It was probably the worst trip I have ever been on. At half-past ten on the first (Friday) evening, the bar had run out of Stella, Felin Foel (“Feeling Foul”) bitter, Red Bull, red wine and…..

Well, it wasn’t that bad after all. At least the weather was good. And the company, the food, the roads and everything really. We left on Friday morning for Tregaron in mid-Wales for the 9th time (I think..?), some 170 miles distant, and arrived after a few minor incidents late afternoon ready for a beer, a bite to eat and a bed.

Saturday, there was a choice of runs to the north, the south and “just out there….” (tones of Captain Kirk!?) with Daf. There was plenty of assistance on hand for the route planning and some people made their points quite forcefully (Charlotte)!

Observed runs – yes, plenty of those available too – thank you to all the Observers who “volunteered”. The north run takes in…. well…. the North bits of mid-Wales and the south goes to the south bits of mid-Wales including the west coast via some interesting “B”, or maybe “C”,“D” and even road with grass growing up between where a car would put it tyres. Sheep? – yes, loads of them in roads, each one offering to leap out and join you on, or under, the bike.

Lunch at Laugharne (home of Dylan Thomas) (no, not he of Thomas the Tank fame…). Whilst we were there, we found a little pixie sat a stone – yes really – Pixie Harris! Oh, and someone had to “go” on the way but fortunately there was a “Gents” in the field. It’s OK John Adams – your secret’s safe with TVAM!

Saturday evening was a quiet, civilised, relaxed, easy going evening with a presentation made to Daf Phillips in recognition of his superb efforts over the past few years in organising these now world-famous events. But it went down hill….. ending in gate-crashing a disco. Richard “Night Fever” Clauson, Andrea “Shakin’ that ass” Upton, Charlotte “Kylie” Hare, and others I’m too shy to mention, strutting their funky stuff to gone 1am. The ride back Sunday was uneventful and took in some of the nicest parts of Herefordshire to add to the great Welsh roads.

This was Louise’s first time to organise the “7Ws” trip – she used various tools such as Microsoft Project, route planners, OS maps, sat-nav systems, radio communications, etc, etc which is quite a bit of a move on from the small piece of paper Daf used to use, and then lose at some point anyway!

Thanks to Louise for an excellent weekend. The next one is planned for late March 2005 in Aberystwyth and there are 30-odd places booked already – see Slipstream for details – come and see for yourself: windy, winding, wild, wet, wobbly, Welsh, Wales!

Steve Vaughan

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WELL DONE AND THANK YOU DAF FOR A FANTASTIC INVENTION!