After a great nights sleep, I woke up just after six. It had not been as cold during the night as the previous few nights, and I had slept right through.
Unknowingly, I had forgotten to turn off the alarm on my phone. It had been going off since 05:45, which is when I had been getting up for work earlier in the week. I had not heard my alarm going off, but Rosie in the next tent had. She didn't go on about it much! I went for shower, to wake up properly, and to give Rosie a chance to calm down.
After walking back from the ablution block, a few other campers had begun to stir. Camp stoves were fired up, and the salivating aromas of sizzling bacon and fresh coffee filed the air. This was devoured with an ample helping of humorous banter, as we geared up for the days ride ahead.
The ride out in the Welsh countryside, on stunning roads is always a highlight of these weekends. There is something special about riding along with 30 or so other motorcycles. It's not about terrorising the locals. It's about enjoying the ride, the scenery, and the camaraderie.
The ride got off to a bang........literally! We all started to move off, when there was the sound of a bike crashing just to my right. Greg had put his bike into gear, stalled his bike and toppled over. Straight on to Simon's bike which was next to him. This had knocked Simon's bike over, with him and his daughter Cloe being thrown off it in all the commotion. Simon had just completed a major rebuild and repaint of his bike. This was it's first time out, so it was not the start he was after!
The bikes were quickly picked up, and the damage assessed. It turned out to be minimal scratches on both bikes, a slightly shocked Cloe, and a broken pillion foot peg on Simon's bike.
Quick as a flash Dean had his tool kit out and was swapping the foot pegs on Simon's and Greg's bikes, so both of them could carry on with the ride.
Finally, we all got going and headed over to Newtown. The A483 is just one of those roads that gets better each time you ride it. Half way to Newtown we realised that some of the group was missing. Sometime shortly after the car park incident with Greg, some of the riders near the back had somehow taken the wrong route. We would try and catch them up at some point later in the day.
After a leg stretch and coffee break we left Newtown on the A470 for Dolgellau, enjoying the stunning scenery even if the weather had turned a bit chilly.
The very twisty and challenging B4405, A493 along the coast, and the A487 came and went with all of us eventually arriving in Aberystwyth for a late lunch stop. I was amazed at how the promenade had been rebuild following the devastating winter storms. It was like nothing had happened.
From Aberystwyth we took the A485, and A482 through Tregaron and Lampeter. This is another amazingly technical, twisting route. I have to admit to upping the pace a little, and putting my Tiger through it's paces. I was beginning to really love my new Tiger, although the front suspension was trying to tie itself in knots at times. This may have been due to the corner entry speeds I was attempting, as I successfully scampered away from the rampaging pack of Italian thoroughbreds giving chase.
We arrived back at camp, exchanging tales of Marquez style elbow down cornering, and tyres protesting at being asked to handle so much remapped power. None of which actually happened, but you now how blokes are!
This banter continued, and developed into local ale induced depravity, accompanied by some fine food at the local pub.
A great end to another memorable weekend. Some videos of the weekend can be seen on my YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/timcrasher
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