Couple of SUNNY days in Wales..

[NeilD]

finally made it over to Wales for a couple of days, and yes the sun was out!  :D

the omens were good, halfway up the Horseshoe Pass..

P1010210 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr

and coffee n cake at the Ponderosa..

P1010215 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


followed some  advice from locals and 'did' the B5105 followed by the B4501 ending up in Bala... quick lap of the lake and stop at the railway place..

P1010219 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr

and then onwards to Dolgellau, and then the coastroad A493 towards Tywyn - another scenic ride.. :thumbup:

P1010226 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


P1010233 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


which took me to my B&B, via the B4405.. nice quiet village with a decent pub doing good food, and they had a nice pint of Thekstons on tap.. :thumbup:

Set off from the B&B next morning, this was just down the road..:thumbup:


P1010235 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr

low cloud!

P1010237 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


Plan for the day was to head up to Snowdon and ride up on the train to the summit... got there just after 10, expecting to get a seat about 12ish - the next available seat was 15.30! bugger! so Plan B was set in to motion, just wasnt sure what it was... Bimbled around LLanberis for a short while and decide to head off to the coast..
anyway, the run up to Lllanberis was very scenic, just have to save the train ride for another time..


P1010239 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


P1010248 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


P1010250 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr

ended up in Porthmadog, but got rained on, and there was no where to park at the railway, so had a spot of lunch and carried on.

Called in at Portmerion as I was passing and fancied a look - would've been better if wasnt in bike gear as was a bit sweaty walking about... this is where they filmed the original series of The Prisioner

P1010261 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


P1010263 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


onwards to Harlech - missed the turning for the town center, but saw the castle.. :smile:

P1010292 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


down to Llanbedr to see if anything happening at the airfield (nope!) and rode along the tidal road to Shell Island - didnt stop as they wanted parking money! apparently this is underwater at certain times of day, they just dont tell you which times - I decided to brave it anyway..!

P1010297 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


onwards down the coast and stopped at Tal Y Bont for a sit on the beach - it has a nudist section apparently, but no wobbly bits were spotted during my visit..!


P1010298 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


next stop Barmouth for Ice cream!


P1010304 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


P1010308 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr

and then back to the B&B via the rickety toll bridge..

P1010313 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


P1010224 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr


absolutely P'ing down this morning so a very slow/steady ride back, although the sun did come out once I got closer to Shrewsbury.. close on 600 miles, still a bit of tread left on the rear tyre..:smile:

but after the wet roads, it needs this facility!  :D


P1010207 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr

[John Stenhouse]

Nice report Neil, great scenery

[BONANZA]

Another nice ride Neil. I was in the same area, riding the same roads earlier this year. I camped at Shell Island, cheap, and you can pitch in the sand dunes away from everyone else as long it isnt chocka as it was when I was there :( . There are some really stunning roads in the area and the scenery is beautiful at times. Did you stop at the little petrol station in Barmouth? The old boy on the pumps came out and filled the bike up for me and then cleaned the screen and gave me wet wipes for my visor. Proper old fashioned service :D

[NeilD]

no I missed the petrol station, I always like to try and use places like that if I see them... I agree about the roads and scenery - wish I'd had a video cam on the bike as couldnt always stop to capture it...  the B&B I stayed at is worth a try if you dont fancy camping another time -  its £35 per night, with decent (large!) breakfast, has hardstanding out back to stash the bike, good pub 5 mins down the road and lots of banter/tales from the B&B owner (he's ex-Army motorcycle display team!)

http://www.smoothhound.co.uk/hotels/riverside3.html

[KuzzinKenny]

Hey NeilD !! looks like you had a blast !! good weather, good roads, good food and a grrreat bike !! what more could a man want  

KK

[BigMark]

Nice ride and well photographed. Thanks for sharing.

[outrunner]

Nice report Neil, I did a few of those places in May this year including the trip up Snowdon on the train, well worth the money. You missed out on some stunning views from the top of Harlech castle, mind you the climb up all those stairs takes it out of you............well it nearly did me in.  :shock:


Andy.

[NeilD]

I'll go back and do the Snowdon thing, but book it in advance next time! yes I was a bit annoyed missing the turning into Harlech, I 'assumed' that there would be another way in, but had gone too far by the time I realised there wasnt..  :oops: nevermind, something else to add to the 'to-do' list..

[harre]

Thanks for sharing. It looked like the biker's version of COAST. Very inspiring. Beautiful landscape. I only hope that riding on the left side isn't that difficult to learn.