Whoosh - an eventful day (but fun most of the time). There - that's got your interest; now read on.

The forecast was for cloudy, but dry. Opened the curtains to -yes - rain. Oh well, it should clear up later. so, a quick bite of breakfast, load up the bike (spare gloves, umbrella, cap, camera) and off to Poplar 2000 services to see if anyone would turn up. When I got there, there were 4 bikes and more just kept turning up. By the time we set off we had 17 bikes and 2 pillions which is quite a feat for mid October. We set off  down the A49 and across to the A55 underneath Chester. No issues, but we did get a bit split up. so, Keith (our leader) waited in a layby until we had regrouped and we set off into Wales to find some nice roads. Which we did. The roads in North Wales are superb; twisty, well surfaced and free enough of traffic that overtakes are easy.

All was going well until we heard (over the radios) - "Man down". Oops. A hurried stop and rewind back to the incident to find Dave (Anniversary VFR) sitting by the side of the road and his bike parked down a little way. It turns out he'd misjudged a bend, hit the grass and slid off. The crash bung had saved any serious damage (to the bike) and Dave himself seemed OK after a 30 minute rest. But he and Joe headed back home (just in case) while the rest of us carried on.

By now it was getting near lunchtime. I suggested (over the radios again) that maybe we find a nice pub just outside Betws-y-coed rather than all park up and have to find a cafe for 19. Keith duly found us one which, on the face of it, looked excellent. So, we piled in and sat down with drinks at the ready and looking forward to our meal (sunday roast or a special of rump steak). We waited. Eventually they came to take our order. By this time 6 of the party had decided they didn't want to eat a full lunch, so there were 13 of us. How hard can this be, we thought. An hour later, and we knew. The food, when it did arrive, was superb, but we'd lost a lot of time waiting for it.

Once we were full up (and in Garys case, more than full up - due to him eating everyone elses sweet) we headed back outside to find that Steve and Bob had headed back. So, now down to 13 bikes and 2 pillions. Never mind, we'll carry on. The consensus was to miss out Betws and head straight (ish) for Bala over the tops. Well, that was a good decision. The road was dry, the surface was smooth and the bends "just right". But all good things come to an end and we got to Bala with some of the crew needing fuel. Once topped up, Keith led us around the lake looking for the cafe. We found it - about 10 miles later and 200 yards from the petrol station!!! But by this time we were on our way and motored on to another cafe about 20 miles up the road.

Our last stop. It was here that Mark discovered what tyres were made of - steel belts. How did he know? Because his rear tyre was showing some. Oops! Who hadn't checked his tyres recently? He set off slowly to try and get to civilisation before he called the AA. [I did hear later that he'd made it to the services on the M56 where the AA came out and trailered him home]. The rest of us set off on our own ways home. Tony and I went the direct route (via the M56 traffic jam) while the rest proceeded on a meandering ride around Wrexham.

It was a long day, but (for most) an excellent ride. Pictures below: