Ride outs and cafe stops

I haven’t posted an update in a while due to work and other activities, however I have been on some fun weekend rides on these warmer Spring days. I lost track of the amount of times I’ve been out on KAB free rides down into Wales to Crossgates Cafe following a variety of enjoyable routes that include Dolfor and out to the Elan valley, and on other Sundays in to Shropshire to Church Stretton and our other favourite, the Honey Cafe in Bronllys on the edge of the Black Mountains. 

Out with Tim on a fun days ride, we took a big bank holiday loop ride out around the Cotswolds stopping off for a nice breakfast at the Priory in Burford before Tim headed over the road to a shop to get some twine in order to fix his loose tail tidy on the Kawasaki Ninja HS2! Later in the day we had a quick stop at Toddington for a nice latte and cake at the GWR railway cafe.

Then, while on a Sunday KAB ride in Leominster I lost the group in traffic and arrived too late to order food but never mind we had an amazing return ride in glorious sunshine before I couldn’t ignore the rumblings of my tummy any more so peeled off on my own into Knighton to visit JD’s cafe. 

I like the owner he was in his usual form, always putting the world to rights in a ‘sweary’ hilarious way and I do love his home made chips cooked in a good old fashioned fryer. A rare treat for me and well worth the visit followed by more weekends of mixed up weather, so my GS needed a good deep clean on more than one occasion.

A recent weekend saw Tim out camping with his Royal Enfield on a green lane rally event up in Shropshire where he had to make it to various way markers of interest to score points, so we arranged to meet up on the Sunday at the Shobdon Aviator Cafe. Sadly, too late for the full English as they stop serving at 11, but we did get them to rustle up a couple of sausage sandwiches consumed while watching the planes take off with gliders in tow. While there, a Moto Guzzi club turned up. I do like the Guzzi’s and good to see various revisions of the V7 Stone (my favourite model) with some classic California tourers thrown in. I would love to own one of these classics. 

I recently organised a big loop ride around Worcestershire and parts of Herefordshire for Rob who was practising for his IAM test through Kidderminster Advanced Bikers (KAB). We had a fun afternoon with some added ride time set to surprise him with changes of direction to test his rear observation skills. He only missed two of my indications and to be fair one of those during the approach to a very busy crossroads. It’s always good to partake in regular observed rides as much for me to self critique and avoid being complacent too. Nice coffee donut stop in Ledbury before looping back past Eastnor castle. I have to say Rob is definitely riding to the ‘system’ now for sure, so no surprise to hear he gained the pass soon after. The Advanced Riding course is definitely a challenge worth taking on and comes with many benefits. Congratulations Rob .. his smile says it all!

Well done Rob!

Another breakfast ride last Sunday with some of the lads from KAB on an interesting route to Hope under Dinmore in Herefordshire to visit the Queenswood cafe on the top of the hill. Good fun and banter before riding back home to at least start the prepping for the upcoming European tour. As always can’t wait to set off on this next one with Rob, so in the meantime really good to be riding again in some warmer weather and sampling local biker cafe ‘scran’ too!