It occurred to me that I had never been to Wales in all these years without “working” in some way; having to organise informal observed rides; observing in the runs; sorting out itineraries etc. Ian, Ness, Andy and I decided to create a brand new trip to Wales that was purely a social ride. After Ian came up with the name and our lovely mate Salli designed us the beautiful dragon logo, the Welsh Wanders was born.

The four of us took thirty-four hardy souls on the first trip in late April. All arrived safely at the Commodore Hotel, albeit contending farm vehicle blocked tracks, much leaning of bikes, folding of mirrors and avoidance of extreme uphill slopes!

The Commodore, as usual was home from home. Andrea and her team made us all so very welcome; fed us and watered us well and let us have the run of the place. It was lovely to be back.

Three runs set off the next day in gorgeous sunshine. And all I did all day was ride my bike with a big smile from the sheer joy of it all. Ian D took the run up to Lake Vyrnwy over the Hellfire Pass and then to Lake Bala for lunch. From there, we rode over to Tywyn, past Lake Mwyngil which is so beautiful and arrived on the seafront.  We parked up the bikes and walked over to the ice-cream kiosk. Nick, being a mindful biker, did up his helmet; hooked it over his arm and walked across the road with it.  “Mr Whippy with a flake please,” he requested. Unfortunately, he suffered a catastrophic cone failure with the contents finally ending up deposited in his helmet!

After a lovely run back on Sunday, I can only say what a huge joy the whole weekend was for all four of us. No pressure, great company, and brilliant days of riding. So happy were we with the weekend that we’ve already booked September and trips for next year, So check your Slipstream and groups.io calendars and come and join us, all badges welcome.

Thank you everyone who came along.   

You made the weekend.

Louise Dickinson

Welsh Wanders Organiser

First published in Slipstream June 2022