Wrinklies Welsh Wramble

[richtea]

After six amazing years of the Wrinklies Run, this year it is time for something a little different.

The original, way back in 2015 was a classic 'Chasing the Sun' route more or less straight across the country from Ness Point in Lowestoft (the most easterly point in the UK) to Aberystwyth (not the most westerly) in Welsh Wales. Because we were not total loonies, we didn't attempt to actually do it in one day, which was the original idea of chasing the sun runs, rather a more leisurely pace, meandering around as befits gentlemen of a certain age...

Everyone agreed it was a top job by Rae and so it became an annual favourite, just not from Lowestoft to Aberwotsit as the following two years were also 'Chasing the Sun' routes again starting in Lowestoft but taking a more meandering route and ending up in Llandudno followed the next year by Lowestoft to Llanelli in South Wales.

As with all route planning, the more you use the same start or end points, the more difficult it becomes to find new and interesting roads and so the last three Wrinklies trips have seen routes from Cleethorpes to Frome, Southport to Clacton and Wheyrigg in Cumbria to Worthing.

We have criss-crossed the country and without going over old ground or heading off to Scotland or Ireland, it is difficult to find new challenges.


Wrinklies Welsh Wramble

Unlike the Wrinklies Runs of yore which were always a point-to-point route over two days bracketed by three nights in hotels a couple of hundred miles apart, this year we are planning a single base in mid-Wales with daily loops on the best roads the area has to offer.

The Cast, so far:
Brian   (Phmode)          Yes (Bryncelyn Guesthouse)
Richard (richtea)           Yes (Bryncelyn Guesthouse)
Matt (Matt!)                  Yes (Bryncelyn Guesthouse)
Martin  (fjtwelve)          Yes (Bryncelyn Guesthouse)
Tom (TomK1300s)         Yes (Bryncelyn Guesthouse)
Bob                               Yes (Bryncelyn Guesthouse)
Rae (raesewell)            Yes (Bryncelyn Guesthouse)
Ady (Ady00)                  Yes (Neuadd Arms Hotel)
Philip (Philip!)                Yes (Neuadd Arms Hotel)
Colin (flatfour)              Poss (depending on dates)

The proposed itinerary is as follows:

When?
Mon 14th - 16th June

Where?
Confirmed base(s):
Llanwrtyd Wells, just west of the middle of nowhere.
- Bryncelyn Guesthouse (max 7) booked
- Neuadd Arms (20 beds) - literally two doors along, bookable

We have a confirmed booking for all 7 rooms at the Bryncelyn Guesthouse for those 7 members who are a definite 'Yes'.

Bryncelyn is a 4 star B&B that has never disappointed in many stays there, has off-road parking for half a dozen bikes on their private drive and Lil, the lovely Irish(?) owner, serves a huge traditional breakfast.

The nearest and most convenient place in town to eat supper and be merry is The Neuadd Arms, 50 yards along the street.

The Neuadd Arms also has 20 rooms available for guests but is currently not taking bookings. I have spoken to the chef (who was in doing lunches for the lads in the garage next door) and obviously, if lockdown is finished then they will be open so anyone else wishing to join in the fun will be able to stay there making one big merry group for the all important evening celebrations. I will keep in touch with them as and when Wales re-opens.
[Update 5th Feb: Philippe got through to them via email: 'I made the reservation (i.e. directly, not via booking.com). The landlady asked to let her know as soon as possible if I wouldn't be able show up for any reason, more specifically if any government would forbid traveling at that time; I can pay when leaving, didn't need to pay any advance.']

The Neuadd Arms also has off-road parking and a wonderful public bar and a slightly less salubrious locals bar as well as its own brewery out the back. No, really! The restaurant serves excellent meals with daily specials as well as a full menu.

How long for?
3 core nights at the dual bases, cheek-by-jowl in Llanwrtyd Wells.

What for?
2 full days riding, approx 1.5 - 2 hour sections with 2 coffee/take in the view/fag stops and a lunch break.
Also 2 half-day rides have been added for Monday PM, and Thursday AM if anyone is interested in joining us.

The full day rides start at 9am sharp. Painful, but it's the only way to actually get everyone round and back for opening time!
A day ride is roughly 7.5 - 8 hours once stops are taken into account, so we aim to return by 4:30-5pm.
The half-days rides are 3 hours including a single stop.

Full day routes as GPX 1.1 files:
Download zip

Full day routes as ITN files:
Download zip

Also the optional half day routes as GPX 1.1 files:
Download zip

And optional half day routes as ITN files:
Download zip

Lastly, for ease of viewing CLICK ON MAPS BELOW FOR GOOGLE ROUTE
NOTE: it's not possible to get Google to exactly follow the above true routes, but these are a pretty good approximation for viewing purposes

Tuesday: Brecons Zig-zag
This is based on one of TomK1300S' excellent routes - thanks Tom!
It covers the Brecons - up down, left right, all over the place. Depending on the weather, there may be a few fag/photo stops added.
Mostly A & B roads.




Wednesday: Mid-Wales Loop
Mid-Wales, including an optional stop at the Centre for Alternative Technology.
Mostly main roads, with a bit of single track at the top of the loop near Lake Vrynwy.




Half day Monday: Elan Valley (optional half-day)
A half-day route to the lakes and dams of Elan Valley - this is a sight-seeing route. Dams, dams and more dams.
A lot of single track roads, so potentially quite challenging. Also possibly tourist traffic on this particular route




Half-day Thursday: To the Sea (optional half-day)
A half-day route to the sea. Living in the middle of the country I only get to see the sea about once a year - so it's purely to amuse me. But why not!
Again a lot of single track, so potentially quite challenging.



