North Wales 2013

Wales 2013,

This year I have not written a lot of blogs, as in February I changed jobs. This has had an adverse effect on which type of riding I have done. Most of my off road riding was suspended, as I did not want to have an accident and have to take time off of work. So damage limitation was put in place. Road riding was done but not to the extent I would have liked.

This blog is about my ride to North Wales.

Day 1

I had no real intention to go on this trip to North Wales and I only booked the hotel on the Thursday before leaving.  It was only going to be a short weekend.  The norm is to travel up on the Friday, have half a day’s riding. Saturday would see a whole day of off road riding and then Sunday would see a good ride and a drive home. This weekend would see us leaving on the Saturday and then returning on the Sunday. Dave, who had organised the weekend had only visited the area once before to carry out a quick recci.

The day started early, I had done most of my prepping Thursday and Friday night, but I like to go over everything to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything.  At this point I had no idea of the logistics or that we were going to ride on the Saturday. By 7am Dave had picked me up and we were on our way. We made our way up the A1(m) to Biggleswade, we then pulled into Colin’s house where we met up with Colin and Dean.  All our equipment was then transferred into Colin’s van, once loaded we were on our way again.

 

Our destination for this trip would be, The Hand Hotel in Llangollen. This would be our base for the weekend and one that is used by many greenlaners.  As we made our way up the A1(m), then across A14, M6 and M54 into Wales the weather couldn’t make its mind up. The forecast was for a wet and wild weekend and it wasn’t disappointing us. The last part of the trip up took us along the A5 and into Llangollen. On our journey up we had stopped and taken on board some snacks, it was then I realised that we were in fact going to ride today.

 

On arrival at The Hand Hotel, which was just after midday, we booked in and put our luggage into our rooms. We then got changed in the van and got ready for the off.  The weather had settled down and was a mixture of broken cloud and sunshine with a slight but possible chance of rain. We headed west out of Llangollen along the A5 then turned left to go up into the mountains.

 

Autumn has just begun, the leaves had started to fall from the trees, carpeting the lanes and trails with a leafy cover and whilst some trees were still a lush rich green others were a bleached yellow, this left a broken, dappled leafy cover as we rode down the lanes, the bracken had also turned to a deep rusty brown on the mountain side, but in the woodland it had mostly stayed green.

The first lane was a lovely narrow lane cut into the side of the mountain.  To the left was a wooded steep bank with an understory of different coloured bracken, to the right was a steep drop off again wooded but fenced off and grazed by sheep, and at the bottom a river ran fast, bubbling white as it tumbled and flowed over the rocky  river bed.  About a quarter of the way along the lane, we found ourselves riding along a board valley floor and we crossed the river. We then climbed up the mountain for a while until once more it flattened out and we once again had to cross the stream. This time we had a choice as such, we could either cross via a small foot bridge that was railed or try to ride across the lower side. Although not that wide the river would be nearly impossible to ford.  The upper side has steep entries and exits, the lower side looked the easier option, however two factors remained.  Firstly was the rate at which the river was running, there had been a lot of rain fall and the flow of the river was fast, this could quite easily push you over. The second factor was the river bed itself, it was made up of large rocks and boulders; there was no flat gravel bottom to negotiate. The large rocks were covered in a thin film of algae which from past experience we knew to be as slippery if not more so than ice. This combined with the thought of drowning a bike so early on into our trip and how bloody cold the water would be left us really with only one option. The bridge.

The bridge was a simple affair, both sides were railed and the reason why became obvious once we attempted to cross. The floor of the bridge was covered in leaves, but as we started to cross we realised what it was made off. One large cut slab of thick Welsh slate. Under the leaves this slate was wet and covered in slim and was more slippery than an ell in baby oil. We helped each other across as there was a small step to get onto it but once momentum was lost the front wheel would wash out and the rear would just spin.

Once safely across the bridge we once again headed up the trail, only to be greeted by the next obstacle. This time it was a matter of fallen trees. The first of which wasn’t too much of a problem, as we could easily wheelie over it, but the ones that followed were. The river was once again on our right hand side and between us and it was a steep wooded bank. Even if we had managed to get down the bank, I very much doubt if we could have forded the river or got back up the bank to the trail. To our left was a steep bank, the trees that had fallen had been up rooted about twenty or so feet up the slope.  This meant that the large trunk of the tree was suspended above the trail and would mean we would have had to man handle the bikes over it, this was not going to be an option. This left only one other option and that was to try and ride up and across the left slope. The slope was steep but it initially looked as though we could possibly ride it. We decided to further investigate but as we walked up the bank we realised the moss was covering a very loose and unstable shale bank. We made a rough route along the bank through the bracken and around some hazel copses, but with a report now that there were more blockages along the way, we decided that we would leave this adventure for another day and better spend our time investigating the area, than tackling this one lane.

