Welshpool is back, well sort of................... May 29th 2009

I have been asked by Tel if i would like to organise this years Welshpool weekend as I know the area quite well & it is a great honour so thank you
It has traditionally been superbly organised by Diesel who lived in Welshpool but has I believe been bikeless for a couple of years so it has been missing off the calander since 06.

I live fairly local to Welshpool & have been hearing that the nightlife is less than desirable on a weekend lately with a fair bit of trouble so am proposing a switch to a nearby town called Bishops Castle which is located in the Shropshire hills just off the Welsh border.

Bishops Castle is a small town with a good number of pubs, Two micro breweries for you real ale fans :drunken: & b&b's aplenty & just a few minutes from the stunning Welsh roads.
After some consideration I have decided on a date of Friday 29th May to Sunday 31st May with the rideout into Mid Wales planned for Saturday, This is mainly due to the two bank holidays earlier in the month which could have possibly made logistical & accomodation issues arise.

The weekend & ride is open to all & you will be made very welcome on whatever machinery you ride or whatever you feel your riding abilities are.
We will wait for anyone who wants to ride at a slower pace by running a marshalling system which Tel has used to good effect on previous rides & the day will have plenty of stops for a fag or toilet break & we will get some lunch at either a chippy by the seaside or a bike friendly cafe on route.

As I am new to this forum & also new to organising this ride & dont actually know which routes you have traditionally used I am open to all suggestions of improvements etc so please dont be afraid to speak up :silent:

I'm sure Tel will be along soon to unlock this thread & look forward to hearing your views. I will start a seperate thread for an attendance list so that we can get a good idea of numbers.

Please take a look at the links below for details on BC
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Thanks Nick

Hi Robert ..... I mean Nick

Good on you for taking this on. I'm sure you'll do just fine and there will be plenty of help from seasoned attendee's I'm sure.
You can't please all the people all the time so don't set that as your target..........Picking a good pub helps though

I would have loved to have joined in this one but I'm already away the previous two weeks (and weekends) and I'd probably be divorced if I tried to attend this one too.

The marker system works well .....if everyone understands and uses it. Although getting other random bikers mixed up in the group can make it interesting.

I've been involved in organising the Wee Mac's, the more recent Big Mac's and have attended a few Taste of Lincolnshire's, a Crusader and the last Welshpool. My first ever group rideout was BigMac #1 and I've been hooked ever since. TBH - Most of my biking miles is now on group rideouts!

I don't know the roads down there unfortunately but enjoyed the Welshpool run (can't remember the route....sorry) and night outs with lots of interesting people when I did it.

IMHO I think the things to plan, investigate and advise are ....

PUB
Accommodation
Ride-out Route
Ride-out Route - Plan B, C & D (should any issues arise)
Some nice places to stop (for pictures and or tea / pee or cancer stick)

Hope it goes well.......count me in for next year!

Cheers
Rosco

...bugger another trip I can't make (however we haven't actually a holiday in April yet, so Wee Mac could be on) - Nick if you do any trial rides let me know, like I say I was down your way last weekend in the car and would love to get back on the bike..........

Excellent write up Nick , smashing pro mo.

Count me in. Topic open (courtesy Mr r' cains).

Will add my name to the sign up list foreth whith .......... fith whith even

Tel

Count me in.

I've really missed Welshpool so this should be a great weekend.

It's in my Diary.

I don't drink though, will that be problem?????

Tony

Sorry i can't make this one either....May is gonna be a busy month for me i'll be stuck oot in Holland on those dates....bummer

topcatbones wrote:
I don't drink though, will that be problem?????

Tony

Not a problem in the slightest Tony, look forward to meeting you

robertcains wrote:

topcatbones wrote:
I don't drink though, will that be problem?????

Tony

Not a problem in the slightest Tony, look forward to meeting you

Tee hee.

topcatbones wrote:

robertcains wrote:

topcatbones wrote:
I don't drink though, will that be problem?????

Tony

Not a problem in the slightest Tony, look forward to meeting you

Tee hee.

You naughty naughty boy

The deed is done my name is added
Please be gentle with me !
Now where is this Wales place - Do I need a passport ?
Whats the advice on accomodation ?

bignige wrote:The deed is done my name is added
Please be gentle with me !
Now where is this Wales place - Do I need a passport ?
Whats the advice on accomodation ?