Because we're based at one hotel, there's the option to split into separate groups, and if there are different ideas for that day's ride, folks can head off into the Principality and do their own thing if they wish.

We are not intending to go to North Wales. That's been done, and it's more heavily policed compared to the rest of Wales.

[Matt]

level of interest: certain.

... into the Principality ...

Hah! We used to annoy the 3 remaining Welsh people in Aberystwyth by calling it that back in the day!

Great work chaps, i'm all for it. This sounds much safer than getting metaphorically dragged to the MotoGP this year too. I did hope to see North Wales but then your justification for avoiding it is well founded, and I'd only be shoulder checking for bloody helicopters if we did head that way, so that works for me .

One hotel is good for anybody that wants to stay in Wales too. I may even throw on my camping stuff which I can then leave there and decide what/where after.

p.s. I do hope you plan a visit to the fricking incredible alternative energy place or whatever it's called. 3 or 4 years living in Aber and I never managed to visit!

[fjtwelve]

I'm in

[raesewell]

Seems like a plan, do you have more information about the Hotel and routes Rich?
The hotel needs to have enough rooms or we will be spread across multiple hotels, which in my experience encourages splintering into smaller groups which sometimes morph into a clique.

[raesewell]

Just out of interest Rich where have these 11 routes come from? Have you and Brian planned them yourself?

Who have they been tried and tested by?

[flatfour]

I'm interested if by any chance it goes into July - at present I have already scheduled a short break of a few days for 3rd June, as well as the Longest Day weekend (19th - 20th) so June is rather crowded if all works out!

[raesewell]

As the Wrinklies trip has traditionallly started on the First Monday in June Melanie has booked holiday from 23rd June to 4th July so those dates are out for me 

[TomK1300s]

I am up for that, any of June is good for me as I am away in May and Scotland in July, post the route as soon as you have it together and I will add my bit of knowledge fot that area.

[richtea]

Just out of interest Rich where have these 11 routes come from? Have you and Brian planned them yourself?

Who have they been tried and tested by?

A right mixture, Rae!

We looked at Tom's (thanks Tom!), and the Brecon one is good. We may well use part of it - possibly most of it. Tom also used some good roads heading north/south, so again, they're on our list. We also have some Bikers Britain, Fast Bikes, and some other random place that I can't remember.

I've also played with Kurviger, which amuses me no end, and we may use that for jointing parts together.
Brian & I are intending to go and ride them beforehand if Covidly possible, since they're only about 1-2 hours away.

[richtea]

p.s. I do hope you plan a visit to the fricking incredible alternative energy place or whatever it's called. 3 or 4 years living in Aber and I never managed to visit!

Send us a link, and we'll see if we can incorporate it.

[Matt]

Here

But tbh it's only a semi serious suggestion and it's north'ish near Mac anyway. Nice roads though says my 17 years old memory bank!
Also: remember restaurants? Man! I loved those places.

Let me know if you and Bri fancy company BTW.

Edit: in another stupid suggestion: don't forget that huge zip line up north too :p
Double edit: in actuality riding, scenery and good chat and beer is all we need.

[chriscanning]

Have to say 10 out of 10 for the optimism, and Tom is even better...I don’t see us being even close to getting out of jail this side of August....here’s hoping you lot are right.

[Matt]

Shush! :p
Also, lunch stop at yours on Sept 1st then :p.

I've been waiting for an excuse to buy a rack and luggage.

[Grumpy jase]

Thanks to Rich and Brian for stepping up.  Herding cats springs to mind.

I am interested in joining you but have a couple of questions before committing too much.  I'm a bit nervous of group riding, having done very little over the years.  What sort of pace do you run at?  June should be okay for me, but work commitments and lack of holiday means at least adjoining a weekend is better, but maybe that doesn't work for everyone else, do you have any feel for which nights you would be looking to book? 

I've never ridden in Wales, but have always wanted to.  The single hotel location and loops out works really well for me and I am sure you can find some belting roads around mid Wales

Jason

[richtea]

If you can handle a K, Jase, you can ride with a group, I promise.

In general group riding is at a more relaxed speed than travelling solo, or in pairs, say.
In fact (don't tell anyone) but it can seem very pedestrian at times. And then you hit a bit of traffic/overtakes, and oh - better gather your skirts up.

Rae can correct me on this, but I think we travel at maybe 40-50mph average over a whole day when it's across country. We might have some fun out in the sticks, but we'll be doing spot on 30mph in town, so it averages out.

A group acts like a squeezebox - it stretches right out during the fast bits, and shrinks back together in the slow bits. If the Leader were to bomb off at their favourite personal pace, he/she will have lost half the group 20 miles in because of traffic lights, overtakes that only half the group can execute on that particular stretch of road, and so on. So a good leader (that's Rae if we're lucky) will pace the group - wait when necessary to gather everyone up for the major junctions, and other neat tricks.

Other things to know:
- if you're new to group riding, you need to be the person behind the leader - then you're not under any strain about directions, speed, keeping up, etc.

- you mark junctions/decision points for the rider behind you, i.e. if the rider behind you isn't visible, you sit on that junction, until you know they've seen you. Then you can carry on, and catch up the rider in front, who may be out of sight, but you know they'll do the same for you at the next junction. But for most of the day, you'll be in sight of the rider in front & behind.

- through town we stagger (and at night coming back from the pub) so the 2-second rule applies to the rider two positions ahead (immediately ahead is only 1 second away, but not in direct line, so you still have 2 seconds to gather your wits)

I've popped you in the top post as a Possible.