Mark and I had planned a short three day camping trip to north Wales with me riding my Royal Enfield Himalayan, Kenton and Mark on his BMW R1250 GS. He had plotted some routes for each of the three days and we had booked Cae Du campsite near to Beddgelert to use as our base. The campsite was stupidly expensive at £37 per night but Mark had stayed there previously and said it was a good location (although it had been a lot cheaper back then!). I don’t have a dedicated GPS unit so imported the GPX files for the route into the Ride with GPS app on my phone. I could then use this app to navigate and record the route. One reason I like this particular app is that any recorded routes can be uploaded to Relive and a snazzy review of the ride created.
A Misty Start
Our plan was to meet at 10:30 on Friday in Craven Arms in Shropshire. At around 52 miles, just getting there was to be my longest ride on Kenton to date and it took me about an hour and a half, my chosen route taking me via Malvern, Bromyard and Tenbury, before scooting up the A49 for the last few miles. With a total of almost 700 miles on the odometer I was still well within the running in period so was limited to 50 mph but periodically took the bike a bit over before dropping back. At this speed I didn’t feel harassed by other road users at least, unlike the first 300 miles when I was limited to just 38 mph…
The weather was initially a bit damp with quite a thick mist hanging around for the first half hour or so. On the B4219 from Malvern which is very twisty with some sharp descents the road felt quite slippery. The scenery was stunning though with the mist and the pine trees combining to give a nice moody feel. Aside from this particular stretch, Kenton, despite being fully loaded with camping gear felt steady and secure.
Mark and I arrived at Craven Arms within a couple of minutes of each other - I was just parking up as he pulled in. We decided to head to a cafe for a bit of breakfast so headed to Churchstoke, where a sausage sandwich and a cup of tea were easily dispatched. Mark filled up with fuel (I had done so in Bromyard earlier) and we were once again on our way.
Lake Vyrnwy & Bwlch Y Groes Pass
Our next stopping point was to be Lake Vyrnwy. By the time we arrived the weather had changed completely from the morning’s damp affair to bright sunshine. The temperature was in the mid-20s and I was feeling the heat. I’d chosen to wear my Rukka Nivala 2.0 suit in the expectation that with our destination being Wales, there would be rain at some point though currently I was regretting it even with just a T-shirt on under my jacket and all the vents open. Lake Vyrnwy looked stunning. I’d never been to the lake before and we stopped on the dam to take a few pictures before making our way across it to Artisans Cafe where we each had a cold drink and did battle with a scone with jam and clotted cream.
Suitably refreshed we decided this would be a good point to mount our cameras on our bikes. I had my Insta 360 X3 and Ace Pro cameras. Mark had recently purchased an X3. We each had the GPS Action Remote and a selfie sticks. The plan was to set them up, have a short ride, review the footage briefly, reposition if necessary. I mounted the Ace Pro to the offside of my bike at the base of the front frame, and the X3 at the rear of the bike with the selfie stick fully extended.
Setting off anti-clockwise around the lake, we took the first right over the Bwlch_y_Groes pass towards Bala. This road was magnificent and provided the highest point of the ride at around 1660 ft. After a lengthy climb amongst the trees, the hills opened up, covered in purple heather with the ribbon of road stretching out into the distance. What little traffic we encountered was unobtrusive and we stopped for a photo opportunity at the bottom of the pass. After a while we watched as another motorcyclist in the distance, riding a brand new blue Triumph Speed 400, followed our route down the pass, until he reached us and stopped for a chat.
Snowdonia National Park
Eventually we carried on with me leading the way through Bala and out along the A4212, hugging the shores of Llyn Celyn. Following the signs to Ffestinniog we turned off onto the B4391. Mark was now in front and he soon disappeared. I followed along at a fairly sedate pace just enjoying all the wonderful scenery as we entered Snowdonia National Park. This was one of my favourite roads of the weekend, as the surface was great, the traffic light and the views absolutely brilliant. Kenton was gripping the road like a limpet - probably more to do with the weight he was carrying rather than his CEAT tyres (although I’ve never had any problems with them) - it was great fun although I could help thinking that Wasabi, my 2018 H2 SX SE would have been more fun on this particular stretch.
In the distance the mountains rose up and there was a real sense of drama and scale in the landscape. We pulled in at a view point for a few minutes but in reality the view point offered less of a view than the road had done previously. Whilst we were there a rider on what looked like a Ducati Panigale came whizzing by. We’d previously seen him in Bala but the speed he was going now it didn’t seem like we would be seeing him again. The Ducati sounded glorious.
The rest of the ride into the Beddgelert followed a series of twisty, narrow, tree-lined roads that crossed stone bridges over several picturesque streams and rivers before joining the A498. Once in Bedgelert we rode through the town (I duly noted the ice cream parlour) until Mark took a wrong turn and led us down a very narrow lane towards the Sygun Copper Mine. Eventually we popped back out onto the main road and found the right turning.
After taking far too long to pitch our tents we ended up hot and bothered. A quicker shower and change later we walked into town where we enjoyed a couple of ales and some dinner at the Prince Llewelyn Hotel, followed by a nightcap at the Tanronnen Inn.
All in all, a most enjoyable day, and a new longest ride at 93.5 miles! Amazingly I didn’t feel any aches, pains or stiffness from the ride and nor did I feel particularly tired. A full day’s riding on Wasabi is normally an exhausting affair but Kenton’s relatively sedate pace seems to be perfect for touring…
Route map :
