Love it some more now - a day trip
Now I told you didn't I, that I intend to keep on telling you how awesome this bike is & how much I love it. Well been out again today, again through Wales, first stop at Rhug, the Bison farm (I bet you guys in USA didn't expect that now did you). Cup of coffee & managed to resist a Bison burger but then on to Bala, for those who don't know it's a small town in Wales on the banks of the lake of the same name. A fine piece of countryside it is & for interest it is the home of a fish called the Gwyniad & lives only in lake Bala, very deep down & very rarely caught. Onward we go to Barmouth, a small holiday town on the west coast, narrow streets very old buildings could be called quaint but very busy with traffic (I forgot that it's a bank holiday weekend)- for our U.S. cousins that is a national holiday when it seems the whole bloody country descends on Barmouth. Didn't stop but rode on northward up the Welsh coast to Harlech, never seen the castle there so I did a small detour to have me a look, fantastic derelict building but still a very obvious ancient castle, I shall be going back soon to stop & have a look around but today was for moving on to Port Madog another coastal town but just a waypoint on my route today. I then turned right & headed inland to a beautiful small inland town called "Betws Y Coed" (pronounced Betsy Co ed). Set on the banks of a river & nestled in a vally between the surrounding mountains. It was good to get there as the sun was shining & felt warm on my back which was a change as up until now it had been raining most of the time.This town is a favourite with bikers, the area is fantastic on 2 wheels with scenary & good roads with loads of twisties, a bit busy today but still such fun. Got talking with 3 lads who have come over from Belfast (Ireland) to take part in a bike rally somewhere in the area. Anyway after half hour for coffee & a chat I move on (called home & wife told me to get some lunch)so I decided to break from my route & head to Llangollen (home of the famous Eistedford (not sure how to spell that), another busy town & a favourite place for day trippers & they were there in abundance. After fighting my way through the traffic which seemed to have no purpose other than to get in my way & hinder progress, still I cross the bridge which spans the river Dee and turn left to tackle the hill up the "Horseshoe Pass", a twisted road which winds up the mountain side (this run has to be done by all riders, the views are breathtaking & the road is a telling run with really nasty bends as it winds it's way to the top. Once at the summit we reach a cafe called the "Ponderossa". great favourite meeting place for bikers who gather here from many miles around. Once here I set about my steak pie with chips (fries),peas & gravy for which I have paid my 5 English pounds. From here it is only a short ride home about 30/40 miles. Now being a quick learner I had remembered it being a bank holiday and so I decided to go home via the local towns & villages & miss the motorway as it would be choked with traffic, glad I did when I got home I pass under the motorway & the traffic was nearly stationary. All through this journey of some 200+ miles the bike ran sweet as a nut, never missed a beat, wet roads tested these new Avons & although taking it easy on the way in to a bend I can power out with no skipping of the rear under acceleration. When I was home the first thing I did was to play back the video clip I had recorded on the journey, the sound bite picked up the engine sound & not exhaust note & what a sweet thing it was, hearing those 3 cylinders generate so much power for acceleration it's pure music my friends, opera in fact - no it's better than that. Now I know it's just good fun to sweep round the bend & fly past that slow (or fast) moving car that has appeared in front of you, and the sound of the exhaust as you do this is -lets be honest, it's a turn, on isn't it, well I've got it on video & it looks even better, just got to sit back & watch instead of work the bike & look out for traffic & cops. Any way thats what I did today, what did you do?
