www.irishbikerforum.com - The first and original forum for bikers in Ireland: Bears MCC Wales Week-end - www.irishbikerforum.com - The first and original forum for bikers in Ireland

I read recently in a thread by Shinwaker and some concerns he has about his off earlier this year and a nagging problem he has with confidence since the accident. I also noted some of the responses that arbitrarily suggest more training with further rebuttals that, suggestions of further training where somewhat “cliché” in there nature. It is upon this that I have come to write this blog in the hope that some may read it and hopefully understand a little more about what affect the so call advanced training can have and whether it is of benefit at all.

Bear in mind I write this purely from my perspective and accept that not everyone sees things the way I do. However we all share a common undeniable trait and that is the fragility of our bodies and their incapacity to deal with the significant impacts that many motorcycling accidents can bestow on them. Put simply hit your body hard enough against any object and you are at very best seriously injured if not heavens forbid DEAD.

I don’t often commit my opinion on matters to writing, but feel that this particular case warrants it.

As many already know I had a fairly nasty off last year that resulted in me being off the bike for just over 4 months. That said, the first opportunity I had to get back on I was strapping my walking stick to the back of my seat and out on every run I could get to that was posted on IBF.

Did my off affect my confidence? Most certainly not! Did my off affect the way I ride? It most certainly did!

Now I can hear those asking, “Is it not lack of confidence that makes your ride differently?” to which the answer is also an emphatic no.

So hopefully without being overly analytical and presenting myself as a self-confessed expert, which I can assure you I am not, why have I not lost confidence and how has the off affected my riding.

Before answering, Shins mentions in his posts that all too often the “cliché” get more training is bandied around without the necessary substance to back it up. In principle I kind of agree with what he is saying as people very often do say “get more training” and don’t substantiate their suggestion with the necessary motivation and justification.

Now getting back to myself and why I believe I have not lost confidence. I personally attribute this to the advanced riding instruction I have done in the past 2 to 3 years. What this allowed me to do was to assess what caused my accident, deal with it, package it and move on.

I like Shins, am happy to acknowledge that my off was my own fault. While I was not necessarily the cause of the accident, fundamentally it remains my fault as I allowed myself to be drawn into a circumstance beyond my control.

How so I hear you ask? Simple, really, I found myself in a circumstance where I had no-where to go and in the heat of the moment chose what appeared to be the best option (trust me you can make these decisions in splits of a split second). I don’t believe there was anything wrong with the decisions I made during my trying to avoid a worse accident, however it was decisions I could and should have made sometime before the accident that where wrong. I was drawn into a situation, contrary to everything my training had taught me and paid the ultimate price.

So what could I have done differently? Some have said that if you were just 30 seconds later you would have avoided the accident, which in essence is correct, however, would I have learnt from it? Most likely not and hard as it is to admit the off itself is the mechanism that gave me the pause for thought to assess what happened and make sure that I try everything to avoid the same in the future.

Do I ride any slower today than I did then? Not really, however, I am more acutely aware of the continually changing circumstances on the road, thanks to the additional training I have done this year in preparation for my most recent RoSPA test. What it did for me was affirm what I had already learnt previously and cement philosophies pertaining to riding that can only be gained by actually undertaking the relevant training.

Too many people perceive advance training, and I am referring specifically to road craft based training (RoSPA, IAM or the likes of) to be some mystical black art, or alternatively a waste of time as they already know all they need to know about riding a bike. Further to this they can teach themselves anything they need to know.

Unfortunately this is where so many get it wrong. First of all, when you do advance training, especially with a good instructor you will most likely only be taught what is utterly obvious, self-explanatory a perfectly logical. The problem we all face though is that, very often, it is that which is right in front of us that we miss and require an outside party perspective on things to make what is in plain sight more obvious.

So often that it’s the simple things that, catch us out and all too often are avoidable. Advanced training helps with continually assessing the road conditions and circumstances around you in a formalised structured approach, allowing you to constantly remind yourself to stay true to what you have been taught as opposed to what you have taught yourself which is very often without process or structure.

Forgive me while branch out for a while.

Imagine if you will a golf player or any self-taught sports person becoming world champion or winning some major sporting event. Unlikely, hey, well that is because the real good sportsmen and women have trainers to assist in refining what is either a natural born talent or self-taught skill. Only then do they become good enough to compete at any significant level.