 

So beaten we turned around and headed back, the slate bridge saw our first off of the weekend, as Dave whilst walking his bike lost his footing. We continued back down the trail until we got to the road, then followed this until the next lane. This road was a beautiful single lane tarmac road cut into the rock, the drop off to our left was steep, but it gave us some amazing views of the mountains and valleys.

 

The next lane was a fast forest fire road that cut through forest and open countryside, as we made our way along we can across an area that looked as though the locals used it as a playground. Tracks ran into the forest, up and down steep banks and fording rivers and streams.

 

 

The lane after this was a UCR which was more or less an uncared for tarmaced lane.

The fourth lane we came to looked very interesting from the start. As I looked up the trail it started off as a mixture of gravel and shale with large rocks up to the size of footballs scattered along the way. But further up the trail there seemed to be a large area of what came only be described as a crazy pathed patio of flat broken slate. How long this lane would be or what it would throw at us I didn’t know, but I just knew it would be interesting. The lads had disappeared up the trail and around the corner before I had time to shut the gate. I made my way up the lane keeping momentum to get over the slate bed. I rounded the corner to see all three lads trying to get up a large curved lump of solid slate bedrock protruding into the lane; the slate was wet and slippery and was causing all types of problems. I sat and watch as they slipped, scrambled and slowly made their way over this lump of rock. Whilst watching I had decided the best route to take would be to keep to the far left of the track and to ride at a steady pace to keep traction with the surface.

 

Dave was now the only one left struggling with this obstacle, so I took the opportunity to attempt my route and hope that I didn’t end up crashing into Dave. My plan worked and once at a suitable place to stop, I parked up and went back to help Dave.

The track now was basically a river bed, the small stream that ran down next to the track had swollen and had over flowed and was now running down the track. The surface was solid slate with loose rocks scattered along its length. As we made our way up the mountain the surface changed again to a mixture of loose rocks and a rocky soil bed. As the track was cut into the surface water ran down its slopes and sat in puddles along its length. These puddles were a few inches deep and as the lane progressed the confidence built as did the speed, but near the top of the mountain one of these puddles caught out Colin and Dean. They had guessed that all the puddles were the same depth but this particular one was a lot deeper than the rest and soaked both of them.

 

We were now at the top of the mountain and we sat for a while taking in the view, but time was ticking on and we knew that we had to make a move, to make sure we got back before the darkness of night fell. We ascended down the other side of the mountain passing pine forests. We then hit the road for a little while to link us up with the next trail. This trail had a large deep valley gorge to the left of us. This gorge was bracken covered. Whilst to the right of the trail a deep green covering of gorse covered the mountain side. As we climb the mountain both the bracken and gorse gave way to grass land and sheep grazing. A little bit further on we came to a gate where we joined the last trail we had travelled. From now on we would be retracing our steps back to the hotel.  

 

 

Wales had been good to us this day; although windy and overcast we did have a little bit of broken sunshine at times and despite a small amount of occasional drizzle it had stayed dry. We were soon once again on the A5 heading back to the hotel, this threw up one last scary moment.  The A5 is lined by large Larch trees which at this time of year drop their needles. This in returned meant that the road was striped, needles, tyre track, needles, tyre track, needles this then repeated itself on the other side. I was travelling in the inner tyre track (the one nearest the curb) I decided to cross the needles to travel in the outer tyre track. This was nearly my undoing as I crossed over the loose needles slipped spinning up the back wheel and started the bike to drift, a missed heart beat or two later I once more was in control.

 

Ace Cafe Battle of Hastings Ride 6/5/13

Ace Café Battle of Hastings ride out

May 6^th 2013

Last year we missed many of the ride outs due to personal commitments and bad weather, and for some reason, that I can’t recall at this moment in time, we had missed the Southend run already and weren’t going to miss any more.

The date was fix in the diary and at six o’clock on a slightly cloudy Sunday morning I was up getting ready for our start time of 7.15am. The plan was to ride down to the Ace Café fuel up have a cuppa then join the ride down to Hastings.

Ian, my brother, arrived at my house on time where I was waiting quite eagerly and we set off on the start of the day’s journey. The roads were quiet and we made good time down to the Ace Café. As we left the north circular we turn away from the café to fill up our tanks at the garage on the opposite side of the road. As we fuelled up other bikes were coming and going doing the same and we could see bikes arriving at the Ace. Fuelled up we rode across to the Ace to get a warm drink before we departed.

