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I won’t lie, it was with a slight sense of sadness that I made my way to Llandudno on my ever faithful Thundercat with my (hopefully faithful) wife on the pillion. BC’s 1 to 6 had all been based in the quirky little Shropshire town of Bishop Castle. All had been fantastic events packed with memories that will linger with me for life. The ride outs were uniformly excellent with great roads and the very best of Welsh countryside to enjoy. The superb socials have provided myself and MrsR with a whole new circle of friends. So as the sign for Bishop castle flashed past I pressed on to our new, enforced location, Llandudno, nestled way up on the northern Welsh Coast with a slightly heavy heart. My old mate Geeg should of been with us too, but a last minute crisis at home prevented him joining us…next time bud.
The trip was pretty uneventful, the bike hummed along and MrsR was happy so long as I stopped every hour or so to buy her cake…the peak of excitement came when we were buzzed by two low flying Apache attack helicopters on the outskirts of Shrewsbury…I thought they were cutting Police budgets! Over the top if you ask me, I wasn’t even speeding…We found our charming little B&B very easily and the owner was fascinated by my Givi box, he called it my suitcase and seemed rather perplexed as to how we had got it here on the bike!
We quickly unpacked and heading to the rendezvous for the night – I tell you what; it might only be a Spoonies, but wow The Palladium is a stunning building both inside and out. The clue is in the name as it was a grand theatre in a previous life and Wetherspoons to their credit have saved a crumbling derelict building and carried out a most impressive restoration, creating a distinctive and expansive venue.
The usual suspects were already gathered in this packed and buzzing venue. As in previous years we all straight back into it, laughing joking, like we has last meet up the previous week and not the previous year!
Tucking in
Enjoying the local alesAmazingly the first to wilt and head for bed were our two youngsters. They sloped off early on while the oldies, including the father of one of our lightweights continued on with the fun; it was great to be back with the crew and when MrsR and I wondered back to the digs we were both happy and looking forward to a good day tomorrow riding on some awesome roads.
The next morning after a good old kip and healthy refreshing grapefruit for breakfast (!) we got on the bike and headed for meet with the crew. We were greeted by the sight of an impressive and varied line-up. Only three Thundercats, but most of the others were ex-owners
One lad was also showing off his latest acquisition…a new Duke, having decided that white was the new black, he has gone for a rather natty white 899 Panigale.
Impressive turnout
Proud owner shot
Almost seemed a shame to move on..
Wizardly self starting Triumph
What a nice bunch, no Waco style shoot outs here with rivals from the CBR600 forum…The tourists looked on in awe as we rolled out and made our way out of Llandudno in a neat line of 14 bikes. It was really pleasing to see one of the long standing forum members out on a bike again as health issues have restricted him a little in recent times. His gargantuan BMW was impressive and the built in luggage looked like it could swallow the Panigale in one side and a Baby Blade in the other!
First section tackled was a tight and twisty switch back that hugged the coast line known as the Great Orme. Slow, but the switchbacks were challenging and the views out to sea, simply to die for. Better still we went in the direction in which you don’t have to pay a toll. We then headed along the sublime A470, a brilliant road, emasculated in recent years by speed cameras and excessively long 50mph limit zones, but still slicing through some of the best countryside you could hope to encounter. All too soon we were at our first stop, well most of us were..a little mix up with marking delayed one or two folk, but nothing too bad. We stopped at the friendly little cafe at Blaenau Ffestiniog that sits alongside a picturesque lake and is over looked by former slate mines and a little narrow gauge, heritage steam railway.
Nice spot for a cuppa
The steam train even did a ‘flypast’ in our honour!
Time to get going againAfter Mrs R had consumed (another) cake we headed out along the somewhat more technical B4391. The sight of a somewhat mangled BMW GS left at the side of the road emphasised to us what the potential consequences could be on this demanding, but nonetheless enjoyable road. The conditions were a little windy in places too, but hey it all adds to the fun! The marking system was working and the group was hanging together well, not too far spread out and stops as a marker were brief, rarely even getting the chance to turn off your motor before the TEC would roll up and we’d be off again.
The A4212 carried us to the first fuel stop and the now traditional petrol station chaos as multiple bikes filling up send the attendant into mental meltdown as they try to establish who had put in £11.34 and who £9.36…somehow saying ‘I am the one on the bike’ didn’t seem to help much…
It was proving to be a great mornings’ ride. I enjoyed my time at the pointy end of the pack and my Thundercat was running sweetly as ever and MrsR was doing sterling work on the pillion. The big BMW RT meanwhile was hussling along impressively on the as was a lad on a Pan European 1100. they looked rather like two aircraft carriers with a escort fleet of destroyers!! The two lads on Fireblades were clearly having fun despite one being sprayed by the contents of coach waste tank after the driver thoughtfully discharged it just as he overtook. Very naughty and illegal I am reliably informed.
Back on another section of the A470 and A4085 to Beddgelert and then the A498 before taking the Peny Pass to Llanberis before taking a lunch break in…wait for it…Llanfair¬pwllgwyngyll¬gogery¬chwyrn¬drobwll¬llan¬tysilio¬gogo¬goch. (phew)
This isn’t the longest place name in the world, that ‘honour goes to…
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu
However that is in New Zealand and we had table booked back in Llandudno (which suddenly seems easy to spell…) for 7:30pm!
It was here that I finally succumbed to the voice inside and ordered a full English Breakfast, but to my relief they knew how much I care about healthy eating and served me a salad…there were some shocked people in the group it has to be said!
It isn’t just the bikes that need to be refuelledSuitably re-fuelled and refreshed we tackled a lap of Anglesey, passing over two impressive, if wind swept bridges in the process. We finished off an superb, largely incident free days riding heading for Betwys-y-Coed along the A5. One of the UKs’ more interesting trunk roads!
We were treated to some fantastic views all day
Another pretty rest haltWe had a final rest (and Cake) halt and the very friendly Moel Sianbod Cafe. Here MrsR and others indulged themselves with perhaps the largest ‘slices’ of cake that I have ever seen. MrsR was running at around 60mpc (miles per cake)
More cliff face than cake!The final leg was also on the A470 and we all arrived back in Llandudno in one piece ready to enjoy a night socializing once more.
The venue for the 2nd night was the delightful Cottage Loaf pub and eatery. Somewhat more salubrious than the Spoonies…
After such a good days ride the group was in good spirits, the food served was superb, the beer flowed and the night air was filled with laughter.
All ready for a good night
Some serious debate…
Somebody had laced his drink….So overall then what can we say of BC7, The Welsh Beast? We can say it was a resounding success!
A superb event, slickly re-organized as ever by Nick and Ellie at the last minute following a certain pub in BC nearly screwing up the whole weekend.
Nick and Ellie….thanks for a stonking weekend!Cracking write up as usual, looks like you had a fab weekend too
You should come along sometime, you would fit in well and really enjoy yourself
Great write up and pictures as usual Radar.
Cheers bud, you should come along on the Blade, you would enjoy it
What an read, I’m new to the forum but reading this post, I felt I was on the ride with you all!
I’m lucky enough to be from St Asaph, and have the Denbighshire moors to my tires.Hopefully I’ll meet some of you on the road sometime. Thank you for a fantastic story!
Myko
Hi Thanks for the positive response. This was the annual Thundercat owners meet and ride out to Wales. They do one to Scotland too, and couple of other places. Not many left with a Thundercat now, a great bike but getting on a bit now. I have kept mine, while other bikes join it for a while in the garage.
Welcome to the forum, why not post up some details about yourself,your current machine and your biking history?
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