Graded Ride 2.6.19
Four riders, Jon, Billy Bob, Carl and Edward set off from Eccleshall at 9:30am, heading for a first stop at The Bird on The Rock cafe, a lovely quaint place with such character, both the building and the people. To get there, we headed to Shrewsbury, then skirted south through Much Wenlock, Much Wenlock and Craven Arms to the cafe.
Sadly, on the way, Jon had to turn back due to his ongoing shoulder injury impacting on his ability to spend the day in the saddle, though he/we did get to have a bit of "fun" before he turned back, just before the first cafe stop
Once rested, the three remaining riders then headed for Newtown, via some very small lanes, before we picked up the usual route, without grass and gravel down the middle of the road ! Back on a better surface, we got to Newtown, through the middle and out on the A470 to Llanidloes and picked up the B4518 to Machynlleth. Not long out of Llanidloes the rain started, got heavier as we got to Machynlleth, kept on fairly heavy as we then headed to Aberystwyth, stopping to clean visors and then spray them with some Nikwax water repellent (introduced by Dom on a previous ride out) which works really well, and fuel up at Bow Street, enough to see us home.
By the time we pulled out of the fuel station, it had stopped raining, so we carried on to Aberystwyth, did a pass down the prom and then carried on to Devils Bridge for our much-by-now-time lunch stop ! The roads were drying out by now, so we could enjoy the twisties between Aberystwyth and Devils Bridge. Having rested and filled our tummies, we headed towards Rhayader over the top of some lovely scenic and unspoilt views, and some more great twisties.
From Rhayader, we headed to Crossgates and on to Penybont, left to Knighton, Craven Arms, retracing our steps to Much Wenlock and back to Newport. Billy bob had headed off his way home before we got to Newport, Carl, at Newport headed his way home and Edward carried on back to his home !
About 280 from Eccleshall in the morning back to Newport, plus a bit more at the start and end of the day, made for a decent days mileage. We experienced all types of road, some very slippery indeed, as we made our way towards Machynlleth, causing some consternation amongst us, as it was much more slippery than expected, with bikes moving about much more than one would like ! All was well though.
The weather, though wet at times, eventually came good, and we got home having dried out, and having had a great day, with the usual banter etc, etc.
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