Despite arriving after a lot had already clearly been there for a while, somehow we were put at the front of the queue. We were handed a leaflet on the route the ride would be taking and whilst we sat sipping our tea I examined where we were going. The route would take us through the middle of London. Ok so the roads would probably be quiet at this time on a Sunday morning, but town riding is not my thing, traffic cameras, speed cameras, traffic lights, roundabouts, and the possibility ofcontinuous contra flowing to keep up along with the possibility of getting lost just didn’t appeal to me or my brother.

We discussed the options and decided that we would break with the first part of the tradition of the ride out and instead ride out around the circular joining the M4 then turning south onto the M25 here we could make good time around to junction 5 where we would leave the M25 and join the A21. Here we could join and continue with the planned ride out. Motorway riding is also not my thing, the route would be slightly longer but at least it was simpler and we could get a move on.

The motorway part of the journey went in a blur, with the greens of budding leaves, browns of ploughed fields waiting for their dormant seeds to shoot, the yellows of the gorse, primroses, cowslips and dandelions and the grey of the sky and motorway. As we neared the end of our motorway journey we overlooked the countryside and the trip about to begin. A low fog hung in the valleys but the cloud was about to break giving way to blue skies.

I really enjoy the slip road off of the M25 on to the A21, it’s a long left hand bend, very sad I know but there you go. As the road drops down we rode into the dissipating morning fog and you could feel the drop in temperature. This thankfully only lasted for a few miles and we were once again riding in the broken sunshine. I really enjoy the ride down the A21 to Hastings, I remember the first time I did it the bridges roundabouts and laybys were lined with people out to see the spectacle, adults and children alike, all waving and where possible wanting a hi five. The only thing with the first ride out that made me feel upset was the amount of police trying to make a killing through speed cameras and nicking people through things like having small number plates, it sort of soured the whole experience.

This time the people still lined the streets, the police still showed a presence but it was more subtle and less offensive.  We arrived in Hastings welcomed by a slight sea fog which couldn’t make its mind up whether it was coming or going. We rode along the sea front and shuffled our way into a parking space.

Once parked up we wondered around looking at the bike spectacle, trikes, custom built bikes, hybrids and shop ready bikers lined the roads and filled the car parks. Some looked like they were just taken off the shop floor despite their age, whilst others looked unloved and neglected, most had personal touches from sheep skin saddles to tank protectors to tidy tails and personalised paint jobs.

 

After a good look round we abandoned the sea front and headed into town to find somewhere to eat. There are plenty of nice places to eat along the front but they are all heaving with tourists and bikes and whilst the town is busy it’s still a little more relaxed than the hustle and bustle of the sea front. The sun was now shinning the sky was blue and we had been fed you couldn’t ask for anymore.

 

We then took another walk around Hastings, taking in the vernacular railway and looking up on to the hill top with there are castle remains and where people were enjoying May day activities. Each time we come here I say “next year we’ll go up there to see what’s going on” but I never do. May be next year. Along the front there were stalls and dealers one of which was a Victory dealer. We stopped and chatted for a while as my brother likes this type of bike and we arranged a possible test ride. We then again wandered some more and grabbed an ice cream on our way and sat in the sun and relaxed for a while.

The day was now drawing on and we had a good hundred mile ride to get home. So reluctantly we kitted up and started our long journey home. We travelled up the A21 meeting the M25 but this time we travelled in the opposite direction to the one we came in on travelling towards Dartford. After the A roads the roads were boring motorway riding not my first choice but an easy and quick way to get home.

The day had been enjoyable and I had enjoyed being out on the bike, meeting likeminded people and seeing all the bikes.

Ashridge Cream tea ride out.

Ashridge Cream tea ride out.

It was a lovely morning, something that hadn’t happened too much this year, as it was Sunday and there wasn’t much planned for the day I decided that I would like to go for a ride and make the most of the good weather. My brother was out today and we had planned to go to Hastings tomorrow joining the ride out from the Ace Café, so  I asked Sue if she wanted to take Mum out for a drive, stopping at the National Trust café in Ashridge Forest for midmorning tea.

It wasn’t going to be a long ride, only a couple of hours including the stop for tea, but the roads would be a nice mixture of fast straights A roads and twisty B roads. Avoiding most major highways and seeing the lovely British countryside.

