Biker Boys go to the Gower
Getting ready to have a little adventure down south on a spontaneous tour for 3 days.Found a beautiful Airbnb and if it's 1/2 as good as it looks it will be amazing! We'll be travelling through the middle of Wales and riding one of our many favourite roads - the squiggly one in between Newtown and Crossgates. Then we'll do the Black Mountain Pass before heading to Llanelli.
Mrs C planning a pasta bake for Saturday, so we'll have a short-ish day out on the bike on Saturday and back to the house to enjoy the views with some great food, wine and beer - not sure if T is drinking as he's attempting a "dry August" good luck with that when we're on tour I say!! There's always tomorrow to start of course.
Day 1
Weather looks favourable and not too hot - if you have read the earlier blog when we did a trip to Brecon last month it was so hot that riding became uncomfortable and we don't want that!! Will pack the bags tonight and get ready to head off at 10:00 in the morning.
Left bang on time. Weather fantastic for riding as it’s not too hot with clear blue skies ahead of us. Had a wonderful ride to Crossgates especially down the squiggley, where we did follow Bobby Dooley for a while even though he was driving like Miss Daisy - on purpose me thinks.
Anyway, full breakfast for everyone, coffee and off for the next stage
Down the A4046 to Llandovrey. What a beautiful ride. Then up and over the Black Mountains. We’ve ridden them several times but today was just perfect. No traffic, dry roads and clear line if site. Even stopping at the top for an ice cream yum yum!!!!!Well that was a treat of a ride!
Stop off for a swifty before heading to the Airbnb. £4 per pint. It was like going back to the last decade and having just come back from Norway where the pints were £16, it was a real bonus.What a treat we’re in for here. It’s a beautiful place. High up enough to see the estuary, very quiet location, large house that feels like home as soon as you arrive. 
Toby’s dry August not going well!!! We’ll have to give him an amnesty for the weekend I think as it’s not going to be fair. 
Ordered a rather nice curry and sat outside taking in the views, thoroughly enjoying our relaxing evening. Pink wine and Pimms on the terrace. Perfect evening, calm, quiet and warm. Planned tomorrow’s ride, setting it up in Cindy Sat Nav so looking forward to another beautiful day out. LLew enjoying the sun too. Such a lovely cat! As long as he's near someone he's very happy. 
Toby’s dry August not going well!!! We’ll have to give him an amnesty for the weekend I think as it’s not going to be fair. 
Ordered a rather nice curry and sat outside taking in the views, thoroughly enjoying our relaxing evening. Pink wine and Pimms on the terrace. Perfect evening, calm, quiet and warm. Planned tomorrow’s ride, setting it up in Cindy Sat Nav so looking forward to another beautiful day out. LLew enjoying the sun too. Such a lovely cat! As long as he's near someone he's very happy. 
Day 2
A quick hoover around before breakfast and getting ready for the day. 
Unfortunately this took a bit of a toll, as the heat was over 30 degrees, the engines were screaming and we had to finish a little earlier than planned. We were going to ride to Ammanford then over to Carmarthen but a big red light came in P’s Bagger!!!!!!!!!! Pulled over and stopped the engine - if you have read earlier blogs you would know that this happened over the Simplon Pass from Italy to Switzerland a couple of years ago and we had to abandon a European tour - so for a few minutes this was very unsettling!!!!! Stopped and let the engine cool down. Re-routed to the pub for a £4 pint and then home. No more issues with the bike so it might have been a little electrical “fart”. Hope so, but will get Motorrad to check out on Monday morning.
We're hoping the bike will behave today and no more red lights on the dashboard! It's going to be a warm one so who knows. Grand tidy up of the house before we leave, as we can't leave someone else's house in a mess - that wouldn't be fair at all, but that's just us. Left at 9:10 planning to go northerly all the way so the distance can be shortened in case of further red light incidents. However 15 miles in and the engine seemed to have rectified itself, so re-routed to go out toward the coast via Fishguard. This was an excellent choice as it happened. Found a beautiful little café in the small port of Fishguard - It was the yachting club café and has to be said did the best cheesecake known to man!! Made from cream cheese apparently, well that was so good, Mrs C going to attempt to replicate at home. T was convinced it had coconut, but P said it had some sort of cream in it. We checked with the chef and P was right, no coconut at all - N'uff said ............