View the link that nick supplied in the original write up above. In there is another link for accomm in the area of Bishops Castle.

Hope that helps

Tel

Thanks Tel, Got it !

There should be plenty of B&Bs if you do a google search as its 'that type of place' If you ring one or two they may even have somewhere safe to park the bikes

I'm popping up there this afternoon with my mates on a research study, in preparation

I can confirm that BC is thriving with lovely jubbly real ale guys The Three Tunns is reportedly the oldest UK brewery & I have been reccommended the old brick guesthouse as a good place to stay with offroad parking hic hic

Ah Hah ! Gotcha !! You've been reconoitering and sampling the local watering holes.

I see from the link Ye Olde Bricke House is within easy walking (read staggering) distance from four of them that do good food too

Rates are reasonable too for two nights pp, paid more than that in Welshpool and that was three years back.

So young man ......... Spill the beans ?? How'd the reeeeecon (yeeehaaaa) go ??? :bounce:

0ldcat wrote:So young man ......... Spill the beans ?? How'd the reeeeecon (yeeehaaaa) go ??? :bounce:

Young?? Dunno at the moment Tel, my heads still hurting

robertcains wrote:

0ldcat wrote:So young man ......... Spill the beans ?? How'd the reeeeecon (yeeehaaaa) go ??? :bounce:

Young?? Dunno at the moment Tel, my heads still hurting

I dunno, Tsk Tsk the youff of today, . . . . . . no pace in em , feeling a tad off colour mate :down: . . . .

Well done for bringing this meeting back to life, had some great times at Welshpool in the past. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it as I am going to the TT the following weekend and the budget won't stretch to both !
Hope it all goes well ( I'm sure it will ) and everyone has a great time.
Steve...........

Yeah, us too. We will have to wait and see what the funds are like - the TT sailings are v.expensive this year.

We stayed near Bishops Castle last year and the Three Tuns is a good'un. Recommend the Solstice if it's on.

Si

Boika wrote: - the TT sailings are v.expensive this year.

Si

Aren't they every year Rip off IOM for TT time, and not just the ferries either.

Still I'm sure you'll have as good a time as you do always along with thousands of others. Be careful while on the island wish you great fun and ride safe.

Cheers
Tel

To be fair it's just the Steamy-Shit-Packet Company that rip people off, the Manx get really pissed off with them too. The prices for pretty much everything else on the Island are normal, get yer'self to Union Mills chapel, heaps of sarnies, tea and cakes for a couple of quid....we're (hopefully) staying with friends, saving a few quid.

Where's the fun in riding safe?!

Si

Well this morning after watching a superb F1 race I decided to fire the bike up & head through Bishops Castle & up to Crossgates resulting in the downhill blast that is the A483 to Newtown
Such is this roads reputation with bikers I found a jam sandwich patrolling it even this early in the day, After a full english at Crossgates which was very nice too thank you I instantly familiarised myself with the fast sweeps & have almost certainly decided this needs to be part of the BC rideout route.

I cant decide at this stage how long a day to make it on the Saturday, If we hit the seaside for fish & chips too it will be a full day out.
What time does anyone want to set off for the ride? Will it be an early start with a brekky stop

I too got out today for a good blast after watching the F1 race. What a great day it was all round.

Can I suggest starting the rideout around 9.30am, this gives the opportunity for people who are just coming along for the rideout, time to get to BC. It also gives a bit of time to clear the head after the Friday night before.

Normally, you would want to end the rideout around 4.30pm ish. I say ish because you will never get back on time. This then gives time for people to get home, if they have just come for the day. It also gives the rest of us time for a chat, shower, sleep etc before sampling the night life of BC.

I do have a special request to make for the Saturday night. Can you ensure that all CCTV cameras within the town are turned off please. I will let others explain why.

Thank you.

Tony

I'd go with Tony on times. Do you have a route yet and if so can we have a link to it. I'm not old enough for mystery tours yet so i like to have an idea of where i'm going beforehand.

I'll sit down & work out a route soon, I dont think we will get in all of my favourite roads in Wales as it will take too long. 9.30am start sounds good.

I reckon we will have to go through Clun though as this morning I had to negotiate a woman walking her chicken, She looked really worried that I might run it over! Only in the sticks 'eh?