Barmouth - the where and when

OK peeps this is the final version.

I wouldn’t normally type up a detailed description this long but as there will be so many bikes, a lot of newer riders, and a lot who won’t have done an org rideout before, I thought it as well to let people know what to expect. It's taken bloody ages to type

We’re expecting 40 – 50 bikes – so it’s going to be busy - with a mix of experienced and newer riders. If you know what you’re doing on a bike please don’t intimidate those who are less able. Equally, if you’re less able then please (a) don’t hold up faster riders and (b) don’t ride beyond your own capabilities. There are no prizes for coming off. For some this is a first rideout. People tend to ride closer together in groups, and faster, so make sure that you have enough space around you that you feel comfortable with, and with enough room to stop safely in the distance that you can see to be clear. Please don’t have a herd instinct – this is your ride, your day, so ride as you want, and don’t feel any pressure to ride fast or to keep up with anyone else. Remember - it’s a ride, NOT a race. Please don’t ride like a knob, it impresses nobody, and in a group this size could be downright dangerous.

North Wales Police are known for hostility towards bikes so don’t expect much sympathy if you get pulled. Better still, don’t get pulled at all.

The route will be marked from Shrewsbury. If you’re joining at Telford and you don’t know the way then please follow me, I won’t be going balls out so you shouldn’t get lost. I will make myself known at Telford but I’m fairly easy to spot… a skinhead on a graphite 675 From Shrewsbury there will be designated leaders (probably me to start with, sorry about that) and the second bike must stop at the relevant junctions (only turns will be marked – if there is no marker then go straight on) until darylB (who is Tail End Charlie) comes along on his blue Thundercat. Daryl knows the way, he will be riding at the pace of the slowest rider and so nobody will get lost. Having said that it’s an easy route to follow. The marker system will work ONLY if everybody follows it. So please do, OK?

This is what we’re doing:

• Telford to Shrewsbury - 17 miles, 20 mins or so

We’ll leave Telford Services (J4, M54) at 9.30 prompt. We have got to be on time because the ride is quite long and if we lose time at the start we’ll never make it up. Sorry but if you’re late you might find us gone, you’ll have to catch us up at Shrewsbury. Please have a full tank of fuel, an empty bladder, and tyres at the correct pressures.

M54 to J7 (Wellington), it’s only 4 miles or so. The motorway should be fairly quiet. Down the slip road, turn right at the bottom (surface isn’t very good), under the m-way, and first left onto the B5061 for Shrewsbury. This is a fast, open road, with some terrific bends just beyond Wellington and approaching Atcham, and a long gently downhill straight in the middle. Watch out for the 40 through Atcham, it doesn’t last long, over the bridge over the Severn and it’s NSL. There’s a fair bit of dried up cattle poo on the road, it’ll be a bit sticky if the road's wet.

At the roundabout by Salop Caravans turn left onto the A5/A49 Shrewsbury by-pass. This is dual carriageway – it’s only a few miles - and takes us to Dobbies Island, the roundabout with the A49. Shrewsbury Services is signed – don’t take the left slip, you’ll end up on the A49 south, it’s difficult to get back and everyone will rip the pi$$. Second exit for the Services, we are meeting on the far side of the Esso fuel station – there’s a huge parking area, just ride across the forecourt and anyway there should be quite a few peeps waiting there. Please remember that this section will not be marked, just follow me, anyway you’ll like the howl that my bike makes in midrange and apart from the roundabout where we go back onto the M54 and the roundabouts on the A5 there are no sets of traffic lights and also there are no fixed cameras. In fact there are no fixed cameras and only four sets of traffic lights on the entire route

• Shrewsbury to the Ponderosa – 54 miles, about 1hour 15 mins

Welcome to people joining at Shrewsbury. As before, please ensure that you are ready with a full tank of fuel, and correct tyre pressures. I’ll give a quick briefing, probably in smaller groups as it’s impossible to talk to 40+ people at once.

We’ll leave as close to 10 as we can.

Exit the Services. The roundabout is traffic light controlled but with no lights on the Services exit, so it’s a question of waiting till the other lights turn. I will wait until we can get a lot of bikes out in one go. We are headed back up the A5 eastbound, so half way round the roundabout. The A5 here is dual carriageway and as it goes round the south east side of Shrewsbury is effectively one long left hand bend. At the next roundabout (a few miles) go straight on. This roundabout (‘Emstrey Island’) is also traffic light controlled now, be sure you’re in the correct lane – I usually take the middle lane here. At the next roundabout (‘Preston Island’) the A5 and the A49 separate, you MUST be in the left lane, keep left and follow the signs for the A49. DO NOT get into the right lane as you will end up on the A5 and there’s no turnoff for 13 miles!!!!! And no we won’t wait

The A49 here is wide single carriageway NSL, straight as an arrow, occasionally there’s a mobile camera van about half a mile beyond the railway bridge so be careful.

