Well recently, I was able to put my Tiger to the test during a weekend away in Wales. The weekend of 11-13/04/14 was one of the AF1 Aprilia Caponord forum UK meets. Although I no longer have my Caponord, I am still an active member of the forum. They are a great bunch of guys and girls, and the camping weekends held in Wales are a great event.
Due to work, I was able to have an extra day in Wales. The weather forecast looked good, so I assembled my vast mountain of camping equipment and attached it to the bike. I always end up taking too much stuff with me, but this year was going to be different. I had sorted through my stuff, and was only taking about a third of what I would normally. It was only a weekend after all!
With the bike loaded, I set off for the valleys of Wales just after rush hour. I had all day to get to the campsite in Llandovery, so I made most of the bright sunshine and the empty tarmac.
I stopped after about an hour for a leg stretch and to check all my gear had not become loose. I also uploaded this photo to let my work mates know I was having a great time riding in the sunshine.
As I neared Abergavenny, the sun disappeared behind the increasing cloud and it became a little bit chilly. I decided a spot of lunch at the bus station café would warm me up a bit. The bus station café is popular with bikers, as the roads all around are nice and twisty. Even though it was a Thursday lunchtime, there were about 10 bikes of all types parked up outside. You can expect over a hundred bikes on a sunny weekend day during the summer.
I ordered a cheese and tomato sandwich, a hot chocolate, and a chocolate covered flapjack that caught my eye. I took a seat and was soon after presented with the largest doorstop sandwich I had ever seen. The bread was from the local bakers, and was nice and soft with a great texture. It was awesome. Just the thing to set me up for the ride over to Llandovery on the A40.
Proper Man's Sandwich!
I left the bus station, and after a quick refuel ( for the bike this time) I set off west along the A40.
The A40, west from Abergavenny, is fast and flowing with great visibility. It becomes a bit of a racetrack at weekends. But, on a weekday afternoon it is very quiet.
It started off as a nice relaxing ride through the countryside. But, the section from Brecon to Llandovery is a particular favourite of mine. The relaxing ride became a little more spirited, and just past Sennybridge, I surprised a guy on a silver ZX12R with the pace of a fully laden Tiger 800XC!
I arrived at the campsite mid afternoon. http://www.erwlon.co.uk/. It is a great site with good facilities, and friendly staff. It has even won "Loo of the Year". I set up my tent, and had the top site all to myself.
Tent up and time for a brew
The others would be arriving the next day, so I had a relaxing evening chilling out with a book and some tunes on my phone. I went to the local supermarket for a few provisions. I put the stove on and cooked up a delicious mushroom risotto for dinner. This was washed down with a glass or two of wine, while I watched the Hawk jets from RAF Valley carrying out some low level training. A great end to a great day.
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