Bikesure_adrianflux

Castle Tour of Wales 2022

  • Thread starter Thread starter Moco1961
  • Start date Start date
Ahhh cloverleaf, any good ? It’s on the radar for future trips .
 
Crieff Cloverleaf

I can't recommend the Crieff Cloverleaf highly enough - fantastic roads including old favourites like Glenshee & other narrower hidden gems I'd never have discovered on my own. Considering I was there over a sunny August bank holiday weekend I couldn't get over how empty the roads were. I was extraordinarily lucky with the weather (in danger of sunburn sat outside the Old Fire Station cafe in Tomintoul drinking tea). If only Crieff were not such a long slog north for southern Monsteristi (I broke the journey north in Preston & south in Harrogate) it would make for a brilliant UKMOC weekender.
 
Three more sleeps!

Three more sleeps and we are on the road again, clockwise around Wales taking in as many castles as we can .please feel free to meet us on the way round even if it’s for a few hours,fingers crossed it’s dry, sunny would be even better.:thumbsup:
 
It’s here ,

No more sleeps and game on!
Rosso is basking in the morning sun here ,some pre ride checks and we are good to go. Mark is passing by at noon on his new multi, easier on his new hip than the 1200r until recuperation is complete ,then off to meet Andy at Chester.

A483 to chirk will get the first castle of the trip ticked off, ,grumpy will tick that box on Sunday on the way south with the guys.

Then it’s A5, pick up the A49 at Shrewsbury and head south to Ross on wye with a possible coffee break on the way .

That’s todays route for us at least, catch you later :ukm:
 
Have fun guys! ride safe and watch out for the myopic bank holiday twits.
 
The Gathering ,a Royal start to the Jubilee weekend

So we travelled from afar to be together for this trip, Dover,Wirral,Peterborough and we made it, Alan was furthest travelled, obviously :mand: riding solo from the South coast ,great to catch up .

The Royal hotel is a cracker, nice one James, you have set the bar quite high.we were able to wind away the evening on the terrace until the sun went down.

Chirk castle was boxed off en route, plenty more to come along the way.

30FEBA3C-26E9-460C-ABD0-300E4EA981F4 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

EBB72EE8-E632-4DDF-A3E2-C87349BE9C60 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

65088A4D-9034-4AFD-B9D4-F006F6E6DD67 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr


More to come later on, :ukm:
 
No, I’m currently aboard the real Dartmoor Prison, sailing the high seas, bound for the Chateau D’if in search of the treasure of the Count of Monte Cristo …
 
All up bright and early on Friday, a hearty breakfast and we left the Royal in Ross on wye.thoroughly recommended as a place to stay.

A fuel stop and a couple of warm up laps while James sat nav got a grip of the task in hand and off we went, four Ducati, two Triumph, myself and Duncan keeping the monster flag flying.

3D2334E5-D3E8-444A-AB48-CDF2A99F376A by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

Duncan securing luggage at the Royal

We soon arrived at our first castle of the day,Skenfirth, whilst this was a milestone in the trip the adjacent church,dating from 1300,s was special due to the wooden roof construction on the bell tower…..oh and it was offering tea and cake!!

CA20E204-4FB0-414A-BBC0-D1EC16C3AF83 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

9A93F674-D3B7-4969-B6A3-8767578E1A95 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

That was on top of the full English !

By now the sun was up and we were keen to get miles in, roads were almost to ourselves at this point as we ticked of a couple more at Grosmont and Abergavenny.


6B5D13DD-7055-440D-9478-9CED9E99C728 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

454CD02C-743F-488F-B133-8D49C126C4AC by Mike OConnor, on Flickr


138551BA-9552-4A5D-B6FB-CA3ABCE22D7C by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

Leaving Abergavenny the traffic was building as the World woke up to a bank holiday and eventually the inevitable happened and the group got split at a busy round about. The two groups met up once more at Bridgend where we took a look at Newcastle.

C640B4DA-769B-4E7A-A193-AF38E718FEAC by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

We were lucky enough to meet two members of the Village People too!

18B99A7C-1A4F-4124-9378-6CE3C8ADC8AA by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

Heading West , I made a fuel stop and sadly never caught up with the group again until we met at the Boars Head in Carmarthen. The guys ticked off three more castles before arriving.

The day was topped off by a great Italian meal in town , Saturday sees us heading North on the west coast to our overnight stay in Bangor.

A4BC499C-8E2B-4E4D-9642-50393A369CB1 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
It’s all gone pear shaped

We woke up Saturday to rain in Carmarthen, waterproofs on and off we went, what a change. Temperatures had dropped from low twenties to eleven degrees,and we had a stretch to do.

Traffic was typical for a bank holiday weekend but we got into Carmarthen, quick photo of the castle walls and headed north.


D6AE5CD3-82E3-40FD-B8E3-BA4900DA62A3 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

1EC34A9D-B2BC-44A0-BEEA-BE147747AD3F by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

We made it up to Aberystwyth, could get to the castle because the road was shut due to the crowds so made do with tea and cake! Good choice.
3D2A3959-2BAD-45A1-A986-FC45D591F555 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

From there we had a good trip to Harlech castle,the rain briefly catching up with us .
9F6BEEE2-1C10-4C08-85F0-3BA384764CF7 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

73966F16-A461-402D-BAC0-69CC0E7B34BF by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

876DB259-9CE1-4749-8BE5-63A287F9A2AD by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

Time to head up to Bangor which was a blast using some routes that we travelled on the weekender….seems like a long time ago.

4B193CC6-4154-4969-9B8B-B9A3387D57AA by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

A good night was had at the local Indian, remember folks…..just be yourself.

1F6F86CF-9235-44ED-A2B1-E11147CB72B2 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
It’s all over!

Jeez, that’s blown it! Weather has let us down big time. Breakfast conference resulted in the group calling it a day,no pleasure in tip toeing around in this weather getting progressively wetter taking rain speckled photos of castles :mad:

It’s been a pleasure to this point, company great as usual we have had a damn good ride,eat,drank,we’re entertained by live music oh and are about to get very very wet……..until next time guys, have a safe journey.

CE0E5424-7004-49CB-B9B1-FFE127D59085 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr

CFC9E56A-71E4-4C7E-ADB3-2A5F2ABB0D46 by Mike OConnor, on Flickr
 
Thanks gentleman for cracking few days.
Castles, cake, roads and Italian food, what more could you ask for on a road trip.

Many of the roads in Wales were new to me.... Great fun in the multi, which now requires a new set of chain and sprockets.

240 miles home today, with a slight detour ( read as got lost!:biggrin:)
Entertaining traffic on the A55/M6 North of Birmingham. Rain plus more rain for about 2/3rds of the journey home.

So where next?

The lowlands of Scotland? Skerries for the racing? Or the Scottish cloverleaf?

Let's start planning:thumbsup::yoparty:
 
Last edited:
Where to next?

Hmmm, Galway , southern west coastal 300 or cloverleaf,which appeals because you stay in the one accommodation for the whole trip….:chuckle:
 
Looks a good trip, away with friends on bikes that's what matters .
 
Well said Colin, it was great craic and we were on our bikes for four days :mand:
 
Hi Alan, well the cloverleaf and the south coast 300 are calling our name, maybe you can join us when we take the plunge :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top