as well as Group A & B, there was 3 other groups
group C - going off shopping & sightseeing while seeing if the Audi TT is really a 4 seater ... Sue and her team
Group D - stay at the bunk house and Valet your van. created just for Bazza, but he was also trying to help with the cat herding when the bikes all left the bunkhouse and went in opposite directions to the run leader, or with the wrong run leader.
Group F - this was Flatlines solo group, where he would set off on his own while we were still waiting for breakfast, and go and ride all day. and to be fair it is a great way to avoid all the frustration & time losses that group riding can bring.......but whats the point of having a great days riding if you cant share it with a few mates. .. its all about finding the perfect balance for your group, and when you are all on the same pace and the same expectations it can be a wonderful thing..... but it doesnt always work that way
Group A continued.
our group was mostly the usual suspects:
AMcQ46, Tony.mon, PeteL, Jamoi, Budd and Grumpyfrog off the forum, and then a few outsiders
Grumpys brother Lindsay (who has been on a few rides with us in the past), Budds mate Little Chris (the racing dwarf) who has been coming out with us for a couple of years, their mate Chris Soukey, and his mate Simon (now named Rossi) who were both new to the group.
Tony had volunteered to be the back marker, thanks Tony, and I was leading ...... obviously claiming that I knew where I was going, even if there were lots of roads I had never ridden before
.
and because I had a firestorm, I also had to make sure I had planned petrol stops every 100 miles, and then make sure all riders with bigger tank ranges knew I wasnt going to add extra stops if they didnt fill up when I did .... this is supposed to be the progressive group!
target was 220 miles of A & B roads going as far west as Aberystwyth, as far south as Ystradgynlais, as far east as Clun (back in England) and as far north as Newtown.
https://kurv.gr/2HTh4 incase anybody is interested.
Was dry when we set off but we could see some rain cloud lurking off to the west.......... I was going west
.
We started with the super fast & flowing main road (A470 and then A44) towards Aberystwyth (also known as Abersomethingorother
), and after 20 miles of that, my slightly thick head was now recalibrated and the rhythm and flow were back.
1st official petrol stop was at 22 miles and I had told told everybody to have at least 20 in the tank, but Chris Soukey was twitching, as the dash on his BMW XR1000 was telling him he had 27miles, and that 1st section of roads was a full throttle event ..... but he made it.
From there we turned off the main road and used the devils bridge route into Aberxxx, and now we are setting the standard for minor A roads with endless curves and elevation changes, great road surface and not much traffic. there was also great views into the valley, but with Jamoi on my tail with his awesome KTM RC8, I couldn't allow myself to get distracted as I had to defend the reputation of the Firestorm as a sports bike.
from Aberxxxx, we turned south towards places with multiple L's in their name (Lampeter, Llandwara, Llangadog and bypassing Llandovery), and the great roads kept coming culminating with A4069 from Llangadog to Brynaman, which was only just wider than single track, but had great visibility and could be attacked like a go Kart track as it went over the mountain. by this time Budd had worked out a cunning plan to hang back at about 3rd or 4th man going through the towns so he would miraculacly be the 2nd man after the others had to act as markers in town, just in time to hit 20 miles of mountain bends. So now I had to set a pace to challenge another big KTM, this time a SuperDuke GT ... we had fun
.
from Brynville we now went east and then north, but this was now payback time for all the good roads we had been enjoying, this was a string of crappy ex mining towns, with endless 30 & 40 limits, which went on too long even when the road was now getting interesting.
at this point I ran out of 2nd men to mark the junctions and we had to have a long wait
. eventually Pete and Jamoi appeared and off we went on a very fast, but fairly dull A4067 towards Defynnog. there were long straights on this road, and I fortunately resisted the temptation to go absolutely crazy, but I was still spiked into paranoia when the guys at the back of the group arrived at the petrol stop and said "did you see the copper with the speed gun in the bushes on that long straight"!!!!!!!!
F***K.... no I hadnt
but when they also mentioned that he had parked his multi colored car in a layby, then it was OK
, we had met that car coming towards us when he was still driving to location, and as an example of how strung out the group was, he had had time to set up and wait for the others to come through. Thankfully the other road users were flashings the oncoming traffic, so all our lads went through under the limit
.
petrol station in Sennybridge with Cafe was now our lunch stop (although it was already 2pm), and we saw a few other nice bikes there like an original XS650 and a a modern Triumph Speed twin and 1200 scrambler. ... and what must have been the FIAT X1/9 owners club as about 50 of the latin rust buckets drove past us as we sat.
with our bellies full we bimbled at pure legal speeds along the A40 and into Brecon, before jumping onto an EPIC B road going north into Builth Wells.
I think Budd had again played his hanging back in the towns trick, and he and I had a great run through this pure biker route. Riding along to Brecon, I had noticed that the food and rest had actually slowed my brain and body (probably combined with the drinking and talking sh1t from the night before), so I needed this B road to reset attack mode and get focused .... which it quickly did.
from Builth Wells, you already know the story,...... after another long wait, during which we were overtaken by a horse and cart, the team decided it was better to go direct to Rhayder and do what they do best. Drink & talk sh1t.
once we were back at the house I got a call from Kev to say he had lost most of his group, and were any of them back at base???......... Unfortunately the answer was NO, but wile he was still on the phone, a biker ( the same one that helped pull macs bike out of the bogs) came past Kev and informed him that a red bike had crashed about 8 miles up teh road. but Mac has already shared his story so I dont have to worry about outing him in public (what happen on tour stays on tour
).
and Yes, once I knew he was OK, and we had toasted those who are now absent (and thanked Mac for all he had done with the collection & trophy etc), I might have taken the piss mercilessly. Especially as he had by now consoled himself with a dram or 7 and was a bit wobbly on his feet, I had visions of him surviving his bike crash with no broken bones (for once), but then subsequently falling down the stars at the bunkhouse and breaking his arm. but obviously rather than try and help him, I tried to distract and confuse him while he was on the stairs ... I am a good friend
so big thanks to everybody who joined in and especially all those that helped with any of the logistics and organization, we all had the best time despite the various problems.
I think it was better for me as I would head off as soon as I had 2 people behind me, so I got some flow, but others were stop start. So By 4pm, we still had 80 miles to do, and as we passed through Builth Wells, there was signs for 15m to Rayhader, and there was a vote ...... One by one the group decided they would just take the direct route home, and to be fair, the effects of last nights drinking and lack of sleep, made it the obvious call..... So off we went back to camp and hit the beers out.
. On the bright side there are a few sidecars on ebay 
