Touring Wales on a sunny Sunday

[Adam]

I know we're a big fan of road trips on Retro-Rides, so I think this might be appreciated

Myself and a couple of mates had decided a while back that a trip to the black mountains in search of good driving roads would be a good plan, and on Sunday the plan became reality as we set of at 6am from Sainsbury's petrol station in Bath:

Robbie inspected the throttle-bodied goodness of his RS Azaiwa tuned Eunos Roadster...



I look half asleep....



The first call was the A466 between Chepstow and Monmouth, which was found after a quick blat up to the M4 and onto the very empty and tempting A48.

We drove the road at around half 6 and found it absolutely empty. It was beautiful, not dissimilar to the Japanese mountain roads and completely set the tone for the day. Around half way up we came across Tintern Abbey which proved to be a perfect photo opportunity







Part 2 coming up....

[Adam]

We then continued to our next stop, Brecon, where we planned to stop for a bite to eat. This required some more dual carriageway along the A40 which turned out to be another good photo opportunity!







And then some single carriageway A-roads. The roads were starting to get busier but still some nice open stretches to enjoy. We had a quick stop in a random bus stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere when my radio aerial started to come loose with some horrific rattling!





However we made it to Brecon, where we found nothing open. We had made rather better time than planned. Oh well, the only thing to do was get back in the cars and head back down a bit to some of the roads my dad had suggested from his rallying days!

However not before testing the bounciness of the Raceland coilovers on Bens 1.8 UK-spec MX5



Part 3 coming up....

[Adam]

This route revealed some absolutely stunning views. There weren't a great number of opportunities to stop, but this has to be the best photo of the entire trip in my opinion.



Just unbelievable. We also stopped slightly further along in a carpark with some brilliant views.



It was an excellent road to drive, straight out of the old rally videos you see on youtube. That was on the stretch down from Heol Senni Unfortunately the part across from Penderyn was littered with cyclists in packs which meant no stopping and crawling the whole thing at 15mph, but the views were brilliant nonetheless.

Heading back onto the A470 meant rejoining the hoards of traffic and trafpol with speed guns at the ready. It was littered with nice cars and bikes though and was a nice change to the single track roads. We stopped at a reservoir for another nice view, and the trafpol came down for a driveby look at the cars.





By this time some of the nice cafes in Brecon had opened so we dropped in for breakfast:



Part 4 coming...

[Adam]

We then decided to head over towards the black mountains. On the way we were passing the military training ground at Epynt, where I had previously been to compete in a hillclimb. We decided to drop by and see if the roads were open, which they were. Some of them are used in the Rally GB (with tell-tale marks) so we were keen to drive them. Beautifully smooth tarmac and unfortunately a no stopping rule (enforced by men in trucks with big guns) so unfortunately no photos At one point we passed a group of soldiers on an exercise who'd obviously heard us coming and were there with cameras and phones out taking photos!

Robbie decided at this point that his car was too quiet and removed the sock filters from the throttle bodies. I believe it was also around this point that he boiled is coolant and set the brake pads on fire!



We then set off for the infamous A4069 as seen on Top Gear, Evo Magazine, Autocar, Fifth Gear etc etc. This had been the main influence for our trip.

We avoided the very busy main roads and stuck to the back lanes, where we came across another reservoir...



And ben did his best Parkour impression...



Heading up the A4069 was brilliant. Traffic wasnt too heavy and the sun was shining so you could see for miles. Reaching the top gave some amazing views...



We drove it a few times before heading along to another stopping place for some photos.





The bikers were out in force and enjoying the sun. The sound of superbikes and supermotos was echoing around the hills...



While this photo was taken, bens MX5 made a bid for freedom, ben having put the handbrake on with hot hot hot brakes. This resulted in quite possibly the most amusing photo i've seen in a while!





Luckily it was only a ditch and not a cliff!



We then decided that due to the nice weather a beach trip would definitely be ideal, so we ended the day by travelling down to porthcawl for an icecream and some sun.





340 miles, 13 hours and 63 litres of fuel later we arrived back in bath, all ready for a good nights sleep and full of good stories!

The End

[mk14dr]

Ace.
Those road look like loads of fun, and the views spectacular.
The good weather has awoken my itch for random driving, I just hope it holds until I get paid.

[feliciacombi]

Hang on....did i see....i cant remember what they are called......they are like chaps...but not like chaps....got 2 bumps on the front......girls or something?

don't often see them on here!!!!!!!

Excellent roadtrip there

[carlb1970]

brilliant matey, thats the way to spend a sunday

[Adam]

It was an excellent way to spend a day, definitely a top memorable experience. The young lady is my girlfriend katy, who enjoyed the scenery but not so much the big drops, sharp corners and jumps

[BenzBoy]

Great write-up Adam! Some stunning scenery and roads, it really inspires me to get out there and do some driving.

[smithy13]

They are a lot of the routes we use on our monthly rr meets.

Great right up and great pics, wish I could of joined you!

[rmad]

I was driving about on those roads on Sunday morning too, sadly I was in a Prius.

[DarrenW]

Fantastic!

I was in North Wales in Sunday, driving around and enjoying the roads in the sunshine


Blue Renault Kangoo Van overlooking Lake Bala in North Wales by retromotoring, on Flickr

I saw a convoy of 30ish BMW Z4s, which was very random, and about half a dozen Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts blatting along, which was great ;D

[Seth]

Good times. Great to see people ignoring the fuel prices and getting out to enjoy their cars still.

I took this photo on the A 4067, (parallel with the 4069 but a bit further to the East) in '09

[armour]

Looked like a great day out, love the white Mazda

[paulie]

Some roads there are close to me,nice photos and write up

[Adam]

Apr 13, 2011 9:36:56 GMT armour said:

Looked like a great day out, love the white Mazda

It sounds even better than it looks

[dungbug]

Sounds like a perfect day out.

[feliciacombi]

Wish more people got out like this

[Mad Max]

That road looks fablong! I must drive it... plus I'm also loving the whole random roadtrip thing. We used to do a very subdued version where my mate dave would just shout left or right when the mood took him, we called them magical mystery tours. Strangely we always ended up in Cowdale... anyway great writeup and pics, looks like you had some great weather and a few laughs!

[Adam]

I'm really glad we managed to get out and do it. I'm pretty sure than in a years time even small road trips like that would be too expensive for us students. Over the weekend petrol went up 2p here