…and what a weekend it was.

Starburst Ride Saturday

Associates – Brian Walmsley & Pierre Louw

Observers – Chris Brownlee & Si Rawlins

Distance – A shade under 200 miles

Time – 9.10 am – 5.30pm

The run was initially planned with Chris as the solo Observer, but we had the bonus of an extra Observer, the one and only Si Rawlins, so the Associate at the back of the trio (who usually gets a bit of a break from being observed) was still observed during the day… eeek… no pressure!

We headed east away from Llandrindod Wells in the direction of Llanfihangel-nant-Melan, then south towards Llanelwedd and on to Bronllys, through the town of Brecon (no Beacons, unfortunately), we then headed north through Llandefaelog Fach, Capel Dyffryn Honddu to a view-point over the valley. The view would have been lovely, but we were pretty high up and partly in the clouds. We then had a little coffee stop in Llanwrtyd Wells and a chat about the positioning and Safety, Stability & View. Back on the bikes and headed south west towards Llanwrda, north west towards Cwmann and then north east via Llanddewi-Brefi (made famous in Little Britain as it was the home of Daffyd Thomas – the only gay in the village), through Pontrhydfendigaid towards Devils Bridge, followed by a lunch stop at The Red Kite Cafe. After lunch, we headed back along the A44 through Eisteddfa Gurig, Tyn-y-cwm and picked up the A470 in Llangurig and headed north towards the Clywedog Reservoir and beyond along the B4518 with a couple of really steep hills to a viewpoint looking at Snowdonia (a bit cloudy in the distance, but still breathtaking). A coffee shop stop in Llanidloes for a bit of a rest before heading back to the hotel.

So what did I get from this ride?

  • Invaluable feedback from Chris & Si throughout the day. Thank you guys, it really was a fantastic day
  • The Welsh roads were glorious, smooth and had very little traffic
  • Wales uses far too many consonants and too few vowels (great for Scrabble)
  • I’m glad we didn’t go to Anglesey as Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch would be a sod to put in the sat nav

If you see the next 7Ws trip advertised…

GET YOUR NAME ON THE LIST. You will NOT regret it.

 Brian Walmsley



Thanks to all the photographers who sent in pics. We would need a few issues to show them all but I have tried to include at least one or two from each of them. Thank you especially to Tom Peck, appointed official 7Ws photographer for capturing so much over the weekend.

Robin Crane, Dave Parsons, Graham Boret, Tom Peck, Kathy Wright, Jo Gunton, Gaz, Andy Smith, Carl Flint, Simon Mack, Louise Dickinson