name ) at Swansea West services, a short run down the old A48 to Morriston hospital and I was lost already.....so much for GPS. If I hadn't been so busy fiddling with it (Oh er Misses!) I might not have missed the left turn just before the hospital to take us across Betws Mountain. Anyway a couple of U turns later, a quick trip around a housing estate and Bitchin' betty sorts herself (and me) out and we are on our way.

Across to Ammanford with a very slippery descent down to the main road, a quick left and a right and we are off across to Gwynfe to join up with the A4065.

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

From there we dropped down almost to Llangadog before turning right to cut across country to the Usk resevoir and then to Trecastle where Campbells pass expired and he had to turn for home.

The remaining 5 then cut throught the lanes to Upper Chapel and across Eppynt to Garth, stopping for lunch at Beulah. A few mile of smooth dry tarmac put us once again on the back road heading for Elan Village and then up to Claerwen Reservoir for a short but entertaining off road section

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

Shortly after taking that serene looking scene and track deteriorated a little and had us all wishing we were on something just a little lighter(except Humvee of course). Then caqme the water splash..........

Steve (Humvee) show us how it should be done......

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

Shakes a leg.......

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

Sorry forgot the pic...

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

And powers away....

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

Next came Andy.....

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

And finally........

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

NO not that way.......

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

Phew! that was close....but it all sorted out OK

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

Shortly after, once back on the tarmac Steve discovered a bit of squirmy feeling as his rear tyre decided it had had enough punishment for one day. Thankfully B*W's puncture repair kit is a little better than it's fiinish It actually works.......fully inflated at Lampeter after saying goodbye to Andy and Rob at Tregaron, by Carmarthen it still seemed to be holding up well. Hopefully he made it back to Cardiff in one piece....

Thanks to all for the company. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Now! where do we find some more RuPPs and BoaTs suitable for GSing.

 

[steve g]

Sorry to have missed the ride out!

Just come on line, the first time for several days. Seems you started on my home turf - Ammanford area!

Great weather for a ride out shame I missed it, perhaps next time.

Stephen

 

[BFB1150GS]

Thank you dennis for a great day out .

I knew that bloody water crossing would come back and haunt me

Next time i'll try to go the right way

thanks again

Ryland

 

[Madmountainman]

Nice trail Dennis, find some more to make a day of it and organise another run, when i'm not working, and i'll be up for it!

 

[(RIP) Geriatric Germ]

NEVER, NEVER, EVER AGAIN.

A £10,000 lump of Heavy Metal from the Fatherland is NOT the thing to cruise over 2 foot deep Potholes, mud that puts Sideways to shame, 15 foot deep rivers, sheer 500 foot drops inches from yer left testicle, sensible Loonies on Little Enduros in the opposite direction at around 60 mph, and when we stopped for a Debrief at the end (on Tarmac) a dolly bird in a Discovery
(If I'd known I'd have laid down and waited for Mouth to Mouth, my luck I'd have got Andy! Next time (if ever) it'll be on a little Trail Bike Still got to say enjoyed the company and MOST of the ride, thanks Dennis for planning??? (turn left here, oops a car park, GPS my Arse) it and youse guys for your company next time on a little one

 

[2 wheel humvee]

Wales Posse Rideout

Thanks guys great day out

Apart from;The ABS wiuldn't re-set all day

And the howling wind almost blew the bike off the sidestand-Well caught Dennis!

And I forgot to zip up my jacket pocket and lost my smokes

And I got a Frickin puncture-but as Dennis said BWM's repair kit seems to work,it got me home anyways

Well I tried the off road thing and it's a giggle I admit-but I'm not about to make a habit of it-not on my own bike anyway

 

[andy leett]

Excelent day,good route great company.
The Off-Road was brilliant,sadly the bike suffered a little,dented sump-guard-front mudguard broken.

 

[andy leett]

Another.

 

[(RIP) Dennis]

Andy,
Nothing wrong with the sump guard that a lump hammer won't easily fix pop over one afternoon around 5.30 - 6 and we'll sort it out for you.

Steve, Glad you made it home on the on the tyre Ok

Ryland, If you think that little problem has co,me back to haunt you, you should have seen my first off road excursion a few weeks back when I ended up dropping my little Suzuki in 3ft of water I coiuld hardly find the thing in all that mud.......

Rob: Big Wuz

Campbell: Sorry but you missed the best bit - must try harder

Seriously tho folks, it really was one the most memorable rides of late. Thanks for the great company and fortitude

 

[kwh]

Dennis, you are quite mad

Still, respect is due . Basically, I reckon anything without muddy bits or enormous rock steps would be sensibly do-able on a GS without knobblies, so that should include Strata Florida in summer, and Claerwen any time. Sarn Helen might be OK, but I think the rock steps might be a bit of a lottery, so perhaps not... if you have TKC80s, the Wye Valley Walk and The Gap Road should also be fun (there's one muddy bit on the Wye Valley Walk that might demand the extra grip), although I'd suggest that before tackling the climb out of the gully at the end of the Gap, you'd probably want to either have proper dirt-biking experience, or done the BMW GS-abuse course, just to prove to yourself that its not as impossible as you might think it is. In fact, I've seen a Suzuki Freewind on trailwings traverse the gully, so a GS on TKC80s should have no trouble whatsoever...

Strata Florida particularly would be fun on a GS, it has lots of river crossings, but it's all rock based so there's very little if any mud. The dodgy bit, as Dennis mentioned to me earlier, is that you can't always see the bottom of the rivers to spot big rocks, but in those cases if somebody gets off and walks the line you intend to ride beforehand (which is more fun in Summer than it is at this time of year), that's not a huge problem.