Now take biking, where your life is at stake. Are you happy selling yourself the idea that you can be the best you can be by simply reading some books, magazines and getting out there and trying it for yourself? Personally I think that would be a little like being able to read up a little about firearms and then go out and buying one, practicing a little on the week-ends and then consider yourself qualified and safe to use it.


Now the application of advanced riding and training is no different to training in any other sport or activity, the only difference is that, being good at it helps you remain safe and hopefully alive for a very long time.

By applying these advance riding philosophies and techniques you eventually find yourself riding quite differently without compromising the fun and enjoyment experienced by the thrill of the speed and agility of the machine you are on.

So how do you deal with the demon that wants a bit of knee down I hear some ask?

Well that’s a completely different matter and believe it or not there are many RoSAP and IAM instructors out there that regularly attend track days and for very little reason other than the thrill of pushing their bikes to the limit.

Put simply, the track is the place to put knee down and have a bit of stupid fun, not the road. That said I know of plenty advanced trained riders that when given the appropriate opportunity don’t apply statutory speed limits just because it’s the law and can very often be found to ride well above what is the legal speed limit. This of course cuts both ways and when assessing the road based on advanced riding techniques you will often find them riding well below the speed limit. However given a nice piece of road that gives well sighted twisties with a fairly predictable road surface you will find many advanced riders pushing their bikes to surprising levels.

This is generalising of course, but, advanced riders are not the cliché that so many picture them to be as old farts riding BMW boxer machines tiddling along at an insanely boring pace when it is perfectly safe to tip along at a fair old lick. In fact I challenge anyone to go along on a RoSPA ride out one day and I am sure you will be surprised as to the make-up of the individual there, in addition to the progress that is made when getting from A to B.

What you will find is an almost fanatical approach to remaining safe and assessing the approaching dangers that are continually thrown at us while riding our bikes on a day to day basis. Outside of that the fundamental objective is to remain true to what biking is to most, that being, having fun and enjoying what has got to be, in my opinion at least, the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

What fun you have without your clothes is of course your own personal business and requires very little training. And no, I am not inviting opinions on the clothes off and no training required subject. It is off limits, inappropriate for this site, personal to many and leaves just too to the imagination.

Well folks, here goes with a synopsis of our week-end away and how I saw things unfold over the two days we were away.

Bear with me as I ponder briefly on a little philosophical note for a while. I think there was little doubt as to whether most, if not all enjoyed themselves immensely and to me this was all down to comfort zones. Very often we find ourselves happy to live within our comfort zones and reluctant to step out of our boxes in fear of reprisal or harm. This week-end was a perfect demonstration of how a bunch of individuals, who all in their own ways, managed to make that leap, small or large, into the unknown and surprised themselves in many ways.

By this, without detailing too much about the individual, means that we all discovered a little about ourselves that we did not know existed. That of course ranges from our biking skill, road craft, all the way through to, simply the fact that we took the leap of joining a group to do something we had never done before.

By the way, to those doubters this is not about DC, but rather all of us and a perfect example being Phew (Paul) who discovered he had a bike and skill he never thought he had. Dreamysleepy (Grainne) found out that her bike had all sorts of new limits and so the list goes on.

To all of you thank you for making it such a wonderfully enjoyable week-end and one we can put in the memory banks for life.

Now onto what went down, who did what and why!

We all agreed to an earlier than normal start and met up at 7:15 at the Topaz in the port due to the uncertainty of the sailing of the fast ferry. That of course was to no avail as the ferry was to sail on time and this left us with 45 minutes or so to grab a cuppa and get acquainted.

Having had our coffee/tea and the odd sticky bun, we made our way to the ferry port. We booked in and I, along with some others, was pleased to note that the ferry appeared to be empty as the waiting area was completely empty. This of course was not to be, we were late and everyone had started boarding leaving us pretty much last on board and battling to find a place to sit.

Everyone was then given their Bears MCC T shirts and the week-end was officially on its way.