Go over the first roundabout and at the second roundabout (‘Battlefield’) we take the SECOND exit onto the Battlefield Link Road. The roundabout sign on the A49 indicates this for ‘Ellesmere (A52'. Carry on on this road, across the small roundabout, at the end (about two miles), turn right onto the A528 for Ellesmere. This road is a sheer delight – twisty, but the bends are generally OK, a few sharper ones beyond the village of Cockshutt. There are a few 30s and 40s. Also beware - there was a lot of gravel on some of the bends yesterday. If you get stuck behind a SMV in the twisties PLEASE be patient, there are lots of places to get past, just take your time, it isn’t a race. No offs allowed, OK??? Up Pim Hill – good overtaking opportunities. Soon we come to Harmer Hill, where you fork left by the Bridgwater Arms – you can’t miss the sign for Ellesmere. Beyond Cockshutt the bends get tighter, and there’s a crossroads in a dip, so please be careful. After 14 miles we reach Ellesmere. So–called because of the ‘Mere’ – you’ll see it on the right hand side.

If anyone has been daft enough not to fuel up, there’s a petrol station in Ellesmere.

Through Ellesmere and we turn right at the roundabout, signed for Wrexham and Overton A528. To Overton is a fast open road with good visibility. After a few miles you cross into Wales. You come into Overton-on-Dee (‘Owrtyn’ in Welsh). Please observe the 30 limit, a young lad was knocked off his pushbike here last week in a hit and run, sadly he died, there is strong local feeling about people going too fast. Turn left at the junction, and follow the road through the village (sharp right followed by a sharp left), the road then drops downhill, and across the River Dee – quite twisty with a bit of a sharp uphill right hander just after the bridge. Very pretty. On just a bit more and turn left onto the A539 for Ruabon and Llangollen.

The A539 is also fast and open. We go downhill almost into Ruabon but turn left at the bottom – signed Llangollen. Cross the two roundabouts with the A483 (main road to Wrexham and Chester – the main road goes overhead so not a busy junction) and get in the right hand lane for Llangollen. It’s then a straight road into Llangollen – at first it’s a bit dismal but after a few miles it gets green again. Another good road.

Into Llangollen, just go straight on, don’t turn off, this road becomes the A542 Horseshoe Pass. The road actually drops to start with but soon starts climbing steadily, and it gets a bit wild. There are a few sharp bends and one particularly tight uphill right hander so if you don’t know the road (and even if you do) please be careful. The road climbs to about 350m, it gets a bit breezy up the top! Views on a clear day are fantastic. The Ponderosa café is at the top on the right hand side. If it’s good weather the place will be rammed but service is quick.

PLEASE can we make the Pondy a drink stop only, if we have food it’ll take too long. ETA is 11.15am but if we’re late leaving Shrewsbury then 11.30am. PLEASE can we aim to have no more than 30 mins here but if you’ve only just arrived then rest assured we will wait for you to have a brew and a pee.

• The Ponderosa to Barmouth – 52 miles, about 1hr 30mins

Turn right out of the Ponderosa. There are a few good twisties but as the road drops downhill it straightens up a bit – it’s not that far to the roundabout where we take the first left, the A5104 towards Corwen. NB the surface on this roundabout is just diabolical, pot holes and loose tarmac, so watch where you’re going. This road (10 miles) is terrific, fast and generally open bends. Please be careful as the road rises and falls quite a bit and there’s a lot of hidden dips and dead ground. Nice ride after some miles – 8 maybe - the road turns into the A494, stay on this road and you get to a set of traffic lights with the A5. Turn right – Bala and Dolgellau are signed. This is a trunk road and it’s good, nice surface, can make reasonable progress.

After just a few miles of this rather nice road we take a left onto the A494 for Bala. Be careful as there is a left junction almost immediately. Another excellent road, in a valley bottom, twisty as you like Eventually after 11 miles we get to Bala.

We are taking the B4403 road around the south side of Bala lake to avoid Bala town centre. The town will be very busy and it would not be easy to get so many bikes through, and besides a group of this size will attract attention of the Heddlu (police). The downside is that the southern route is at times very narrow.

So – just coming into Bala, we turn left onto the B4391 (B4403 is a turn off this road). This starts to bend round to the right. After a mile or so we turn right onto the B4403 – from memory it’s signed ‘Llangower’ but it’s fairly obvious as we have to follow the southern shore of the lake. There’s a light railway running along the water’s edge so if you see the tracks you’ll know you’re OK. CAUTION!!! - This road gets very narrow and nadgery in places so take your time and throttle right back. You’ll wonder wherever you’re going You just keep following the road round the lake – it’s quite a long lake – 5 or 6 miles - and you get nice views of it – and there are a few small villages, it’s the land that time forgot. Eventually the road leads out onto a T junction with the A494 – take a left for Dolgellau. Bala to Dolgellau is 18 miles. This is a busy road, sorry but there is little alternative.

