Sleap Airport Museum

 

 

When the alarm clock went off after a great, but late, night out at an All-You-Can-Eat Chinese buffet with members of ManHoc, (thanks for organising it Judy), all I wanted to do was to go to sleep, not Sleap. But, the weather man said it was going to be a nice day after a cold start, (and bloomin’ cold it was too!), so it would have been rude not to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

I arrived at Poplar 2000 Services and was pleasantly surprised to see so many bikes already there. As I dismounted I was met by a couple of newbies, Dave and Christine, who wanted to come along to see what our Ride-Outs were like. After a brief chat about the Buddy System I started to make my way across to Maccie Dee’s for a quick brew when I encountered another newbie, Pete. Yet another explanation of the Buddy System later, I managed to get a brew, but just in time to be told it was time to set off. Typical!

Away we went with Jules leading 24 bikes and 6 pillions, quite a feat for someone leading a Ride-Out for the first time! We made our way down the A49 at a decent pace, with John having fun on his new, (to him), FZ10, until we got stuck behind a rather slow Argos lorry while going through a section with too many twists and turns to give any opportunities to overtake.

Eventually we all managed to get past the rolling road-block and continued to make good progress, arriving at Sleap Airport just in time for lunch. Although only a small airfield Sleap has a great café and is very popular. We were almost sitting on each other’s knees because it was that busy and there was so many of us.

After some food and a lot of chat while others had a quick look around the museum, people started to question what we were going to do next as it was such a nice day and it was still early. It was quickly decided that a quick blast to the Ponderosa Café on the Horseshoe Pass was the order of the day. The only problem was that nobody had a clue how to get there from where we were and no-one had a paper Sat-Nav with them. But up stepped Geoff Dutton, who had brought his proper Sat-Nav, so he was nominated to lead us to the Ponderosa. Alan, David, Tony and Rosie, and Roy and his mate Sam had to head for home, but it still left us with 20 bikes and 4 pillions on our way to the Horseshoe Pass.

Things were going smoothly, with the newbies adapting to the Buddy System very well, until Geoff missed a turn just after a village. After a couple of miles, following the Sat-Nav, we made a right turn and ended up going down lanes that were more akin to goat tracks. This wasn’t too much of a problem for most of us, but Paul Clare complained later that the back end of his new, (to him and Julie), VFR750 kept kicking out on the loose stuff.

We soon returned to normal roads and and weaved our way into Llangollen and onto the Horeshoe Pass and made our way into a packed out car park at the Ponderosa Café. Once dismounted, we made our way into the café for more food, drink and chat.

After a while, groups of people started to get ready to go and make their way home via various routes. Geoff again took up the role of leader of our group – Paul Collins, Paul Clare & Julie, Paul Bredael, Phil K, Richard, and me bringing up the rear – to get us to a petrol station in Betws-y-Coed so that Paul Clare could check the tyre pressure on the VFR.

When he did check his tyre pressures, Paul soon found why the Viffer had been kicking out at the rear. To say the pressures were a little low would be a gross understatement! With them pumped up to the correct pressures and all our tanks topped up, we decided to nip into Betws for another quick brew before heading for home. Paul Bredael decided he was going to head off, and as Richard had peeled off shortly after leaving the Ponderosa, that left just 4 bikes and 2 pillions. Paul Collins then came up with a suggestion that we head for a pub in Llanberis, to which we all agreed. So off we went, with Paul leading the way.

The pub we arrived at looked like someone’s house, and we sat in what resembled the parlour. When Paul Collins ordered a beer he was asked if he wanted a glass or a tankard, and so asked for a tankard, not expecting it to be made of pewter! We were also welcomed to eat our own food as long as we bought a drink, and the owner even offered to lock our gear in the shed if we wanted to walk up the mountain, (that being Snowdon!!), to which we politely declined. He even accurately told Paul Clare how old Paul was without even chatting to him. The place reminded me of something out of The League of Gentleman!

Anyway, after consuming our drinks and the remainder of Paul & Julie’s picnic we set off for home, back over Snowdon to Capel Curig, and on to Bangor to pick up the A55. After the tedium of the A55 to Chester, I couldn’t face the M56, so decided to take to the A roads and parted company with the rest of the group.

I arrived home wanting to go to sleep, (not Sleap), at more or less the same time as the others did, having clocked up over 280 miles, but with the pleasure of having had a brilliant day out.

Thanks to Jules and Geoff for leading and to Mark Westwell for bringing up the rear on both legs of the trip, and everybody else for a great day out.

Rob's Report