Welsh Border Birthday ride

Nice little run out today on my Birthday. I decided to book the day off and spend the afternoon threading my way down to Much Wenlock, Craven Arms and on towards Knighton. Unfortunately due to Welsh lockdown restrictions I had to take care not to cross the border into Wales at Knighton town so kept well into the English side of the River Teme taking the road up to Clun instead then out past Shobdon in Herefordshire before taking the Tenbury road for a change.

Quite a bit of mud to avoid so no B road lanes today, but some great 'twisties' to ride on the A roads out here between and betwixt wonderful Autumn colours just before the leaves fall as is always the case around my Birthday. Those Autumn colours do seem more vivid this year and while watching BBC's 'Autumn watch' I learned that due to the sunny Spring and slightly wetter Summer there's an increase in Keratin that give the leaf it's brown / red colour - only seen when the Chlorophyll breaks down at this time of year. So, it wasn't just my imagination the foliage that remains seems to standout a lot more.   

I really enjoy the road pictured above between Clun through the village of 'New Invention' and then to Knighton. The patchwork of fields really stands out as the crops are harvested. This is one of my favourite roads and makes an interesting alternative to the A49. Probably my last ride of the motorcycling season now, as I write this we are in Lockdown 2.0, I might squeeze another run in but mid-November my GS will be going into hibernation and so will I, especially now I have some winter reads to tuck into. What a strange year, lets hope 2021 offers more freedom than 2020 and I get to ride on the continent again.  

 
A chocolatey birthday cake baked by Helen and some great winter read pressies from her, my Dad and the kids!

Rainy day Autumn fun

With Summer done and dusted looking back over the year I really can't complain, what a great riding season I've had with plenty of sunny days to enjoy, so with a  mixed weather forecast this Autumn Saturday I couldn't resist getting out to practice some rain riding for a change. It's good to get some wet road practice in as I have some plans for next year that will undoubtedly mean riding wet roads, even this years Scottish Highland trip wasn't damp enough to really test the Rukka Arma-T laminated textile I invested in last Winter. 

Over the past few years as the leaves turn colour I've come to look forward to riding the Shropshire countryside or maybe even the Wye Valley, so my plan was simple, head up up and over Clee Hill and throw a right just before Ludlow onto Bridgnorth with a run down the B4364 the northern ridge and down through Much Wenlock to Ironbride. There were quite a few diversions on the way, the power station access to Broseley was closed one way due to flood defence work so I continued on to Telford and came back through Ironbridge from the northern side. 

 

I continued up toward Shrewsbury then cut back along the River Severn along that fantastic twisty section through a glade of trees toward Cressage. By now it had started to rain quite hard. With my Knox coldkillers underjacket on I couldn't really tell if the Gore-Tex in the jacket was doing its job, but I still felt quite snug as the rain came down even harder as I travelled through the valley. I soon met with another GS rider ahead of me wearing almost identical Rukka kit displaying the distinct 'R' on his back who was riding a 2017 Exclusive similar to my last GS so I caught up and followed him for quite a while before he turned off toward Shrewsbury. Good to know at least one other biker wasn't fazed by the weather and doesn't  hide away in the house as soon as a grey cloud appears bemoaning the misery of it. When it's time to get your rocks off go for it I say, don't be a boring old moaner - it's only water !

The rain calmed down a bit as I wound my way through Little Wenlock but picked up again later as I came nearer home. I'd flipped to 'Rain' riding mode by now to calm the throttle response allowing me to lean into the bends some more almost as normal and switched the heated grips on to warm my hands too. I didn't feel wet at all, still enjoying the day and back at home I was pleased to find not a single spot of water had passed through the Gore-Tex membrane in my jacket, trousers, gloves or boots. It's good to build up the confidence in the wet again at last, and having decent kit to keep dry means I can now continue riding without having to stop and use a hot 'stuffy' overjacket / trouser combination. Shropshire in the Autumn never dissapoints me, and with the season changing in early to mid October it adds some real colour to my ride too. 👍