The Run arriving at Betws
Nigel managed to do it again.
He hijacked a ride out to go and watch all the scooters riding into Betws Y Coed at the weekend, and we allowed him to do it – mind you, we always like a trip to Betws anyway so any excuse really.
Our normal club meeting took place at the Beaufort at 11 am but we ran it to a tight schedule so that we would be finished in sufficient time to make it to Betws before the Scooter Run arrived there.
Having successfully zipped through the meeting in about 45 minutes , we were able to ask Chris, our Runs Organiser, to lead 14 Wings via Ruthin and Cerrigydrudion onto the A5 then down to the Station Car Park at Betws.
Parking well out of the way
From previous experience, we parked right down at the bottom end of the far car park, well out of the way of the mayhem that was about to hit Betws when the scooters arrived.
Those of us with butties had a bite to eat, while those without made their way to the food outlets. Jan and I made our way up towards the first car park looking for the other members who had gone for food.
Quite soon I heard the unmistakable sound of a very large number of scooters approaching and saw Nigel, complete with camera on pole on top of a wall, ready to photograph the whole parade if he could.
The scooters were abandoned anywhere and everywhere
The arrival of the scooters was quite impressive as they just seemed to go everywhere. Very soon there wasn’t any pavement left to walk on; it was full of abandoned scooters, while owners of all age groups stood around chatting to each other. The first car park, normally where the motorcyclists congregate, was soon 2 or three scooters deep.
I wandered around the scooters and managed to find one or two very nice samples amongst them, but I have to admit that they are not really my cup of tea. Nigel was in his element amongst the scooters and he was soon joined by Derek, who also had a murky past with scooters in his youth. Then it was confessional time with Stevie C-P admitting to being a scooterist in his youth, and as all the secrets from the past were being revealed Paul D also admitted to dabbling with them in his younger days.
A really clean example of a scooter
I was glad that all these fine wingers had grown up and left their blue-hazed, burnt two-stroke, smelly habits behind them in their distant past and not following them around now.
One of the elder motorcyclists soon decided it was time to leave and went to his motorcycle – an Ariel Square 4 – which stood like a naughty child in a puddle of dripped oil. Being surrounded by scooter riders and their abandoned machines, he went through the sequence for kick-starting the engine on his bike.
Having been successful in starting the machine, it was seen that the first row offside spark-plug had vibrated loose and was going to rip out of the threads if not sorted soon.
Scooterist lending tools to Ariel owner
The rider was informed and he stopped the engine and went to look in the tool-kit for the plug spanner.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have one and much to his chagrin and the amusement of the ‘scooterists’ and fellow ‘bikers’, he had to accept an offer of help from a scooterist who kindly offered the loan of a plug spanner to him to fix tight the offending spark plug. Once fixed, he restarted his motorcycle and made a very elegant exit from the car park.
Jan and I then decided that we had seen enough of the scooters and, as others were making their back to the Wings, we kitted up and with Dave and Elaine, Ian and Val, and Derek and Barbara headed back across the Denbigh Moors, leaving Nigel and Joanna, and Kevin and Sandra behind.
Getting some food before the mob arrive
Pete and Karen started off with us but I was riding too slow for them as they had a long way to go to get home so they passed us on the Moors.
The others had already departed for home, going various different ways – Chris and Amy to Bangor then home, Paul and Jane J., with new rider Keith, Dennis and new member Steve riding shotgun with Pete H. on the trike were going to Abergele then along the A55. Paul and Jan D also departed on the same route but made a bit of progress compared to the others.
Later the same evening when I spoke to Nigel , he informed me that Joanna and he didn’t get home until just before 7pm, having been in Betws until about 5.45pm. He perhaps was overcome with nostalgia for the blue hazed fumes that hung around the place for some time during the afternoon.
As usual, photos of the event can be found at Nomads Scooter Club ‘Into the Valley’ Run as recorded by Nigel (with one or two from me)
Dave T