This is an open road to start with but then gets narrow under trees. There are some simply terrific bends. Near Dolgellau are some ‘temporary’ road works with ‘temporary’ traffic lights that have been there since Adam was a lad. And yesterday the Council were chopping the trees, so it took a while to get through. If you filter to the front of the inevitable queue of traffic, please be careful. And if you’re at the front anyway, please leave room for other bikes to filter

We don’t go into Dolgellau. The road bypasses the town, ending at a T junction with the A470. Turn right onto this dual carriageway, and stay on it for only a few miles and take a left onto the A496 into Barmouth. This is 8 miles of twisty road, nice sweeping bends and great views over the Mawddach. You’ll know you’re approaching Barmouth when you see the train bridge across the estuary.

There’s a sharp S bend just before we get into the town.

Once in the town, carry straight on, follow the signs for Town Centre – don’t take a left for the Prom. Go up the slight hill and take a left into the one way system and follow this round into the town car park. You will need some coins as ‘vehicles’ have to pay - it’s 80p an hour. I’m checking with Gwynedd Council whether bikes have to pay, the sign helpfully requires 'vehicles' to display inside the windscreen. There are double yellows all over, so risk of a ticket if you park illegally. We parked up by the harbour today but after 1 April we’d likely have got a ticket.

Barmouth is bigger than you’d think, and there are lots of places to get something to eat. As the trip from Telford is 120 miles, please refuel!!!!! There are next to no petrol stations until we get to Guilsfield on the way back. I nearly ran out. Oops.

ETA – 1 – 1.15pm.

• Barmouth to Meifod turn (A495) – 38 miles – 1 hour

We will leave as close to 2pm as we can, but realistically it might be nearer 2.15pm. My mate Ian will probably lead this bit, he rides a scorched yellow D675. On leaving Barmouth we take the A496 back to Dolgellau. Turn right onto the A470 headed for Llangurig - and stay on it for 11 miles to Mallwyd. To start with the A470 is pretty good – yesterday one of the lanes was coned off and I got stuck behind a SMV for quite some way. The two lane bit soon ends though, and we start going uphill – the road gets twisty as we climb up a mountain called Dinas Mawddy, and the scenery starts to become dramatic. By the top of the mountain you’re about 600m high, and on the way down the scenery’s just awesome as we enter the side of a glaciated valley. It’s a blind summit, so keep your wits about you, Just as we reached the top Daryl and I saw someone nearly meet a sticky end as he came over TFF to find a Land Rover stopped in the road to turn right across us up a mountain track – heavy braking and the bike was hopping about all over, front end shaking violently, how it stayed upright I don’t know, and I saw the look of terror on his face - not nice.

Start dropping downhill, there is a very sharp left bend, you can’t see round it, so slow down!! You can’t do this one fast. If the road is wet – extra care needed, no offs allowed, remember. No prizes for ‘Did Not Finish’. And there’s another sharp right hander pretty soon after but you can see a bit more here. There is then a fantastic long downhill straight that goes on and on and on – you are riding the side of the glaciated valley to the bottom. Before you crack the throttle, remember that you’re in North Wales and speeding bikers are the enemy, OK??? The A470 is heavily policed. Don’t complain if you get pulled….

After the fairly steep descent the road becomes flatter and with wide, open sweepers. Stay on it until we get to the roundabout at Mallwyd, where we take a left onto the A458 headed for Welshpool. If anyone’s desperate for fuel, there’s a fuel station just after the roundabout, on the right. The A458 is probably the twistiest road I know, a few of the bends are very sharp. Please don’t be tempted to ride beyond your capabilities. The sharpest bend had temporary traffic lights on it yesterday, road works, so it was easy to get round as I knew there was no oncoming, but I doubt they'll still be there in 2 weeks time. You’ll know when the twisties start as the road goes into a rocky valley with lots of overhanging trees. There are straight bits dotted between the bends but please exercise restraint, most of the straights are fairly short and might not be long enough for overtaking safely, particularly with a large number of bikes. And if you do overtake, please consider the riders behind you who will need space to pull in.

This twisty road goes on and on – this part of Wales is remote, with few settlements. Have a look at the road map and you’ll see what I mean. It will seem like ages before you see the sign A495 Meifod. It is, in fact, 16 miles from Mallwyd but it seems a good bit longer. Take a left.

