Newbies and Oldies, this was the theme of this month’s ride outs. Firstly, the weather was (an oldie), yet again warm and sunny,.. great you might think, but sometimes it’s too warm!
This month 17 riders turned up. Eleven Graded riders, 2 Associates, (Oops, sorry!! That should be 3, as Keith has just handed me his membership form). Sorry again!!! 18 riders, Twelve graded. Unfortunately, Jon Cook, a stalwart of the group, still turned up (in his car), but unable to participate due to an ongoing shoulder injury. Leaving Arthur Broadhurst and Simon Clegg in charge of the Social ride. So, seven Graded riders set off behind Senior Tutor, Dave Hall, heading for the Welsh coast, with Yours Truly acting as safety net. The rest of the group consisted of Phil Elkin, Edward Giles both regular Graded riders. Dominic Challinor..established graded rider but who’s job often prevents him from joining us ( nice to see you again Dom!!). Phil Buckley..a Graded rider for a little while, but who had never before managed to join a club ride, Graded or Social. Nice to finally meet you Phil, and hopefully see you on a few more!! Finally, Gillian Galpin, our latest member to become graded, having achieved a gold grade a two weeks earlier, (well done!!). The usual route for Wales from Eccy meant a left turn out of the Station and through the various speed limits, to the average speed cameras at Woodseaves, before meeting the Newport bypass. Here the familiar route took us round the town and up the A41 to the turning for Sherrifhales on twistier roads, staright across the A5 to Shifnal, into and out of, Bridgenorth to pick up the road to Ludlow, where we stopped for breakfast at The Clive.
A quick respite from the heat for a drink and simple bite to eat over, we headed on. The main target was Aberystwith, passing Afon Forest where they revived the Kite population and where you can see the amazing spectacle of hundreds of Kites congregating in anticipation of being fed.
Skirting the main town, we pushed on further north to Borth for lunch. Dave steered us to the Sands Bistro for lunch. Having parked up, we ordered our food and strolled onto the beach opposite to watch the miriads of families enjoying the hot weather, so conveniently arriving during school holidays. Back at the bistro, we consumed our chosen sustanance, rested a while, before strolling back to our bikes to commence the return journey.
From here we headed north to Machynlleth, then turned right to the town of Forge and on to Llangurig, before our final stop at Newtown McDonalds ( other biker refreshment centers exist), for a final cuppa or ice cream if you were suffering from the heat.
At this point Phil Buckley departed for home, leaving the rest of us to travel the ‘great B’roads to Churchstoke and, skirting ‘The Slug’ (Long Mynd), to Church Stretton to pick up the road over Wenlock Edge to Much Wenlock. Here a left turn took us past the home of the modern Olympic Games, to Buildwas, on the Northern edge of the Ironbridge Gorge.
At this point, with riders starting to tire, we split. One group heading back to Eccy via Atcham and the twistier roads. The other, heading for Stafford via Telford and Newport.
All arriving home having enjoyed a great day out.
Many thanks to all riders, who made it a great day out, especially Dave Hall for leading it.
Thoroughly enjoyable by all, and looking forward to the next one!
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