The Pro's and Con's of spontaneity

[scottyuk]

I put a post in Fridays's weekend thread about a last minute idea :

"I randomly saw a video last night of Tom Jones eating some Welsh cakes. I'm 1/4 Welsh and as a kid had them fresh off a griddle over a fire when visiting relatives. I've got a craving for them. This morning I got permission from the bosses (home and work) and now my weekend looks like :

Saturday : Essex to somewhere in South Wales
Sunday : Probably the South Wales Tour and North Wales Tour from Bikers Britain guide book
Monday : North Wales via Peak District to Essex

Nothing booked and no firm routes yet so lets just see how it goes."

Well here's how it went :

Saturday
I set off from Essex with the satnav programmed to avoid all motorways and to get to South Wales via Banbury and Chipping Norton. To be honest until Aylesbury I'd have probably been better sticking to main roads but this was a random adventure so no complaints. I had three short but sharp down poors but I knew it was going to be a mixed weekend so the textiles did their job. I kept thinking I'd stop for a coffee in a bit ... but a bit turned into around four hours non-stop riding and I got tp within 6 miles of the Welsh border. I only kept going as I felt fine : My 1290 KT has the PowerParts seat which is debatedly more comfortable than stock. Over that I have a Coolcover which works a charm for comfort and airflow. I was also wearing Moto Skivees pants. If that lot didn't protect my butt then nothing would!
Once I crossed into Wales I followed a route in one of Simon Weirs Guide to Britain books. They're a great way to just find the good roads in unknown areas. This included the Wye valley just for starters. I added a fuel stop into the satnav only to turn up and find it was shut. No problem I'll carry on until the next. I eventually found four shut/disused stations. I didn't have a phone signal so couldn't google a decent sized one. I had 10 miles range left when I got to the A40 and stopped in a layby. Whilst by phone slowly downloaded data a guy walked up to me. He'd broken down but told me there was a fuel station 2 miles up the road. With much relief I put 22L into the 23L tank. A full tank is a good feeling

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I followed the route and at Brecon at 5pm thought I should find accommodation. I tried every website I could think of. I even asked a copper at the fuel station. No rooms in South Wales! I eventually stumbled across a last gasp bed in a 6 person dormitory. I back tracked to Pandy near Monmouth where this bed above the pub turned out not to be available. Apparently the website has been told to unlist them but hasn't so despite taking my money I still had nowhere. The bar staff and locals all made suggestions and all were full. A local lady thought a friends B&B may be available but they didn't pan out either. I was starting to ponder riding to Bristol or finding a bus stop when the same lady came back in. She was there with her husband and said "If you follow my car for about 25 miles then we've found you a room". I spoke with them and it turned out he rode a Harley and she'd just done her CBT. Fellow bikers to the rescue!! With it being gone 6pm and options severely limited I did as suggested and after 30 mins I walked into a real locals pub in a residential area of Tredegar. It literally fell silent as I walked in! I was shown the room and was delighted that it was fine.

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After a delivered pizza in the beer garden and a room for Sunday night booked I went back inside and found the local couple. I was then adopted by all their friends! Admittedly the adoption process consisted of interrogation on whether I voted blue or red, what I thought of Maggie Thatcher and if I was fully jabbed but I ended up having a great night and got some tips on my route for the following day. I also learnt I choose the worst day ever to not have booked : lockdown easing meant lots were out, it was school holidays, it was a Saturday night and the real kicker was it was the weekend in the middle of the traditional Welsh pit/factory two week shutdown. Doh!!

Sunday
I've never woken up locked in a totally empty pub before! A bit sureal. I'd paid £30 in cash the night before so they had no idea who I was. What trust! My route took my back through Brecon and by some great roads interspersed with horrid single track lanes. I stopped at the dam on Lake Vyrnwy and then on to Bala.

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[scottyuk]

There I had brunch and bought 18 Welsh Cakes! Mission succeeded! I was feeling pretty good now. I had a room booked, food in my belly, Welsh cakes bought and a full tank. Onwards to the North

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[scottyuk]

and then over to Snowdonia ... with regular refueling!

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The weather was good and Snowdonia had thousands of people. Fortunately few were actually on the roads and I had a brilliant ride.

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I then rode the "Evo Triangle". I'd ridden two sides of it many years ago and they're great roads but now it has average speed cameras all over it!

