betws-y-coed on bikes

3 months of ‘intensive training and preparation’ came to fruition with the much hyped mountain bike weekend (or in dyke’s case ‘reading weekend’). a quick sprint to north wales was made on Friday evening to enable an early start on Saturday, but even after months of planning a campsite hadn’t been found, fortunately wyn in the fish and chip shop was on hand to point us in the right direction. everyone ensured that they would be in peak condition for the long day ahead by spending the evening consuming an ample portion of wyn’s fish and chips each and polishing off a bottle of bells, all to the sound of pterodactyls circling overhead. So, as anyone who has shared a tent with bob will know, we were up bright and early to prepare for the adventure. After minutes on the bike, benny being the brut that he is snapped his chain. Whilst most people would just turn round and go back, we had bob the ingeneer on hand with the most random chain fixing device and we were off again in minutes on a 4 hour white knuckle ride that would take us through some amazing mountain landscapes, endure some arduous climbs, yet experience some amazing descents. The day was capped off in fine style with a 50 piece meat selection on the bbq, plenty of good stuff, and an early night was had due to not being able to see. Sunday came with more brilliant sunshine and another early start due to the above bob/tent/share situation and the idea of doing some more riding. However that quickly became doing some fry-up eating, and after a bit of disco and an assault course challenge we were on our way.



catchphrases: "it's not for you boys"; "GEEK!"; "for my blog"

talland bay and beyond

so the traditional easter trip started early, a convoy system making its waydown to the coast, its members not so bright eyed and bushy tailed but driven on by that first sight of the ocean. whilst the day started with good intentions, notably some disc throwing and discussions of venturing into the sea, it quickly deteriorated when it was discovered that nearby polperro had a vast supply of something that was to set the tone for the whole weekend....tribute....the finest of the fine cornish ale. not that there were many complaints, and even though there were brief flirtations with the sea the prospect of a tribute and a crab sandwich was never far away.
as things wound down and tents were packed away, nays and i moved on to padstow where an excellent little campsite was found with panoramia of the town and an attendendant that we couldn't help but feel sorry for. nights started to become chilly, however fine times were still had around the bbq, and some final flirting with the waves in the spectacular watergate bay.

catchphrases: "we're bodyboarding now"; "mmm tribute"; "crab sandwich crab sandwich"

caerfai bay

tired tired tired. the weekend went too quickly as they always do when seaside adventures are involved. so the second bank holiday weekend has been and gone and its a 100% record so far for getting away from the grapple of greyness.
st davids was good....but cold. the coastline and view from the site can't be beaten anywhere that i know of so even a biting wind and some furious rain did nothing to dampen spirits.
some abseiling and climbing got the blood pumping, supervised by adventure mike who never fails to amaze me when seen in his natural habitat. nays was a star and put her fears aside to hang from a 50 foot drop.
the sea was still as a millpond so some gentle paddling was the only possibility there....nevertheless the sea always makes me feel alive.



catchphrases: "to the pub to the pub"; "we're manion crabbin"