20th-22nd November

[robG]

Richard,
i think its Sharon="princess; the one who laughs",
the rest is way off the mark

Cheers Queeny,
 
Anyhow, just had a sniff at the Met office forecast for Sat.Have to repack to make room for snorkel, flippers and dingy. Looks to be a trifle moist to say the least.
Could be worse I s'pose. Could be contemplating a long motorway run in similar conditions to that which we swam in to get to Dent in 2007.

Looking forward to Llanthony,

Rob.

[Mark]

I may join you lot in Llanthony if thats ok, I was looking to venture North but don't fancy the SRXs chances in the rain that far after the trouble I had after my last run in the rain.

Mark

[jules]

More than welcome Mark,
dont forget your wellies though,do think Friday or Saturday to get there??

[Mark]

Going to get there about 3pm Friday. Wellies and brolly packed.

Mark

[jules]

Myself,002,Steff,Tim and maybe richard should be there by then

[Richard]

I am aiming to finish work by 5 (ish) and intend to set out from there.

A trip in the dark and wet.  Lovely.

I have been digging out my Sealskinz socks.

I will be trying out a new, but 30 year old, polish army tent that hasn't been waterproofed.

So I'd better pack my bivvi bag too.

Richard

[robG]

I may join you lot in Llanthony if thats ok, I was looking to venture North but don't fancy the SRXs chances in the rain that far after the trouble I had after my last run in the rain.
Mark

Be good to see you Mark, put a face to the name.

Rob .

[jules]

I may join you lot in Llanthony if thats ok, I was looking to venture North but don't fancy the SRXs chances in the rain that far after the trouble I had after my last run in the rain.
Mark

Be good to see you Mark, put a face to the name.

Rob .

Yes,
you too Sharon

[guest7]

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!  

Simon Morgan got a phone call on Thursday from SteveD saying that the borders meet was off and we were pretty disappointed. However, with the Llanthony Priory meet only 40 miles away the next decision was easy. We set off late morning Friday and had a slow ride up towards Merthyr. I took us off to the old road rather than the dual carriageway of the A470 and we stopped in Aberfan to see the memorial garden, which is actually the site of the school and all the borders mark out the walls of the classrooms



From there we headed along the 'Heads of the Valleys' road before turning off for a spectacular run over the mountain to Llangattock, the views were fantastic (but a tad duller than in this picture):


We stopped in the nearby town of Crickhowell and has some scoff from a stall in the town square:


After a coffee we took the cross-country route to Llanthony which was very muddy and a bit scary at times.

We arrived at the Priory to find Jethro, Tim and Julian and we were soon joined by many others.

With our tents set up some of us adjourned to the nearby pub to have some scoff with my brother (who had driven up with his partner Liz). Then we returned to the Priory bar for more nonsense, including an odd session of trying Irish whiskies (thank you Andy, you have no idea of how bad my hangover was).

Saturday morning saw us all in subdued mood. After a very lazy start we all set off for a farm shop near Bwlch. En route we had to stop for Jethro as his Bonneville outfit was playing up in the wet, and by God it was wet. By the time we arrived at the farm shop we were all soaked. The farm shop (seen here in drier times) was having an open day:

We were treated to free coffee and mince pies before we went in and then we were given free tasters of cheese, nibbles and little bowls of chillli. We returned the favour by buying lots of nice meat, sausages, pies and olives.

Shortly after we left the farm we had to stop again for Jethro, but this time his bike didn't look like starting so we had to leave him waiting for recovery.   We had already lost Boyd earlier in the day due to electrical problems so things weren't going too well. To add to my woes my back brake started sticking on and I had to sort that out before riding back to the campsite (I haven't used the brake since, just in case it played up again).

We all got back to camp (minus Jethro) in wet gear, to find a waterlogged field and damp tents. Rob Gunston and his mate 'oz' had arrived in our absence and were having a romantic téte a téte over a meal in the bar.

Jethro returned in his Land Rover after he and his Bonnie had been recovered back to his home.