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With that behind me I was heading out of Wales towards the Peak District. I stopped at the Ponderosa/Horseshoe pass for an ice cream before making my way to the edge of Macclesfield. That was a long day : 7:30am to 6:30pm but a few pints and a steak sorted me out

[scottyuk]

Monday
Straight out of the hotel and up the Cat and Fiddle. More speed cameras! I then went North to Glossop and did the Snake pass.

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I found a local making good progress on his 1200 Bandit and followed on. That helped with the enjoyment rather than riding it totally blind. I then went down to Matlock and eventually got to Melton Mowbray to collect a 1Kg traditional pork pie.

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That was the final stop before the cross country blat back to Essex where I arrived about 4pm.
920 miles with no McDonalds or motorways! It was a lot of hours riding but I'm so glad I did. I'm hoping Saturday's close miss with accommodation doesn't put me off just heading off as the freedom it gives is great for the soul

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[Horse]

Excellent!

[weeksy]

Nice report mate... I'm half unhappy i was busy and couldn't make it... but seeing 900+ miles i'm also half pleased

[G.P]

Good Work!

[Tricky]

A proper little adventure by the sound of it and what it's all about IMO. I love these sorts of trips and enjoyed reading that and it's reminded me (not that I needed it ) that it's been far too long for me!

[weeksy]

A proper little adventure by the sound of it and what it's all about IMO. I love these sorts of trips and enjoyed reading that and it's reminded me (not that I needed it ) that it's been far too long for me!

We need the Wales trip again... I bet even OCD would drive down for the day

[Tricky]

A proper little adventure by the sound of it and what it's all about IMO. I love these sorts of trips and enjoyed reading that and it's reminded me (not that I needed it ) that it's been far too long for me!

We need the Wales trip again... I bet even OCD would drive down for the day

Indeed- I'd defo be up for that, would be really good to see him again- and Buble shoes

[scottyuk]

Nice report mate... I'm half unhappy i was busy and couldn't make it... but seeing 900+ miles i'm also half pleased

I couldn't have done it if not alone. I would have stopped for a lot more breaks and there would be a lot more focus on refueling. The KTM's 200mile range saves a lot of time. It was a real push to cram that in. Many roads were slow single track lanes with high grass down the middle. Not many people would have been happy following down those. I also set the pace depending on how I was feeling at the time.

There's a lot of positives about doing it alone. Some downsides too of course. Room for both in my rides

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Nice write up.
I prefer touring by myself because I can do what I want and I'm anti social.

[Tricky]

Nice write up.
I prefer touring by myself because I can do what I want and I'm anti social.

Know what you mean there, and there is an element of that for me too, but for me, the best ones are with just one or a very small handful of like-minded and really close mates, who enjoy and find the same things funny as you- some of the biggest laughs and best fun I've ever had has been on these sort of trips- stuff always happens

[weeksy]

stuff always happens

like the dirt track we took to the cafe.... GSXR-1000 on almost slicks in the mud and river bed was a sight to behold. I thought OCD was going to get off the bike and kill you.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Nice write up.
I prefer touring by myself because I can do what I want and I'm anti social.

Know what you mean there, and there is an element of that for me too, but for me, the best ones are with just one or a very small handful of like-minded and really close mates, who enjoy and find the same things funny as you- some of the biggest laughs and best fun I've ever had has been on these sort of trips- stuff always happens

What I've really enjoyed doing is staying with a bunch of like minded motocyclists at a hotel, during the day everyone did their own thing, but in the evenings we all had a meal and drink together and chatted about what we'd done during the day, so I'm not that anti social.

I did three Rally of Discoveries that were trail riding during the day, drinking and eating at night, the trail riding was a scatter rally and it was up to you if you rode in a group or by yourself.

[Rockburner]

Good write up, and excellent road trip!

[Druid]

I did a solo tour of Scotland last year and really enjoyed it, but I did miss not having any company in the evenings.

Welsh cakes: my wife inherited my mam's bakestone and my auntie's recipe so I get regular fixes

[Cousin Jack]

What I've really enjoyed doing is staying with a bunch of like minded motocyclists at a hotel, during the day everyone did their own thing, but in the evenings we all had a meal and drink together and chatted about what we'd done during the day, so I'm not that anti social.

That is what I like about touring in Europe with a company. You have a hotel and meal booked, and everyone will be there, but how you get there is your own business. Sometimes 2 or 3 of us will ride together all day, sometimes I will piss off by myself totally off piste and do twice the mileage to end up at the same spot.