Around 10am we set off aiming to be at Ashridge Forest around 11/11.30am for cream tea. We first had to negotiate our way out of the village nothing hard but a ride through house lined streets with only a glimpse of the country side but the journey really begins when we reach the roundabout at the top of the Blue House Hill on the A4147, we drove down the hill with Verulanium Park to our right, there is a museum there where you can see the town’s history and a place in the park where you can view an old mosaic floor from when it was a Roman town. On the top of the hill stands the majestic St Albans Cathedral, to the left are fields where sheep now graze over the other half of what was the old Roman town of Verulamium the only part now on view to the public is the Amphitheatre. Set a little further back just out of view are ancient Bronze Age and Celtic settlements and other historical remains hidden on the Gorhambury Estate.

http://www.romantheatre.co.uk/

We continue down the hill crossing the river VER and arrive at a roundabout, locally known as Batchwood roundabout. Here we turn left along the A5183. This follows and in places runs on top of the old Roman road (Watling Street) which itself follows the of the course river VER. This is a nice fast straight road but has some blind country lane emerging onto it. We stay on this road until we reach the next roundabout on the edge of Redbourn, here we turn left on to the B487 heading towards Hemel Hempstead. We’re only on here for a short time before we turn right (just before the motorway bridge) then immediately left onto Gaddesden Lane. This is a twisty lane heading through the countryside, it is narrow but there are no hedges so you can see other vehicles approaching and take the necessary action. It is a lane as such so care should be taken to avoid the gravel that can and does sometimes appear in the middle of the track. As Gaddesden Lane ends you go through quite a blind twisty section and again care should be taken but it straightens out and then turns sharp right onto Gaddesden Row.

Gaddesden Row is a lovely straight country road and as with the trip so far has farm land on both sides. Dotted along its length is a traditional country pub and the village too is unmolested. We’re now at Jockey End and although we stay on the same road its name changes to Clements End Road and the nature of the road changes too. The road now twists its way through farmland and woodland, we come to a junction where we go straight ahead (which is technically a right) and head into the quaint village of Studham. The road in the village narrows down to a single lane with a 20mph speed limit. We continue along the same road we have been on since Redbourn but the name once again has changed to Dunstable Road, we follow this tree lined twisty road until we come to the roundabout at Whipsnade.

Here we turn left onto the B4540 it’s an open road that winds its way up the side of the downs heading toward Whipsnade Zoo. This is where we hit a small delay. As it was a nice day other people had also decided to take the advantage of this, and a queue was now blocking the road as cars wait to gain entrance to the Zoo. The entrance to the Zoo is on a blind corner, I carefully skirted around the traffic and I could see both ways I indicated to Sue it was safe to proceed and she along with some other cars now passed the waiting queue. Once past the Zoo the road drops steeply down the other side of the downs, the road then ends when it meets the B4506 and we turn right and follow until we come to a roundabout.

Here we turn left on to the B489 (the Icknield Way) a hedge line sweeping road, but we soon come to a double mini roundabout. We continue straight ahead staying on the B489 (now the Tring Road). This road sweeps along the edge of the downs giving spectacular views across the countryside. We stay on this road for only about a mile or so and then take the first left which is quite a sharp turn head further up the downs into Ivinghoe hills/beacon. Here we cross a cattle grid and although managed a watchful eye must be kept for deer. Here again are wonderful views and lovely picnic places where you can stop. You can make steady progress along this road, although it just worth meandering along to take in the views of woodland and open downland. The road comes to an end at a T-junction in a village called Ringshall, where we turn right on to the B4506, about a mile down the road we turned right again down a metaled Byway to the National Trust café and visitor centre. We arrived just as some vintage and classic cars where departing, which was nice to see. Here we parked and made our way to the café to have our cream tea.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-estate/

The place was alive with walkers, cyclists, old and young, dog walkers and the like. The café itself sits on the edge of the forest and Pitstone common. It’s the first time I’ve ever been to the café, although I have passed it on many  occasions. I must say they seem to be very well organised and more importantly reasonably priced. As we relaxed some old friends from years passed queued up for refreshments as they had cycled there from Redbourn. It was nice to catch up and we spent a while chatting.

Time had come to depart and we said our goodbyes. We made our way down the metaled Byway reaching the B4506 turning left back toward Ringshall. We pass the road we’d come in on then, then about 50yds up the road we turn right leaving the B4506, heading toward Little Gaddesden on the Nettleden Road. Little Gaddesden is another traditional village unspoilt by the passing of time. Is where we leave the village we take a left down Hudnall Lane which starts of narrow and twisty with a few blind corners, but soon opens up to a lovely downhill ride. There are a few houses to start then you head through a leafy lane then open down land arriving at the bottom to farmland.

