Weekend started early for me: 5.30am on friday morning. I had to load all my tat into the van and drive over to Gareth's house to pick up the Yamaha Diversion 600 that he had very nicely bought for me to ride to the Dragon. Due to insurance restrictions I couldn't have ridden it any earlier than 12.01 on that morning.
We were on the road by 8am. Gareth had only finished rebuilding his CB250RS the day before (after two lower crankcase swaps in a week!) and I was on a £500 second-hand bike that I'd only previously ridden half a mile (Liz was comfy on her pristine ER5). However, we made good time to the Dolwen Garage Cafe, where our friends took care of us and fed us a much-needed breakfast.
We rode on to Llanberis and discovered that our bunkhouse (Pete's Eats) had made a booking error and so they agreed to put up the last arrival (Terry) in a nearby hotel at no extra cost (what a jammy git!)
When we did get to our bunks it was to find a policeman going through the belongings of a walker who hadn't returned the night before. Before it was discovered to be a false alarm I uncharitably thought
"aha, Terry won't get his luxury berth after all"Steve D turned up, then Terry and then Simon Morgan. Other Dragoneers had booked the remaining bunks so we agreed to book a table for all ten of us in the curry house for 7pm. In the interim we did some marvelous camping gear browsing and some drinking. The curry was nice and we then set of for the pub popular with the Berghaus and NorthFace brigade who seem to make up half the town's population. It was overpriced and a bit dull (although the totty level was fairly high) so we returned to the funny little pub opposite the bunkhouse and drank away the night.
One of the nicest things about Pete's Eats is being able to just walk downstairs and get a stonking great breakfast... so we did. And then we set off for the control point. What a shock to discover that the tickets weren't being doled out through the window of a mouldy caravan, but from a table in a plush cafe-restuarant. I asked about the caravan and the bloke grimaced and said
"We dropped a bollock, we scrapped it instead of Ebaying it". And he's right, any number of us Dragoneers would have bid for it :-)
I was pleased to get to the site early enough to pitch the tent on the spot I'd occupied the year before. It was short work to chuck up the tent, discard all my luggage and head off to the control, greeting old faces every few yards or so. After Gareth and Liz set off for their hotel in Beddgelert, Simon and I did a good tour of the field. Then, with a very smug face indeed, he asked me if I'd like an espresso.
"But where" I asked
"could you get an espresso in a muddy field full of smelly bikers?" He produced one of the most fantastic gadgets I've ever seen, a stupendously sexy coffee maker that uses Nespresso pouches and is pumped up to 15 bar! Bliss
Simon and I had agreed to meet Gareth and Liz later to watch the rugby in a bar so i gave Simon a half hour start and he trudged off with the furtive look of a man about to engage in some sneaky geocaching. Then I got into my running gear and set off to track him down. Sure enough, some 3 and a half miles later I saw a figure scouring the undergrowth on the lakeside. His caching device was useful to confirm that I only had a mile and a half left to run so I jogged on. After I while I began to wonder if the village was ever going to appear and when i saw a woman walking towards me i shouted to her,
"is it far to Beddgelert?" She looked very amused and pointed out the 5 foot wide brown road sign ahead of me saying... BEDDGELERT. I could still hear her laughing as I jogged up to Gareth's hotel
Gareth had carried my party clothes to the hotel so I showered and changed and then Simon rolled in. We had a raucous old time watching the Wales game and, by a stroke of luck, we got chatting to some ConwyMCC bods who offered to give us a lift back to the site after the game. That's how we came to be stood up in a swaying van with eight other blokes, looking like a vanload of illegal immigrants.
Our plan had been to join SteveD in his civilised tent/tarp drawing room, but we stopped off to look at the band. Lo! Behold! they're playing punk classics and modern indie rock anthems. We breifly returned to the tents for some supplies and then spent the rest of the night bopping like loons. Simon insisted I shout out for some Stiff Little Fingers and after about ten seconds of the guitarist playing with some chords to remind himself, they launched into "Alternative Ulster". But it got better...
In an interval, a club member's 13 year old daughter asked if she could play the drums and she started tapping out a simple beat. Someone in the audience starting singing
"There is a house in New Orleans..." and the whole audience joined in. She looked terrified but gamely played on. Then the band got up and started playing along too. The whole room was shouting out the words and it was possibly one of the nicest things I have ever seen.
Some hours later the band stopped playing and a member of the crowd stepped forward with his bagpipes. It was great. With all music finally done we did eventually get to SteveD's tent for some late nibbles and good chat, and then to our tents for a well earned sleep. I think we made it to 1.30am, which is a late night in Dragon terms :-)
I awoke to the sound of rain on the tent and was thankful that my first planned stop was only five miles away at Gareth's hotel. With a small breakfast and some strong coffee inside me I was ready for the ride home, but what a git it was. I reckon it rained on us every yard we rode. Liz rode brilliantly and we made good time. She has barely ridden for a year or so and it was impressive to see her following Gareth's lines through every bend. We stopped, as all must, at the Dolwen Garage cafe and were soon joined by RobG and Jethro who looked like the unfortunate only survivors of a torrid lifeboat ordeal. I reckon Rob's jacket probably weighed more than his bike.
After a fuel stop at Builth Wells I separated from the other two and rode straight to home. It was a ******* ride. However the new(!) bike performed well and the oil leak didn't turn into anything nasty. Once home I got into the bath, but every bit of me that wasn't under the hot water was still freezing... my legs haven't got the blubber layer that they used to have
What a great Dragon Rally, one of my favourites in years. Thank you to all who made it enjoyable by their company.
Although... my thoughts go to the family and friends of the bloke who died
After doing some digging I think this is picture of the bloke and his trike (from an earlier event I hasten to add)
http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/101/features/61252/headoverwheels-in-love-with-bikesGC
