On Friday afternoon on the 18th May, the first brave souls of the UK SIG motorcycle section began to turn up at the Premier Inn, Wrexham. The plan was to meet up over the course of the afternoon and evening, before setting out on a loop around the border with Shropshire to collect more readers and then on through the lovely hills of Snowdonia.
In total 16 members signed up when I sent an invite out on our FaceBook events page....other social media sites are available apparently....which when you consider we are located across the UK, is pretty impressive. The weather is always something a lottery here which is a major deciding factor when it comes to enjoying riding a bike, so we were blessed with some unseasonably sunny days.
Restraint was displayed in the hostels and eateries of Wrexham on the Friday night and everyone was bright eyed and eager to set off on the Saturday morning. A safety briefing and agreed plan was shouted out amongst the chatter, one which kind of worked, I say kind of, as we managed to lose three of the group before we even got out of Wrexham.
The route had been circulated in advance so we all knew where we were heading so the rest of us carried on regardless collecting another member in Ellesmere and three more members at the brothel (Don’t get excited, it’s the shop in Knockin village) after which, the ride headed back in to Wales to get started proper. The first section of the route took us to Llangynog for drinks at the New Inn.
The first opportunity for us to get a group photo, missing are two of the group who chose to divert off at Wrexham and our Chairman, Roy who was behind the lens.
After coffee the roads got much more interesting, as we headed up the B4391 up over the hill to Bala. Twisty roads and cracking views got us all in to biking mode. From Bala we took the famous A4212 over to Trawsfyndd. Spectacular views along the backs of the reservoirs and Afon Tryweryn.
After a fuel stop we all set off to Eric Jones’s cafe at Tremadog. Here we met up with the Lone Ranger, Skel, who we had lost at Wrexham, had been chilling out whilst we took the scenic route. The group were finally all together!
After a fantastic lunch, thanks to Gareth at the cafe who’s patience was well tested as the pre-ordered lunches I had sent, never really seem to be the first choice once the menu is perused, we set of once again on to some spectacular roads via Beddgelert, over to Capel Curig and on to the afternoon drinks at the visitor centre on the banks of Lyn Brenig.
From Lyn Brenig we took a twist route back via Ruthin, Nanat y Garth, the Horseshoe Pass and finally back to the Premier Inn.
After the shaky start, we all kept together and returned back safely. Big smiles were on everyone’s faces as showers were quickly taken before we were out for a group meal at the Chinese Buffet in Wrexham...well it would have been rude not to.
A great end to a great day, as we all made our way back to base to sleep off a busy day. Talk was already of “where next” which for nine of us in the group is to La Rochelle in France on the 10th June.
My thanks to everyone for their good humour, great company and enthusiasm for our little group. A perfect example of our moto!
Roy Edwards, Special Interest Group, Motorcycle Group
