Hmmm? I must be mad? I live in beautiful West Cork and am doing a tour of the UK. I'll be swapping this...... for this....... and this....... for this....... WTF! But there's reason for the madness. My Mum & Dad are getting on in years and I haven't seen them since early Feb so I may as well make the most of the trip and decided to take the Monster rather than fly & hire a car. Planned itinerary: Wed 3/7 Schull to Rosslare to Pembroke Dock Thurs 4/7 Pembroke to Clapham, London to see daughter No.1 Fri 5/7 London to Birmingham to see my parents & sister. Sun 7/7 a run out to Matlock Bath is on the cards Tues 9/7 Birmingham to Holyhead Wed 10/7 Holyhead to Dublin to Schull Avoiding M-ways as much as possible. Here's hoping it all goes smoothly and doesn't . It may not be as bad as I anticipate If anyone's out and about and fancies a meet up, give me a shout.
Looks like you have hit the summer weather! If you had visited Yorkshire you would have swapped for superior views and nicer people
It appears I do. As for at what time, I have no idea. According to the AA it'll take 6hrs to travel the 275 miles to Clapham from Pembroke, which for me, with numerous stops will probably be 8hrs. Gloucester is about 1/2 way, 3hrs 20mins so perhaps a good stopping off point.
But you are also swopping this For anything you can imagine in London, some of the best Indian food in the world in Brum & of course in Derbyshire So it will be worth it!
That's posh looking bacon & cabbage! It took me a while to work out what it was. But you're right, one of the things I miss about the UK is a decent curry, can't get them here. Oh... and real ale; the proper stuff, living in the barrel, hand pulled. Mmmmm, I'm looking forward to it even more now
Ordinarily I’d have come to Matlock to meet up on 7th July but only this evening I was offered a free ticket to WSBK at Donington. Soz
Do NOT leave your bike on the street or in view in Clapham ( or anywhere in London) if you wish to complete your trip. I am serious. Otherwise have a great trip.
The last 3/4 from Birmingham to Holyhead will be the best imho. Go to Press for a scoff if you can then head towards Bala. I went Yougal? A couple of times when I lived in Galway. I miss the wesht coast of Ireland. Good luck
Cheers Sam, fortunately Daughter No.1 has secure off street parking so I intend to leave the bike there for the night when in London. Mind you I'm just as worried about leaving it on the street in Birmingham (well Sutton Coldfield - which is the posh part of Brum) when visiting my folks, but can't really see I'm going to be able to get a big chain in the luggage so disk lock it'll have to be
Thanks, I was going to go via the A5 all the way and Llangollen but if you recommend detouring via Bala I'll follow that. Where's Press?
Prees mate or Prees Green, bloody spell chicker. Couple of cafes there and usually a fair few bikes. The roads from there to Bala are good. From there to Holyhead are some epic ones. Look out for Cerrygrudion? and sneak that bit in. The A5 can be plod heavy in places, outside villages etc so try and stay off it if you can. Have a good look at the map, their are routes
