Given the rain we decided to pack up as quickly as possible and get on the road to hunt down a decent breakfast. I’d managed to fire up my stove – an MSR WindBurner inside the vestibule so had had a coffee at least. The main challenge was getting my bike gear on inside the tent! After a while I managed it and crawled out with a a few bits and pieces I wanted to keep dry – sleeping bag, sleep mat, chair etc. – all stuffed into my Kriega US-40 drypack. This was strapped onto Kenton across the pillion seat and lashed down around the soft luggage frame. I’ve used this on a couple of trips now and it really is a good piece of kit.

For saddle bags I was using an ancient pair of Givi soft panniers that I hadn’t used in anger for about 11 years. They weren’t waterproof so the wet tent and groundsheet, dirty laundry, stove and anything else that was left went into those. All my electrical bits and bobs went into a carrier bag inside the tank bag. For daily use I have a little 2 litre Oxford M2R that is big enough for the essentials and this is what I had with me. For longer trips I’ve got a bigger 15 litre one but that would probably dwarf Kenton.

After faffing around for far longer than was necessary I was finally finished a few minutes behind Mark. I was absolutely boiling and could feel the sweat running down my back. When I tried to get on the bike I realised that I had my shorts on under my waterproofs and they weren’t done up. As a result they’d dropped down and were now preventing me from lifting my leg high enough to get on the bike! So in the rain I had to take my coat off because of the braces on trousers, drop the trousers, pull my shorts up, do my shorts up, pull my trousers up and then put my coat back on. How annoying!

Not however as annoying as getting on the bike after all that and then finding out that I’d left the disc lock on! After a few choice swear words I was on my way and caught up with Mark who was waiting at the campsite exit.

We had decided to stick with the planned route despite the weather. This would take us down to Tywyn on the coast, before heading cross-country to the cafe at Crossgates and then on to Leominster where we would spilt.

On the other side of the river we headed along the A493 that eventually climbed steeply along a cliff edge on the coast. Needless the say the views were less than impressive, just very grey and foggy. At the top of the climb the road turned inland where I had the misfortune of being tailgated by what looked and sounded like a boy racer who was obviously wanting to be my new best mate. Annoyingly when the road opened up and we entered a national speed limit they showed no desire to overtake and stayed with me all the way to Tywyn where they thankfully disappeared.

Riding along the front in Tywyn we found Cafe Ar Y Traeth that looked closed but was in fact open. We parked up outside and squelched our way into the warm embrace of the greasy spoon. We each had a cooked breakfast with a cup of tea. It would be remiss of me not to mention that Mark had a double breakfast whilst I chose a single. Then again I also had a slice of carrot cake, so swings and roundabouts…

By this time it was about 13:30 and I was feeling quite chilly. My boots were absolutely soaked. I’d worm my old TCX GTX boots which although are leather and Gore-Tex lined are quite short and now very old so the lining is all torn. My gloves were sodden. They were actually freebie gloves I had got with a pair of Roadskin jeans. Despite the wet gloves my hands weren’t too cold, which I put down to the Barkbusters I had fitted to Kenton. They really kept the wind off.

After Machynlleth we turned off the main road onto what for me was possibly the highlight of the trip. The lane was narrow, steep (both up and down), had scree, twigs, mud and grass in the middle of it and had water cascading down either side. Forward visibility was often minimal due to the twists and turns and the high hedgerows. It was utterly fantastic and Kenton coped admirably. Only after I got home and reviewed the GPS data did I realise that we had hit the highest point of the trip on that short section.

Next was another climb but this time on a less challenging surface. Whilst the road was more straightforward we could see the cloud that we would be riding into and visibility was pretty poor. The ride was fun though – plenty of twists and after a decent ascent, there followed a decent descent. The next stop and photo opportunity was a viewpoint over Llyn Clywedog on the B4518.

In the cafe I noticed that my phone that I was using for navigation and as a speedo was unable to charge as water had got into the lightning port, according to the message on screen. There was hardly any charge left either so I put the phone in my jacket pocket and relied on the less than accurate speedo on the Himalayan for the rest of the journey.

Mark led the way to Leominster from Crossgates and from there we took our separate routes home. I headed to Bromyard where I filled up again (9.4 litres), and had a hot chocolate. I then retraced my route through Malvern. As I hit the Malvern Hills the rain stopped and there was blue sky! Typical. As I rode through Malvern, people were sat outside pubs enjoying a pint in the sunshine. There was even a bike meet on at the The Three Horseshoes Inn. You’d never know it had been raining!

When I got home, before doing anything else I hosed Kenton down to get the worst of the muck off and then set about hanging up the tent to dry. My gorgeous wife had made a cottage pie for dinner which went down an absolute treat and made for a brilliant end to a brilliant trip.