2 hours later and without incident we were on the A55 heading eastwards towards the North Welsh Mountains. We turned off the A55 onto the A5 heading for Betws-y-Coed and our first taste of what was to seemed two days of endless great tarmac and twisties. After about 45 minutes riding we stopped for a breather next to a pretty lake, took some pictures, some smoked and then moved on.

At this stage the weather was not looking great with a few drops of rain finally making it look like we were going to get a soaking. However, rain never really happened. Other than the odd spit and spot for some of the day, we never saw was could really be called rain.

At Betwys we turned off the A5 onto the B5106 and headed to Llanrwst and the A548. The B5106 offered some nice tight and narrow twisties setting us up nicely for the larger A roads and some awesome sweeping, well cambered and perfectly surfaced twists and turns.

At Llanfair Talhaiarn we turned on to the A544 followed by the A543 and Denbigh. From Denbigh the A525 gave us a short rest from tight turns until Ruthin where it turned into what can only be described as the best peace of road I have ridden on in a long time. It was a bit of a pity for the rest of the pack, as I managed to pass 3 cars just before entering Nant y Garth Pass giving me an open road while the others remained stuck behind the cars I had overtaken (Sorry folks).

At the top of the pass it was onto the A542 and our lunch stop at the Ponderosa Café on the top of the Horseshoe Pass. Here we were to have some lunch and wait for Rymus (Ryan) and Elven (Julie) who joined us at around 3 pm.

To those wondering, the Ponderosa Café is a popular meeting/stop off point for bikers in North Wales and offers reasonable food at good prices. It is well worth a visit if, only for being able to say that you had been there. If so inclined, you can buy the t shirt at the curio store inside the Café building.

Until Ponderosa the day had been quite quiet and without incident, but was soon livened up by the arrival of the “Pink Pussy Club on Tour”. This was 4 fellas out on their bikes each wearing what can only be described as the most shocking pink T shirts known to man, giving a mate new take on a stag night/week-end.

Our group having now grown by 2 it was on to more twisties and scenery.

Unfortunately it was shortly after this that we had our first mishap, all be it without any major injury.

One of our members in an act of kindness set off to catch someone that had missed a turn at the bottom of the Horseshoe Pass. In so doing he needed to do a u turn to come back and unfortunately dropped his bike at low speed. Fortunately he did not suffer any major injuries, but did hurt his ribs and was sore for the rest of the day.

With everyone back together it was onto the A5 and then the A494 to Bala, followed by the A4212 a truly legendary road for long sweeping open bends with fantastic views and very little in the way of blind cornering. This naturally makes for some very bold riding and full enjoyment of the road surface.

At the end of the A4212 we stopped at a filling station for a breather where to be honest I don’t think I have ever seen such big smiles on so many faces as I saw as everyone took off their lids. Unknown to everyone of course, we still had the A458 to do on Sunday and that was to make the A4212 seem like a goats track.

Tanks filled, photos taken, bit of a chat done and it was time to do our last leg to Betws-y-Coed on the A470.

On arrival at Betws-y-Coed station and market we noticed that the Pink Pussy Club were also there and had taken up residence just in front of the ice-cream (Arse cream) shop. A bit of slagging done between us and the Pinkies and it was time for 99’s all round.

Booboo, devastated by the fact that the local market shops were all closed made her way across to the local camping shop (Closes later than everything else) to purchase bug repellent. We had learnt from the previous year that the Welsh miggies are somewhat vigilant and given more than 10 minutes in the evening air and you would be eaten alive. We had plans of sitting outside the Royal Oak Hotel that evening for a couple of pints and sincerely did not want to repeat last year’s exercise of miggie slapping all night.

With time marching on it was time to move on to our Hotels. Unfortunately due to late booking, Jack%, Phew and Trish had to spend the night in a hotel about 10 miles outside of Betws, with the rest of us making our way to the Swallow Falls hotel about 2 miles outside the town.

Having agreed to meet back in Betws for dinner at 8 pm we, those staying at Swallow Falls, caught a taxi into town and were smack on time. Unfortunately Jack%, Phew and Trish had to ride their bikes back to Betws for dinner as a Taxi was not an option for them.

After a thoroughly enjoyable dinner we moved to the pub for a quick night cap before the Taxi was scheduled to pick us up at 11. I think we must all be getting old or something as everyone was only too relieved to jump into the Taxi and get back to the hotel.

