Time for the waterproofs!
Saturday 10th July was scheduled for the ride-out with the Goldwing Riders Group.
Accordingly David and Janet, and Nigel and Joanna set off from the Chase at 8.40 am precisely to head West on the A55.
Our destination was the school in the village of Rhosgadfan where we were due to meet up with David Williams and riders, who were at the Mini Meet and Greet that he was hosting at his home address.
This is one of the several events that the Goldwing Riders Forum arrange throughout the year. As they were visiting North Wales and David had organised a route for a ride-out we decided to join them. (I am a member of that Forum anyway).
Having travelled to Conwy I was somewhat dismayed when we rode through the tunnel at Penmaenhead to find heavy rain clouds in front of us and looking rather damp.
A couple of chefs trying out the new wear for fast whipping up of chocolate sauce!
It soon started to lightly drizzle and by the time we got to Caernarfon it was time to don the waterproofs. We made a quick trip into Morrisons supermarket for petrol for Nigel. Jan and I donned our boil-in-the-bag oversuits, while Nigel and Jo put on their Froggs Toggs.
That normally sounds straight forward but, in this case, Nigel is having to help Jo put on clothes, especially oversuits, at the moment with her arm being in plaster (which she must keep dry!).
We then made our way towards Rhosgadfan. This is a Welsh village on the side of a hill and you cannot get there without climbing a hill or dropping down one. On top of it all David Williams lives at the very top of the hill overlooking Rhosgadfan. (Does anyone recall old maps with ‘Here be Dragons’ on the unknown areas- thats about right for David’s place, apparently).
By this time it was noticeable that the weather was becoming even more inclement.
For this reason the meeting place arranged was outside the school in the centre of the village.
Coffee and cake in the dry at Betws Y Coed
Sure enough, as we pulled up there was a Red 1800 waiting – David Williams himself but there were no other bikes. David informed us that there was not going to be any ride-out due to the weather conditions and due to the attendees being soaked after arriving the previous evening in similar weather.
We were invited up to his place but the reputation given to David’s drive preceded it and we graciously declined the offer.
As we had rode this far, and had managed to get Nigel up before 11am, he decided that he would like to do part of the suggested route anyway, on our way back home.
We then set off to follow the start of the route that David had posted. It was a wet ride! We rode to Llanberis and at this point the visibility was substantially reduced due to the rain, but we soldiered on and as we climbed up the A4086 road toward Pen-y-gwryd, I was amazed at the amount of water coming down the Afon Nant Peris. This river is normally a small trickle during the summer months but at this time it was a substantial white water river!
The rain was such that there were torrents of water pouring off the banks straight into the road and running down the sides until a break was found for it to drain away. This made riding conditions ‘very interesting’.
After passing Pen-y-gwryd we turned left and travelled towards Capel Curig, renowned as one of the wettest places in Britain, and as we approached it stopped raining and the roads were dry!
We then made our way to our second home – Betws Y Coed – for coffee and cake before heading back across the Clocaenog Forest for home.