Furry John's tent was so wet he booked himself into the hotel and here's where he spent last night:


After sorting out food we all ended up in the priory bar and we had a very, very enjoyable evening of banter and beer. We ended the evening, back on the field, watching the highly comedic effects of Richard's fiery Chilli vodka on unsuspecting tasters.

Thank you to all for making it such an enjoyable weekend, it was smashing.

[robG]

Can't comment on Friday night as other commitments kept me away. 

However Saturday saw me up and about, but moving slightly slower than usual due to injuring bits of me the previous day.As a result I didn't get going until 11:15ish. However returned to base having discovered the rear tyre of the Rs was a bit soft. Pumped up, off I went.
Up the A470 until Merthyr, before turning right and heading into the hills around Ponticscill. Weather so far had been pretty tedious with copious amounts of rain. Heading  towards Tal y bont the roads were at times flooded but the Rs didn't miss and doffed on regardless.
Eventually came into Crickhowell, via Llangattock.Pulled up at the junction and was suprised to see our very own Boyd stood under the awning of the petrol station, complete with Rs.Chat revealed that Boyds Rs was a little unwell and had been coughing and generally feeling sorry for itself. Boyd set off and I followed him into Abergavenny. My original plan had been to head over towards Forest Coal pit and Llanbedr however I shelved that in case Boyd had a moment.
We got to the Skirrid alright, about six miles from Llanthony, but Boyd was inclined to stop for some obscure reason at the pub. I decided to press on and get the tent up before anything else.The road to the abbey was no worse than the others previously traversed however came around a left hander and went straight into a very deep puddle right across the road and some ten or fifteen yards long. Again the little Rs gamely kept going and we emerged unscathed. I gather this was the same 'puddle' that caused some interesting moments for other club members.
Arrived at the campsite and saw Oz emerge from his tent. A good chat later and my tent was up and we adjourned to the abbey hotel to 'catch up'.
Shortly after we were joined by Richard and Gc sloped in followed by the rest of the motley crew over the following hours. As Gc has already said, a great evening developed with much banter and a lot of laughs.
The ride back today was a good one. The rain at Llanthony gave way to mostly sunshine with some nasty showers around Merthyr. Again the Rs didn't miss a beat and brought me home safe and sound.
Now to invest in better waterproof trousers, as the Dainese Gortex jobs are destined for the bin, ready for next year. .
Well done to everyone who made it a good night.

[Richard]

Hugely entertaining.  If a tad damp.

Casualties included one Bonneville, one CB250RS, (all wet related) one CB500 rear brake and one broken DR exhaust which I thought made it rather rorty. 

Graham nearly became the first member to drown whilst still on his solo and Julian the first to do so whilst still riding his outfit, Furry John also took some time to dry out as he was in the chair at the time.

Hope everybody made it back okay, especially the new faces for whom this was an eye opening camp with the club.

Now for a hot bath.

Richard

[Steffan]

More than a little gutted at missing it, but alas there arer times when what is right has to trump what is expedient. Sounds like everyone had a great time. Will see some of you at the plough and the rest later.

Steffan

The absent

[robG]

You were missed Steffan, Old Chap, but all understood.

By the way, have we found Boyd ?

Is he still M. I .A ?

Rob.

[Mark]

After my mate Pete eventually got packed we left the site and turned left for Hay on Wye, it was like going up a river for a good few miles, think I've solved the cutting out in the wet problem but the engine is now truely cooked.

Run the bike dry of oil 9 miles from Llanthony and it siezed up, got a gallon of something off this old boy from his shed. Took a while to bleed it through the system but did manage to get it started again and onto the site. Wasn't sure if the oil burning on the engine was the overspill or worse.

It was worse, oil pissing out of the head. Used 2 litres to get home (70 miles), interesting slow ride as the oil was running back over my trousers, boots, footpegs and even onto the back tyre.

[guest7]

After a brief discussion on the field this morning Julian and Jethro decided the best course of action was to take down Boyd's tent and for Jules take it back with him.

Calling Boyd, calling Boyd, are you there old chap?

Sorry to hear about your SRX Mark, it looked quite complete and ticketyboo apart from the huge amount of oil dripping off it. Here's hoping it's not going to cost a fortune to repair.

Cheers
GC