I was pleased after a quick phone call on the way to work when Lindsay confirmed he was able to join me, this time with his annual mileage up on his 'wee Strom' he'd be riding his trusty Bandit 1200 instead. We arranged to meet outside my place of work in Worcester at 2.30 Friday afternoon to ride up as far as Snowdonia National park to stay two nights at a pre booked campsite near Beddgelert recommended by Brayf' (who sadly couldn't join us).
The route up from Worcester 144 miles
After a good run down the A44 to Leominster, then on to Rhayader before tracking North up the A470 avoiding the Friday afternoon traffic, we took a quick stop for fuel on the edge of Snowdonia national park. Fuelling up and looking up the valley we could see rain over the the mountains in the distance so decided get our rain gear on, a good decision as 3 miles out we hit the real wet stuff, however, within 20 miles from Beddgelert the rain stopped and we had a great ride through that twisty section on the A4085, a tree lined road with mossy stone walls as we passed through Aberglaslyn and the very tempting smells coming from the chip shop by the side of the road. We made the campsite by 6.30pm and decided to skip an early tea to ensure the tents were pitched in the dry.
Later, we took a short walk to town and settled in the popular Prince Llewelyn Hotel and pub for a cracking veggie curry and Lasagne with a couple of pints of the rather more'ish 'Dizzy Blonde' ale before a walk back to our interrupted nights sleep as the rain hammered the tent for a few hours before finally getting off to sleep about 2am!
Early up Saturday morning, we took off on a ride through the Llanberis Pass , a bit wet on the road but a cracking ride up and around a dry but cloud shrouded Snowdon. Loads of bikers out, we met what must be the Triumph owners club with a token R1200RS leading as it seemed. We took off ahead of them, and followed the road down the pass. A nice run, a bit like a mini Alpine Pass, but uniquely Welsh.
Llanberis Pass A4086
From Llanberis we made our way to Caernarfon and parked our bikes right outside the Castle in the town, pulled up next to a local guy by his Triumph Tiger who was joined by his mate. Got chatting about bikes and stuff and how the English built the castle to keep the Welsh under control so I avoided asking where we could get a good full English breakfast and asked for a good cafe that serves a fry up instead! They suggested the place over the road so we headed over there to fill our bellies, by this time mid morning and nothing more than a biscuit and brew at the campsite we were both ready for the large breakfast with black pudding (Lindsay donating me his pudding as he's not so keen), washed down with a mug of tea.
Caernarfon Castle
After brekkie we left Caernarfon to head over the Britannia bridge crossing the Menai straight on to Anglesey island following a pre planned clockwise route where the first point of interest was an Iron Age burial chamber called Bryan Celli Ddu. We parked up and walked about 15 minutes down a narrow path to a field with the chamber encircled by stones a bit like a mini Stonehenge type barrow.
Burial chamber entrance.
Other 'barrow' rock formations.
Roll that slab across now!
View of Snowdon from Anglesey
The next stop on the planned route was Newborough Warren, the beach South West of the island. Cars pay 4 quid to drive down the road to the beach car park, we were allowed to ride the path around the barriers for free.
Newborough Warren
We didn't stay at the beach for long, back on the bikes for a ride on to Holy Island and to South Stacks (named after the cliff rock formation) on the north west side. Parked at the RSPB reserve and ordered a cup of tea at the cafe. The Garmin took us a strange but enjoyable route, crossing country one minute, down narrow lanes and farm tracks. I was forgetting Lindsay was on the Bandit not the V-Strom, he did well on the looser stuff, luckily the route took us on the main dual carriageway through the island for the next part, I guess it was due to not enough way points on this section of the route forced my Garmin to 'make it up' using its own interpretation of 'fastest'. Lindsay had his TomTom fitted to the Bandit and it was trying a different route, but I guess we are both aware of these differences now, so just go with the route of the leader without too much fuss.
The cafe was quite busy during school holiday season and plenty of cake on offer, but we resisted and after tea to refresh the lull of the afternoon we were set for the next leg, stopping at South Stacks Lighthouse briefly to grab a quick 🤳 selfie .... !
South Stacks Lighthouse
Next stop Beaumaris to see the Castle there, and what a ride. Superb coastal route getting a good run on through the twisties on the east side of the island as we headed for Amlwch, the most northerly town in Wales. The ride south was free of traffic, the Garmin choosing a most satisfactory route this time down to Beaumaris along the B5108 and B5109. We both commented on how it seemed we were riding on the Isle of Man the kind of roads similar to some of the TT course.
Beaumaris Castle
A busy time in the town on a Saturday and we struggled to find a parking space and ended up having to buy a parking ticket for a few hours, never done that before on my bike. Lindsay amused me with his idea of photographing the tickets against our license plates in case someone nicked our tickets - very obvious when you think of it. It's about tea time as we arrived, so the obvious choice was Fish and Chips in a very busy chip shop over the road. Not bad, but strange batter though. I like Beaumaris, I'm going to come back one day and have a good look around. The view of Snowdon across the Menai was sublime, and we were well aware the cloudbase in the distance was positioned right over our tents. The weather on Anglesey was so different, those Welsh bikers in Caernarfon said it would be better despite rain storms on the Welsh mainland and they were right. The Castle is credited with having perfectly formed round turrets on each corner, we didn't go in and visit it closes at 5pm but managed to get a good look from the fence outside.
Rain over Snowdonia?
The Saturday Route around Llanberis, Snowdon and Anglesey 146 miles.
Heading back to the campsite we crossed back on to the mainland over the Menai Suspension Bridge and then it became clear I had entered the coordinates of the campsite incorrectly, realising something was wrong as we headed back through Caernarfon again it looked like we were heading too far in an easterly direction, so I turned up toward Beddgelert and asked Lindsay to take the lead. Back at the campsite we changed and headed out for another pint, before turning in for the night after that long dark walk back up the unlit lane.
The following morning we were dealt a lucky hand with the weather, and no rain so thankfully we got to pack our gear away in the dry before heading across to Porthmadog for Breakfast. Another great run out to the coast, typical quiet Sunday morning following Lindsay through the valleys and farmlands, I spotted the cafe at the railway station in Porthmadog centre that runs up to Snowdon e.g. the famous Ffestiniog rail line, so where better to get our second fry up of the weekend! Very nice spot and a good breakfast too.
Porthmadog Harbour
On our way home we decided a run down through Bala and across the Bwlch y Groes pass to Lake Vrnwy. I have ridden this pass before a few times and I love it. It's one of the highest roads in Wales and featured in Adventure Bike Rider magazine quite often and has the nickname Hellfire pass. Years ago it was used by Midlands motor manufacturers (Austin) for road tests, and BSA for bike testing too.
While parked up I spotted a bird of prey fly on to the stone wall rising up the valley. I wipped out my binoculars from my top box to spot the feather markings, mainly brown with a lighter breast markings, not sure at the time and thought it might have been a Marsh Harrier, but looking at books since my return I'm now convinced it was a Buzzard.
Lindsay pointing toward the pass
Looking back down Bwlch y Groes
After a tea break at the Cafe on Lake Vyrnwy our final route home took us back through Welshpool, Montgomery, Ludlow and over Clee Hill. Great weekend, great company - cheers Lindsay. North Wales is a great substitute for missing out on a bike trip abroad this year, certainly put a smile on my face, look forward to our return some day.
