Welshpool
 

Guys, what time is everybody thinking of getting to welshpool, in time for a bit of tucker and a few jars at the local hostelry?

Hopefully yes .. It's only an hour for me so should get there about 6 I reckon

I'm hoping to get there by about 7, 7:30

Depending on how deep the snow is

M6 traffic dependant, 7 is my target too.

dunno, got to work up to 2ish then 4¼ hours google says,,, plus the coffee and wee stops. might want some lunch as well....

forecast looks bit better now
 

snow on the mountains here now but forecast for fri not as grim as it was- looks like 5c sunny with no big frost on thu night after all (at the moment):roll:

I shall prob aim to get there for 6-7 ish. 3 hr drive so not too bad hopefully. Will be ready for a beer and scran :)

if I feel as knackered as I do right now I'll probably have to stop for a sleep as well.

How old are you. Hope you have your slippers and electric blanket with you

I have, and a hot water bottle. thanks

How was it?

Great fun, weather perfect, bloody hard work and feeling a bit stiff today

Totally awesome day

bit too many B roads for my liking but other than that couldn't fault it for a good time

Forgotten how much I loved the muddy stuff ...

Watching Andy B slowly destroy his bike over the day was the icing on the cake .. until he got lost .. and that was the hundreds and thousands and the cherry :lol: :lol: :lol:

oh and crowbarring the KTM 450 off matt .. and finding out that the "beast" was actually the most user friendly bike there .. and it had heated grips too ... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

oh .. and riding through puddles to soak people .. makes me **** my pants

here's to having daft crashes and falling off without hurting yourself and smashing your bike to bits .. and fixing stuff with the heel of your boot

and a very big hurrah to Miles for organising the whole thing

I'm hoping we make it an annual event


hows about this for next year :D ....
http://www.redtread.com/lads_long_weekend.html

I can't wait to do it again, Don't think the Mrs would let me go to Spain without her though.

I did quietly chuckle to myself when he said sometimes groups of freinds try racing each other and that's when accidents happen.. so don't race!

Would you expect US not to race?

Things I learned...
 

I have learned that 450's are better than 250s and KTMs are better than Honda's.

That is just from a me riding point of veiw, I don't know of care about reliability or running costs or anything like that.

I didn't try the 'girls bike' because Badger wouldn't get off it.

Reliability good and running costs much less on honda xr like mine and worth looking at- air cooled + less stressed engine- less power but heaps of torque- totally adequate most for kinds of non serious stuff- avoid full mx version of honda crf- expensive top end rebuilds a certainty

Thanks to all who came along and made it great fun weekend- didn't mean to soak anyone in huge puddles or start andy's day of diving on the ground before breakfast was even over (honest)

Glad everyone enjoyed it and great the weather was on our side
Think just about everyone fell off at some point and no one hurt themselves (much) and got a feel for it by the end of the day
Be happy to do it again anytime it's not frozen or snowing

Thanks for welcoming nicki into the fold- she had a really good day and kept the pace impressively I reckon

Look foreward to seeing any pics and scott's vid- shame i didnt have a helmet cam too coz had cracking view of three comedy falls from andy

It sounds like you all had a blast ! I wish I had saved some leave... but hey ho!

For what it's worth, I did a 5-day tour with Redtread Spain, and it was brilliant. They cater for all levels - even total noobs like I was at the time. I gather there has been a change of management since then, so I don't know how that has gone, but the location and the terrain are excellent

Nobody wanted her first thing did they?? :(

I got kind of attached to her by lunchtime so all you 250 an 400 never enjoyed the thrills of clutch slip any time you got near full revs! :eek:
2nd or 3rd gear was all you needed until you wanted to go fast or up a hill.

Well I've succumbed. Just bought a crf250. Went for a quick 10 minute blast this morning down my local green lane and bumped into a nutter and great bloke called ginge who proceeded to take me out hooning around mud plugging at ridiculous speeds. I didn't get home for hours and got a bit of stick off the mrs as she thought or maybe hoped I was dead in a ditch somewhere. Anyway I only crashed twice which is quite good by Blomfields standards! I think that Welshpool trip has given me a great winter hobby. I haven't laughed so much in ages but Im not sure I will be able to walk tomorrow!, :-)

Nice one Jim, it's great fun during the winter and even more of a laugh when the Snows deep and hardly anything else can move

good move- hours of really cheap biking fun once you have yr own bike- me and nicki went out last weekend for good trip round bottom of mountains and got her through some much trickier muddy stuff- if you ever fancy coming over this way again with it we'll find some good places to go

That would be awesome miles. Will def take you up on that. I know what you mean about cheap. Had half a day out riding and got fuel, bacon butty and a jet wash with change out of a tenner! Let me know when suits you and I will come down your way

found another place that do stuff really close but only on own bikes- can make 4 of us at least with you me nicki haydon and anyone else who fancies it- maybe we should buy andy a bike for the amusement factor

I so so really really wish I haddn't spent all my money,,, I want one.

Def all chip in for a bike for Andy just for giggles, this time though we have to strap a couple of cameras to him so we can relive the **** taking moments over and over!

Mine was quite cheap Matt. 04 plate £1750 ready to roll. The 450cc bikes youve got your eye on seem to be about the same sort of money as the 250s. Just get one, wrap it and put it under the Xmas tree and look really surprised when you open it!

I like the sound of that plan