Before leaving we set a time for Jack% and company to meet us at our hotel, from where we would set off on our Sunday route.

Breakfast at 8:30 done, bags packed, bikes unlocked and we were only left with our group photo to be done as this would the last opportunity before Rymus and Elven would be leaving us and making their way back to an earlier ferry.

At 10:45 we finally set off up the A5 towards Llangollen with me planning a little twist in the route. This entailed turning off the A5 onto the B4501 to Bala and then back along the A494 to the A5 with our first stop of the morning at a little road side market area where one could buy local produce and mementoes.

Over a cup of coffee we all agreed that legalising the shooting of folk towing caravans would not be a bad thing and would most certainly make for a better biking in Wales on a Sunday morning. To be honest I have never seen so many caravans and they truly do deserve the crappy reputation they have for being road hogs. They clutter the roads, slowing the traffic to a snail’s pace, appear to hunt in packs making it almost impossible to pass them, and make absolutely no effort to allow traffic behind them to pass. As much as it pains me to say this, I think Jeremy Clarkson is right about caravans being made targets for demolition derbies.

Coffee stop done and everyone warned that the road ahead was long a boring, but with an ultimate objective we set off for Oswestry where we would fill up and head for Welshpool and the start of the A458.

Now folks let me put this into perspective. Getting to Welshpool and the start of the A458 may have been a slog it was every bit worth the effort. If anyone reading this only had one road left to ride, I suggest you make it the A458. It is truly beyond belief. Besides a little bit of traffic, which you can expect on any road, it is 25miles (40Km) of one bend after the next. It seems that for 40kms you are never upright. Anyway, that is my opinion on the A458 and well worth a try if you are interested.

A458 completed, tummies growling, it was time for lunch. Fortunately at the junction of the A458 and the A470 where we had stopped to re-group was a pub which was serving a roast lunch. On the face of it, the pub appeared to be a great idea as we were right there. However the service was terrible with us having to wait over an hour for our food and this was after having to wait for no less than 20 minutes to place our orders. On the other hand though, the food was tasty and I guess that made up for the frustration of the wait.

Tummies full it was time to start our homeward leg heading up the A470 and A487 to Porthmadog where we stopped for a short breather before heading up into the mountains on the A498.

Nearing the top of the A498 we stopped to take in the beautiful views of Mount Snowdon and the valley we had travelled up. We asked an obliging local that turned out to be Polish (i.e turn out not to be a local) to assist by taking our final group photo with or bikes and valley in the back ground.

At this stage, we were all needed a cuppa and scone, so the search was on for a coffee shop. Leaving our vantage point high in the Snowdon Mountains we travelled along the A4086 and then the B4547 before finding a real gem of a coffee shop where the owner served us all with scones and our choice of coffee or tea.

At this stage we were only 30 minutes from Holyhead and with heavy hearts set about our final ride back to the ferry. On arrival in Holyhead the queue to get on the ferry was out the port so in true biker fashion we put away our consciences into our panniers and rode to the front of the queue, found an obliging car driver who let us all in, thus avoiding what was going to be a very long wait to book in.

Now it was just to get to the ferry, tie down the bikes and find ourselves a spot on the ship where we would not be split up like we were on the crossing over to Wales.

This of course being a slow ferry meant that some of us would need to put their heads down and I was no exception and in spite of quite a racket going in our lounge I was able to get one and half hours sleep.

Arriving in Dublin port we all said our good byes, handed out the necessary handshakes, hugs and kisses (Ladies only) and made our way down to our bikes and the road home.

So what did we do this week-end you may ask? In summary we did the following in no particular order.
- Ride
- Chat
- Ride
- Eat
- Chat
- Ride
- Chat
- Eat
- Drink
- Ride
- Fill up
- Ride
- Eat
- Ride
- Chat
- Ride
- Ride some more
- Eat some more

Hey what more could you ask for on a trip to Wales?

In closing I would like to thank all that joined Booboo and I on what was a truly memorable week-end and an institution which we hope to make an annual affair.

So, keep an eye on the forum for next year’s Bears MCC Wales week-end where you can try a little touring on a mini scale before committing yourself to a full blown Europe trip of 10 or more days.

Booking for this trip opens tomorrow LOL