Gwilym's Adventure Blog

I have just got back from the Isle of Man TT practice week. It did not exactly go as planned with constant rain causing all but one of the sessions to be cancelled. Still, it was a very enjoyable week away on the bike! Freddy and I left Bridgwater on Monday morning and rode up through Wales, stopping for a fish finger sandwich at the Cross Foxes before pushing on up to Liverpool to find the "worst signed port in the world". Anyway, after about 3 hours of queuing with thousands of other bikes, we got on the Manannan ferry and arrived at Douglas around midnight. A quick 30 min ride to the Laxey Football Club where we were camping for the night. Tent up and in bed by 1 am! Tuesday was a ride around the TT course with a coffee stop in Ramsey whilst waiting for the mountain road to open. Well, that turned into a long coffee break so we headed off to Laxey Beach Café for lunch before returning to Ramsey once we heard the road was open. A sh...

I have just got back from a very productive 1:1 coaching day with Mark "Molly" Molineux at Sweet Lamb Adventure Rally Bike. On my last trip up there (curtailed by snow) I realised the limits of the tyres so went back with some more aggressive ones, some Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR . Theses are a good compromise as far better off road but only a small negative result on the road handling. I thought I had made a mistake by telling Molly my nemesis was riding on grass as soon off we went onto the grass. However, by the end of the day, I was all over it and actually looking forward to getting off the gravel onto the green stuff. Next time though, I will tell him my nemesis is eating cake. Oh, and also during the day we road about 60% of the off road complex, road over tyres, gravel humps, dodged 1000's of game birds, visited the source of The River Wye , did my first jump on a Big Bike and generally had loads of fun whilst Molly kept pushing the ...

Just because the title is Windy don't assume it wasn't raining, I just couldn't use the same title again. A wet and windy start turned into a drier finish. Before the mist really came in I saw a few sea stacks but for some of the ride, I couldn't even see the road properly let alone the sea. Strong side gusts left over from yesterdays storm gave me a bit of a battering during the morning before my first stop. Breakfast was had in 3 countries (well not quite). I was at Spanish Point, in Ireland with Africa playing on the radio. Spanish Point (Picture 3) is so called due to the wrecks off its coast from the Armada fleet. You will be relieved to know that not all the sailors drowned and they were helped ashore by the Irish and then executed! After an hour or so in the cafe, the weather brightened a little so it was back on the bike and continued following my friend the WAW (N). A detour out to the dead end road at Tawin and then into Galway. I didn...

It was a wet start to the morning on the south side of the Dingle Peninsula but not to be deterred I headed for the very end. A quick stop at the beach my sister told me about (I sat in a cafe watching the rain) and then I carried on to Dunmore Head, Ireland's most Westerly point (and Europe's most Westerly in some people's eyes). Unbelievably, the weather cleared just long enough for me to park the bike and walk to the very end to take pictures of the Blasket Isles before it closed in again. As I continued on the WAW through Conor Pass (I could not see a thing due to the mist) I was beginning to question whether to continue or find somewhere to bail out. However on the north side of the peninsula, the weather cleared and the sun was shining, the roads were dry so it had probably not rained there at all. After Tralee, I went to the beach for a break an watched some surfers before carrying on to my decision of the day. Ferry for 9 Euros or 150km detour i...

Another day of no sat nav I just follow the WAW (N) signs and see where I end up. The morning as spent on the Ring of Beara , which including going right out to the headland where you could get the cable car to Durnsey Island. I didn't go on it as the bike wouldn't fit. Sadly I was too early for the cafe so had to continue following the route a way to get mid morning snack and fuel. I even passed though a town that could be Balamory's stunt double as almost every house was a bright colour. I was riding quite slowly at times, either because of the view or the herds of cows that just stood in the middle of the road just looking at me. Then I went up to Molls Gap before heading back down to pick up the Ring of Kerry which is about 180km round I even had a time to walk upto and take a photo (picture 4) of the Kerry Cliffs. It was very windy on the exposed headland so I didn't stay up there long. A short ride from there, and I was at my accommodati...

This is why I came here, to ride the Wild Atlantic Way - you just take the road closest to the coast After yesterday's poor weather I was hoping for something a little drier and that is what I got. After a quick blast down to Schull to meet a friend (who is also in Ireland on holiday) for a coffee, I found the blue and white signs for the WAW. Basically you turn the sat nav off and follow the signs (marked N or S). I am heading North. I went out to Mizen Head, Irelands most Southerly point (by road) and then round to The Sheep's Head which is another headland for lunch. I am now here at Eagle Point for the night. I have finally cracked the formula for the time it takes to ride the WAW. It is as follows: Sat Nav time x 2.5 - 10%. You add the 10% back on if you want to stop and take pictures and then add another 15% if you get stuck behind an elderly driver. On top of this you need to factor in time for coffee and cake.

Well the title describes the weather! Yesterday I rode up the edge of Wales via Hereford and Wrexham to the Liverpool P&O Ferry Terminal for the night crossing to Dublin. After a 4am wake up, I was first off the ferry at 5am and rolling in Dublin. A bit of fun in the multiple one way systems and then I got onto the R115 into the Wicklow Mountains. Such as shame I couldn't see much (Picture 1 and 2). Never mind, I thought I will head to the coast but I then got a battering from the wind as I went past Wexford. Breakfast on The Strand at Rosslare cheered me up before heading to my lunch stop at Clonea (Picture 3) where it actually stopped raining long enough for me to eat outside. To be perfectly honest, that wasn't a choice, they weren't any inside tables. Another 90 mins of wind and rain and I made it to my campsite here near to Cork where I am currently hiding in my tent debating weather to walk to the showers or just stand outside for the sa...

Last night I had a lecture (in French) from the well meaning elderly campsite owner about the perils of missing my ferry due to road closures, accidents and punctures (and yes, apart from a few words I understood the conversation fully). So, not wanting to ignore him I left early this morning with a Sat Nav arrival time of around 4pm for a 7pm check in Well, sods law, all went very well, here by 2.30 and just received a text saying the ferry is delayed by 2 hours due to wind. I am now at in the local Mcdonalds on the free Wifi, I wonder how long I can pretend I am still drinking this coffee? Anyway, a misty start to the day and I finally broke though the cloud just in time to ride the Col de Pourtalet (photo 3 is at the pass) at 1794m before dropping down into Spain again and eventually picking up some country roads heading toward Bilbao. At this point, it was time to jump on the Motorway and head for Santander and a long wait.  Other than the ferr...

Interesting experience trying to get food last night. Andorra is known for 2 things, skiing and having more fuel stations per 100m than any other country in Europe. This is mainly because the fuel is so cheap, visitors come in from both Spain and France to fill up so near the border they are just right next to each other. Apparently it is not know for serving food before 8pm. We (the Danish biker and I) tried a number of restaurants at 6:30 to be told, not until 8pm but we eventually found a place that looked somewhat questionable and staffed by a waiter who spoke no English. However, the food that turned up was both very good and very well priced so it turned out well. Out of Andorra and up and over the El Pas d la Casa (2408 m - the highest pass in the Pyrenees and with 3 petrol stations only 50m apart) and then down and back into France for the day. A mix of mountain passes and faster trunk roads let me cover 320km in just under 6 hours before I arrived here a...