Here we meet the A4146 and turn right heading toward Hemel Hempstead. The road is fast and sweeping and one I like to ride from Hemel Hempstead passed Whipsnade and beyond. At Water End we slow to go through the village as the road narrows and there’s a bridge where it becomes single lane traffic, once out the other side the pace picks up a little until we hit the outskirts of Hemel. At the roundabout we take a left on to A4147, we head up the hill leaving the countryside behind and head into suburbia we go straight across the next two roundabouts then at the third roundabout we turn right but we still stay on the A4147. We now had to make our way through an industrial estate, not the most scenic of views but time is ticking away and we need to get home, there are better ways to go but sometimes needs musts.

At the next round about we take a left then the next right, here you have to watch for the speed cameras. The next roundabout is a major one, we could take a left and head home on the A414 which is a fast duel carriageway but is straight and boring so instead we go straight across staying on the A4147 and head toward a little village called Leverstock Green. Once you’ve left the village and then the 40mph zone the road opens up and is another of my local favourites. We end our ride exactly where we started on the roundabout at the top of Blue House Hill on the A4147.

Ace Café Kawasaki Sunday 28th April

Ace Café Kawasaki Sunday 28^th April

I woke to the sun’s rays burning through the gap in the curtains.  It was early and I so wanted to still be asleep after the week’s hard work, but now I was awake my mind was buzzing.  It was a nice a day and we were  going to be heading out to the Ace Café.  I was really looking forward to the ride.  They were holding their Kawasaki Sunday and apparently its Kawasaki 60^th anniversary and as my brother owns a Kawasaki it was a good reason for a ride, like I really need an excuse.   With the weather on the sunny side of nice I guessed it was going to be a busy day with a good turnout.

With time on my side a hearty breakfast was the order of the morning.  Sunday is a proper English tradition day for me it usually starts with a full English breakfast and then a proper roast dinner in the evening.  Despite the fact I do love my weekend treat I’m glad it doesn’t happen every day or I’d be the size of a house and would probably have to sell my bike and buy a Harley (only joking no offence meant).

Fed, watered and all pre ride checks done I was ready to roll by around 9.30am and guessed we would arrive at the Ace by around 10.00.  I like this time it allows people to arrive, they will have judged the weather like myself and decide their plans for the day.  I’ve notice that bikers like to turn up, stay for a cuppa or a little lunch then go for a ride.  So while there will be a reasonable turn out of an afternoon it’s not normally as busy as the morning.

The sky was blue and apart from an odd distant cloud it was turning out to be a glorious day. Although it was almost officially British summer time the hedge rows were still lying dormant and hadn’t change from our evening ride, only a few green spring shoots coloured the brown hedgerows and yellow primroses, cowslips and dandelions added colour to the green verges the deep, dark, rich yellow of the dandelions quite stark against the gentle pale yellow of the cowslips.  Also along with the white of the wild cherry was now the pink blossom of the flowering cherry, probably spread by birds into the countryside where they now have established adding brightness to the bleak bare tree line.  The fields were now too showing signs of life as small green leaves started to break through the brown crust.

We arrived at the Ace and as I had expected it was very busy with Kawasaki riders queuing up to get into the car park.  I knew that I wouldn’t be allowed in with my Triumph and had arranged with my brother that I would park on the other side of the road while he could park and show off his bike along with the others.  Veering off to the right to park I found a place at the end of a line of bike as I reversed in to the space I noticed my brother beside me.  What are you doing I asked, I thought you were going into the Ace? You must be mad, came the reply, I’d never get out again.

We parked up and went for a wander round first looking at the bikes parked on the side of the road we had pitched on, we had arrived just in time to see a large group of Harley riders thunder off on what I can only guess was an organised ride out. As we walked back toward the Ace a van pulled up, to view the event, behind it a people carrier pulled in. Then without warning the van suddenly reversed back hitting the car. The van driver got out accusing the car driver and I thought it was going to all kick off, but the van driver soon turned round when a guy the size of a house got out of the car. Despite an exchange of words there were no apologies forth coming from the van driver.

With the situation now calmed down, we crossed the road and entered the Ace’s car park which was now heaving with an array of Kawasaki motorcycles of all different shapes, sizes, colours and ages. From back road racers to motorway mile munchers. We wondered for a while looking at standard factory built bikes to custom built hybrids.

 After a good look round we had a welcome cuppa, sit down and chat. We then mingled some more chatting to other bikers, as midday came and went there was a lot of coming and going, we too had to make our way home and after one last look round we left for a quick motorway blast home.