... can the people hear, what the little fish are sayin'
Haven't been out for a ride for a while, well, if you don't count this wonderful Ford Mustang we hired while on holiday in SouthWest Florida that is. A lot of fun, sport mode and paddle shift almost scared the Mrs to death, but with the open top ideal for 'poncing' around shopping and the like. I must say I didn't want to give it back 👍
Anyway, last weekend since the UK caught up with the Floridian weather at last, I decided to give Lindsay a call and see what we could arrange for a ride. We had talked about visiting Helmet City in Cheltenham because I fancy getting one of the Schuberth helmets at some point this year so wanted to try one for size and decide if they are comfortable ready to buy when the time and price is right. They have just released the new C4 out but I still have my eye on the C3 Pro as I quite fancy a flip up helmet again and the Schubies have great quality and are incredibly light these days. The C3 doesn't have integral speakers like the C4 allowing me to fit my own intercom system or buy the recommended Sena U10 later. Lindsay couldn't make his mind up between the C3 Pro or the much cheaper but quite impressive Nolan that allows you riding with the flip front in the up position.
After a warm ride down to Cheltenham and back home via the scenic route to include Pinvin on the outskirts of Pershore following Lindsay, we found the staff at Helmet City really helpful, and I have to say took a shine to this XR1000, all kitted out with their own recommended accessories. A nice alternative to a GS I must say.
So, for Sunday seeing as it is Fathers Day with blue skies all the way we decided to ride a route through mid-Wales following the GPX file converted from the TomTom file I plotted some years ago to Aberdovey and Tywyn. We left my house around 7.20 and took off in the direction of Clee Hill. The view of the Malverns was the clearest I had seen in years and before the temperature had really risen a nice cool ride down to Ludlow and on through the Vale of Kerry taking an unusual route up a hill and down some narrow twisty lanes to the first waypoint. The route had us dodging stones and ruts and all sorts, covering Lindsay in dust and pollen from my rear tyre too. At one point I even chased four or five squirrells down a hill that was really quite amusing. With Cadair Idris looming over us in the distance we made our way to Machynlleth for an all day breakfast at the cafe on the main road. Quite a few bikes out this morning as you would expect, so eventually we took the estuary-road down through Aberdovey and on to Tywyn sea front.
Luckily, I had stashed my shorts and beach sandals in the top box so after a quick change in the car park I felt right at home in the seaside mood again. So much so we had to have a small cod and chips from the chip shop on the front. I found it quite amusing how the two ladies serving me presented the card machine elastic banded to a plastic kids spade so she could keep the Wi Fi signal available or something. Very Heath-Robinson!
From Tywyn we took off in the direction of Happy Valley and he route took us through to Birds Rock. I had tried to find this last time, but realise now I didn't actually make it. This time though thanks to the Garmin the route took us straight there.
This rock is a famous bird nesting site and was once a cliff overlooking the sea millions of years ago despite being 3kms from the Sea now. You could hear the birds probably with their young from down at ground level as they flew in and out of their nests. Couldn't make out what variety, but mostly sea birds I guess.
At this point we spotted behind us an unusual step structure built into the edge of a wall. Lindsay gave me a history lesson as he is old enough to remember the days of horses and carts and told me it was a Milk Churn Stand ready for the collection of the big silver milk churns. Obviously the fields around were once part of a dairy farm.
Lindsay remembering days gone by 👍
We really enjoyed the ride out to Bird's Rock, narrow lanes with amazing scenery as we carved through the valley. Eventually, we joined the main road and headed down to Aberystwyth for an Ice Cream. The traffic was building up by now and mid afternoon the sun was getting much warmer too.
After leaving Aberystwyth around 4.20 we set the Garmins for home and followed the rest of the day trippers back toward Knighton, picking off cars on the way to keep the cooler wind flowing through our textiles, arriving home around 6.50. Superb day riding, and thanks Lindsay for the Ice Cream and history lesson 👍