We then headed home along the coast road that we have ridden many times, but never get bored. The trouble this time is that we encountered the world's worst drivers - especially the Land Rover pulling the sheep and the Range Rover Discovery! VERY frustrating. We thought the Mumbles queue was bad - oh no, this was ridiculous; getting in to Aberaeron. P was concerned about the red light, but this time, nothing!!! Some drivers on the other side of the road weren't happy with us filtering, but that's why you have a bike!
Going to ride the Gower today. We haven’t done this before so it will be a new one for us. 1st stop was Rhosseli Beach, run by surfer dudes. Spectacular beach with lots of surfers being taught.
Had a great cup of tea and cake đ° at the Rhosseli Beach CafĂ© It is obviously very popular as people were queuing out of the door. Now off to Mumbles lighthouse.
Had a relaxing stop at the far end of the town - overlooking the Mumbles Lighthouse and after we had skipped past, and filtered all the traffic to get past the silly little roundabout in the middle of the town, enjoyed a cold drink to cool down a bit.
Same traffic queues going out and we were in 1st gear all the way, using the clutch and back brakes to stabilise the bikes.
Unfortunately this took a bit of a toll, as the heat was over 30 degrees, the engines were screaming and we had to finish a little earlier than planned. We were going to ride to Ammanford then over to Carmarthen but a big red light came in P’s Bagger!!!!!!!!!! Pulled over and stopped the engine - if you have read earlier blogs you would know that this happened over the Simplon Pass from Italy to Switzerland a couple of years ago and we had to abandon a European tour - so for a few minutes this was very unsettling!!!!! Stopped and let the engine cool down. Re-routed to the pub for a £4 pint and then home. No more issues with the bike so it might have been a little electrical “fart”. Hope so, but will get Motorrad to check out on Monday morning.Rode back with no issues so back for Prosecco. Our very generous hosts have left some delicious patisseries so enjoying the view and devouring the treats. Thank you Ruth and Mark it was a lovely touch and very much appreciated. So another evening relaxing on the terrace.
Mrs C was going to cook a pasta bake, but we decided that would not be a good idea so opted for a Chinese take-a-way. Well P&C did, T had saved 1/2 of his Jalfrezi from the night before so tucked into that - even though P&C did give him jip about being tight and saving food from previous night!!!!
Last laugh was for T, as P ordered the wrong food for mains, so it wasn't that enjoyable - although Mrs C's Chicken Chow Mein was superb. Oh and the starters were brilliant!
Day 3
We're hoping the bike will behave today and no more red lights on the dashboard! It's going to be a warm one so who knows. Grand tidy up of the house before we leave, as we can't leave someone else's house in a mess - that wouldn't be fair at all, but that's just us. Left at 9:10 planning to go northerly all the way so the distance can be shortened in case of further red light incidents. However 15 miles in and the engine seemed to have rectified itself, so re-routed to go out toward the coast via Fishguard. This was an excellent choice as it happened. Found a beautiful little café in the small port of Fishguard - It was the yachting club café and has to be said did the best cheesecake known to man!! Made from cream cheese apparently, well that was so good, Mrs C going to attempt to replicate at home. T was convinced it had coconut, but P said it had some sort of cream in it. We checked with the chef and P was right, no coconut at all - N'uff said ............
We had to take photos' of some of their pictures hanging on the wall of the café, as they were stunning - here are few of them. Loved this little place a lot, so must bookmark to return next time we ride down to Pembrokeshire. The mug of tea was perfect too. Some people can't make tea, but this place can, so all in all tea and cake at the Yacht Club Café was a success and delightful. The café itself was precariously clinging to the edge of the dock, with little room for manoeuvring of the bikes. 1 false move and we'd be digging them out of the sea water about 20 feet below the edge.
Once we got through the god-damn pelican crossing causing all the queues in Aberaeron, we sailed along until Aberystwyth! OMG more traffic!!!! T made a call to turn off and P re-routed to Devil's Bridge and the A44 home - good choice! Same road as we travelled down from Newtown, but who cares, we would still be there now if we had opted to continue up the the coast!
Got home and obligatory pint in the pub - The Alyn this time!
Summary - brilliant weekend, I know we always say this, but it's genuine, we love our times away and hope we can do it for many many years to come. The Airbnb was absolutely excellent. It was a real gem and we will be recommending to any of our friends coming down to see if it’s available. Beautifully positioned and a great location for touring both south and west.
Great food, great place to stay, great roads, great company... you know the rest!!
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