Route Map

Follow up

The only downside was that on Sunday night my phone started playing up and the screen kept flashing green. A quick search suggested water damage. Luckily my AppleCare+ coverage was still valid (just) so I ended up sending the phone to be repaired. After sending it away it came back after just four days with a new screen, completely free of charge. The policy obviously costs money but in this case it more than paid for itself.

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I was up and out by about 07:30 and had a decent coffee thanks to the trusty AeroPress and some Lavazza Qualità Rossa Ground Coffee. I sat watching the high up clouds roll slowly in. The air in the campsite was completely still – it was a really peaceful start to the day. Since we weren’t in a rush to get going I had agreed to ride into town to pick up a few essentials for breakfast from Emerys House, including some lard, bacon, bread rolls, eggs and mushrooms. A couple of breakfast baps later and another coffee we started to make tracks.

Following Mark’s planned route we would basically head east towards Llanberis over the pass that runs alongside Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa. We’d then head back to base via Rhyd-Ddu Pen-y-Groes, Criccieth and Porthmadog. It wasn’t a massive route which meant a day of easy riding with plenty of stops.

We connected our headsets and set off. The weather was promising to be warm again and it was comfortable riding. As we ascended the A498 on the way to the Llanberis Pass we were slowed by a number of triathletes cycling up the hills along with a number of cars stuck behind them. No wanting to be stuck i a queue all the way we pulled in at a view point where we could see the Pass ahead of us, along with some more bloody cyclists going up it. Sure enough the race route took them into Llanberis.

On the Pass I eventually caught up with Mark as he was being held up by a car, in turn being held up by a cyclist, just as we reached the cafe where the Miners Track and Pyg Track begin (or end). He then managed to overtake the cyclist, narrowly avoiding a lancing and left me to dawdle all the way down into the town where there were far too many people. The roads we had just ridden have the potential to be great, but they were just too busy on this particular day. We tried unsuccessfully to find somewhere to stop so just rode on through the town, turning left just before Llanrug.

By now the sun was out again and eventually we stopped so Mark could reposition his camera. I carried on, taking a left onto the A4085 at Waunfawr. This was a nice twisty road with some fast bits and not much traffic at all. Now as much fun as the road was, my attention had been grabbed by the words ‘Brewpub’ and ‘campsite’ on the same site along with what looked like railway tracks. I was pleased to discover the Snowdonia Parc campsite that does indeed brew its own beer. What’s not to like, and steam trains too! I know where I’m staying next time.

The road carried on to a small place called Rhyd-Ddu. I was so concerned looking for a cafe stop that I missed the turning right I should have taken. I carried on for a little bit, turned round and took the turning I’d missed. By this time Mark had caught up and was stopped just after the turning, fiddling once again with his camera. It turned out this B4418 was another fantastic road with awesome views all the way down to when we caught up with a 20 mph dawdler with no room to get round them. We ended up being stuck behind them until we hit the A487 from Pen-y-Groes.

Taking the B4411 to Criccieth gave us a more enjoyable ride than the A-road we had just left. We also took a diversion down an extremely narrow road that appeared to have had opening times on it. Fortunately Saturday afternoon was one of the times it was open so we were OK. Riding along the seafront at Criccieth looking for a cafe looked like it was going to end in failure but I had spotted a couple of places tucked away on our left. We turned round and were able to park for free right outside Sŵn Y Môr. Winner winner, scone with cream and jam dinner! I had an iced latte whilst Mark let the side down with a pauper’s can of Vimto.

After a nice long break we rode towards Porthmadog. I stopped to fill up en route but only needed just over 9 litres. We rode along Porthmadog high street and across a narrow causeway. At Penrhyndeudraeth we took he A4085 in the opposite direction we had done earlier, towards Beddgelert. Once we hit Garreg we retraced our route into town from yesterday. We encountered a stand-off between a camper van that we had come up behind and an oncoming bus on one of the narrower parts of the road. The bus driver simply flicked their hazard lights on and sat there, waiting. As the camper van started to reverse I decided to go round and carry on. Mark followed and as we approached Beddgelert I had a bit of fun on the bends and threw Kenton around. It was great fun.

Once back at the campsite we got talking to a maintenance guy who was strimming the grass and who said he had been riding a Himalayan around India for a few months the previous year. There were a lot more tents than there had been on the Friday night. We’d been warned a load of astronomers would be arriving. If these were they, then they would be disappointed as despite it still being warm, the skies had already started to cloud over and rain was forecast for later.

We then walked back to camp and got our heads down.

Route Map:

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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 :

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