North Wales May 2013

[Derek-Dex-French]

Went with the Pan Clan to Betws-y-Coed in North Wales over the last weekend. We did about 720 miles in total including a 200 mile run-out on the Saturday morning. Stayed at The Waterloo Hotel who looked after us very well. About 30 bikes and 50 people in total.
Chalet/outhouse accommodation at the back of the hotel has been nicely refurbished and is a quiet area to park the bikes.

Wales chalet2 IMG-20130504-00380.jpg (137.31 KiB) Viewed 12618 times

Wales chalet3 IMG-20130504-00381.jpg (152.9 KiB) Viewed 12618 times

Saturday morning was the organised run-out which most went on. The 'drop-off' system was used so it didn't matter if 30 or so bikes got spread-out over many miles during the run.

Wales Run-out1 IMG-20130504-00385.jpg (152.05 KiB) Viewed 12618 times

[Derek-Dex-French]

Coffee break was at an Inn by a lake. Must find out where we were! I just followed the others. Spectacular scenery.

Wales run-out2 IMG-20130504-00389.jpg (113.2 KiB) Viewed 12617 times

Bikes were parked near the bank of the lake. Some were black...

Wales run-out3 IMG-20130504-00392.jpg (136.33 KiB) Viewed 12617 times

... and some were red.

Wales runout4 IMG-20130504-00391.jpg (99.79 KiB) Viewed 12617 times

[Derek-Dex-French]

Les had moulded some new covers for his tip-over wings which incorporated driving lights. Quite neat I thought.

Wales run-out5 IMG-20130504-00393.jpg (169.7 KiB) Viewed 12605 times

Lunch break was in Aberystwyth which would be familiar to some from BritSToc 2008.

Wales run-out8 IMG-20130504-00394.jpg (105.76 KiB) Viewed 12605 times

The road out of Aberystwyth and across to Devils Bridge was simply superb. The sun came out for a while, the tarmac was dry, there was virtually no other traffic on the road and the whole convoy travelled at an extremely brisk pace towards the final break at Bala, before returning to the hotel for a refresh, evening meal and a bevy or three. All in all it was a cracking good day and a highly enjoyable visit to the North Wales region.

Wales run-out9 IMG-20130504-00397.jpg (121.68 KiB) Viewed 12605 times

[Pieter Huizinga]

Looks like you had a great day Derek.

Out of curiosity: What constitutes "an extremely brisk pace" in a case like this?

[Derek-Dex-French]

Some suggested they were cruising at speeds in excess of 100mph on the straighter parts of the road. I would personally never want to do something like that (officer). However there is no doubt that everyone there is quite passionate about, and enjoys, their motorcycling.

[Cammy ST11]

Nice photos and write up. Could not help but notice that some of the bikes were red, it must have been them speeding as that is the fastest colour. Cheers

[Keith Legge]

Love it thanks for posting.

[Pieter Huizinga]

Some suggested they were cruising at speeds in excess of 100mph on the straighter parts of the road. I would personally never want to do something like that (officer). However there is no doubt that everyone there is quite passionate about, and enjoys, their motorcycling.

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY!

These were "regular" (as in no motorway) roads? What's the speed limit there? 50? 60? Man, man, man...

[mbrST1100]

Some suggested they were cruising at speeds in excess of 100mph on the straighter parts of the road. I would personally never want to do something like that

You obviously never rode with a bunch of Spanish or Portuguese ST-riders... they were doing >100 on rural, but continued through the villages...
Ah, and red traffic lights were merely 'a suggestion'...

[oslin2014]

I do not see the point of traveling at that speed you do not see anything and it can not be good for the pillion if you have one, or your licence if court doing it, sorry if this upsets some folk, but that sort of speed comes under the heading of nutter in my book
Keith