I had a great ride up to the pub a few miles from Betws-y-Coed yesterday, its about 150 miles one way from my home which doesn't sound a lot but its 150 miles of roads with tight bends dips and humps with some of them quite narrow and covered in crap from farm vehicles and bad weather. I was waiting for the frost to lift but at 11am my car was still frozen solid so had to just leave otherwise i would be putting my tent up in the dark.
I took the A470 to Brecon not the nicest of roads to start but its just a bit you have to do to get north fast. The temperature was just above 3°c the bike was running so smooth with the more road biased tyre on the back and sounding nice again, I had my bar muffs fitted with heated grips and heated jacket on, with a grin on my face i didn't have a care in the world then bugger i forgot my ear plugs something i never used in the past but i am trying to use now as my ears tend to ring a bit after a long ride but no chance of going back so i press onto the upper chapel road (B4520) from Brecon to Builth Wells, a great road for any bike. From here it's back on the A470 to Rhayader stopped for fuel, cash and to check the bike over to see if the load is still good
That's the latest thing in tent urinals on the top of my bag
Out of Rhayader i took a right off the A470 onto the B4518 to Llanidloes and past Clywedog Reservoir
Have to use google for images here
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4847135,-3.5955438,3a,75y,208.11h,80.61t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgXdvNRGi2coZ0fEfA5bhkg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DgXdvNRGi2coZ0fEfA5bhkg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D206.62186%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
before i get to Llanbrynmair i hang another right onto an unclassified road now i'm on the roads i really like
Next stop was to check on the fence where @boboneleg tried to reenact Steve McQueens great escape and unlike Steve McQueen Bob did get over the fence to freedom but his bike didn't make it only one post still leaning and the fencing vertical wires are still where the DR pushed them to
This road took me to the Llangadfan where i then picked up the B4395 to the B4393 around Lake Vyrnwy
Google to the rescue again
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.778067,-3.4932284,3a,75y,356.18h,72.62t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNFHzCZWdndfOaYtnlWVYgHY5xusSDhN_UiIYhE!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNFHzCZWdndfOaYtnlWVYgHY5xusSDhN_UiIYhE%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya40-ro0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096
At the end of the res there's two unclassified roads that go over to east and west sides of Bala Lake i normally ride the west side from Dinas Mawddwy but decided to ride the east side today
here's a few photos of the road up and over the pass
Got to the pub just after 3pm and had to work out how to put the tent up its been so long since the last time i done it
trying out a light weight camp bed i bought many years ago but never got round to using it got to say i had a good nights sleep but woke up to a malfunction with the in tent urinal
I think this was the cause of the urinal malfunction
packed up this morning by 08:30 all dry with no hangover and all ready for the Dragon campsite felling great. Went in for breakfast and while i was in there the heavens opened and it pissed it down i thought there's no way i'm sticking the tent back up in that so i thought fuck it and headed home. i found a pair of ear pugs in jacket pocket so had a quiet ride home LOL, The rain wasn't too bad but the wind was blowing me about like a flag and on the narrow mountain roads it was bloody dangerous and i started feeling a bit queasy so stuck to the main roads home the bike ran faultlessly