By this stage we’ll have gone 40 miles of twisty roads and the group will be strung out, so time to regroup methinks. Please pull over as soon as you turn left, but without blocking the turn – there’s enough room between the junction and the bend where the road goes over the River Banwy, and wait a few mins for everyone to catch up. Suggest that the first arrivals park further up, nearer the river. I think people will probably welcome the break, too. We’ll stop for about 15 mins. There’s a cafe in Meifod – 6 miles up the road – but I think it will be closed on Saturday afternoon. So a stop here is a good idea. If by this stage you’re thinking ‘how much further is it’ the answer is that it’s an hour’s ride back to Shrewsbury.


5. Meifod to Shrewsbury – 35 miles, approx 1hr 10 mins

We then set off for 9 miles up the A495, through Meifod. Cracking road this, it will come as a welcome relief after the tight twisties of the A458. Gets a bit twisty where the road crosses the River Vyrnwy over a narrow (traffic light controlled) bridge. Carry on through Meifod – NB 30 limit through the village – and on for about 4 miles beyond, where we turn right onto the A490 for Guilsfield. I couldn’t do this road justice yesterday as my fuel light had been on for 15 miles and I was sure I was about to run out of fuel. The road climbs uphill with some of the best open bends I know. It’s really fantastic The road drops down hill, after a few miles watch out for the left sign B4392 to Guilsfield. There’s a petrol station here, on the right hand side.

Ride through Guilsfield – from the A490 turn to here is about 6 miles. There’s a good pub in Guilsfield – The Oak – if we need a refreshment stop then this is a good spot, there’s a large parking area. Will sense the mood from the stop at Meifod. Watch out for the raised zebra crossings in the village. Carry on through the village on the B4392 for about 7 miles – we come to a junction with the A483. Turn left headed for Oswestry. You don’t go very far, about half a mile maybe – watch out for the right turn B4393 for Llandrinio and Shrewsbury. They’re resurfacing the junction and the surface yesterday was very poor. Another great ride. Follow this road all the way (the hill on the right is called Rodney’s Pillar) to the junction with the A458 at Ford. There are quite a few 40s on the B4393, and occasionally I’ve seen hand held speed traps, so beware.

On reaching the junction with the A458 at Ford, turn left. Dinky’s Diner is in a big lay-by on the left hand side, about half a mile on (past The Cross Gates pub) – can you all please pull in here (it was the start point for AR06) and wait for me as otherwise you’ll get completely lost on trying to find the way to my house. I'll be Joe Midpacker by this stage I reckon, so will need to catch up with the front riders, but Ian and John know the way to casa mia. It’s actually very easy but you really do have to go ‘round the houses’. It’s about 4 - 5 miles from here.

Out of Dinky’s, back onto the main road. At the roundabout with the A5, go straight on. Over the next roundabout, and at the traffic lights get into the right hand lane. Turn right and stay in the right hand lane. Carry on along this road (‘Roman Road’ – it’s the old A5, 40 limit) and go across two roundabouts. You will see the playing fields of Shrewsbury School on your left. You drop down a small hill, and up again – towards the top, start indicating right. At the roundabout just beyond the brow of the hill, take a right into Longden Road. There’s a right hand junction about ¼ mile along, cars tend to pull out in front of you so be careful. You will start dropping down a short hill – there is sometimes a mobile camera van at the bottom, this is a 30 limit, so don’t go over the brow of the hill over the limit as it’ll be too late. Anyway, in 200 metres at the bottom of the hill you’re turning left into Stanley Lane (it’s opposite the Nuffield Hospital). Only half a mile to go.

Go over the railway bridge and take the second right – the road here is narrow and it’s quite a sharp turn – into Alexandra Avenue. Carry on down here, past the village shop (on the right) and there is a slight left hand bend. Start indicating left, only 200m to go. Turn left into Pendle Way. Take the first left into Fairlawn Avenue, and then left again into Fairlawn Gardens. We’re the second house on the right. Park up. There will be some room on our driveway, but there’s plenty of room in the cul de sac. There’s a turning circle at the end.

Satnav people, the postcode is SY3 9QT.

And in for a well-earned brew! We should arrive around 4.30 - 4.45pm. PLEASE can we keep to time, as some people have quite a ride to get home.

Any quezzies, give me a shout. If you want my mobile number, PM me.

If you start at Telford, the route is 196 miles. From Shrewsbury it's 179 miles.

I'll add some piccies shortly.

See you on the 4th!!!!

Ed

Just called Gwynedd Council and they told me yes we do have to pay. But then they would say that wouldn't they. So I asked where do we display the ticket. Much kerfuffle. I was told to keep the ticket with me.

Confused.....

[Luckypants]

Locked and tidied to keep this as information.

Please print this information and bring it with you, so that you know what is happening on the day.

NB If you are bringing non-ORGers, make sure you print this and get them to read it!