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Ponderosa And Llanberis Day Out 2012 - By Ren Withnell
TMQ sent me a message via faceache, "I'm off Friday. Fancy a plod somewhere??", to which I replied in the positive. A cunning a devious plan was formed which involved a ride to the Ponderosa cafe on the Horseshoe Pass and then on to "Electric Mountain". He threatened me with radio communications between the bikes and a tour round an amazing feat of engineering. When I saw the weather forecast all I could think about was cold icy rain and slippery roads.
For those who may not know, the Ponderosa cafe is a large cafe on top of a hill about 10 miles East of Wrexham. It's a popular stop off point for bikers venturing into and out of North Wales and all the beauty in the area. The Electric Mountain is a marketing name given to a power station at Dinorwic/Dinorwig (English/Welsh). It's quite unlike other power stations in that excess electricity in the grid is used to pump water from a low lying reservoir to a high reservoir. Then when demand is high the water runs back down to the lower reservoir through massive turbines to create energy. This is particularly useful for high usage spikes such as half time during an England match.
So I find myself at Tom's house, a mere mile or so from mine on a clear and cold morning, so far the slight chance of rain seems very slight indeed. Our first stop is back at my house. In a worrying turn of events my organisational skills are failing me and I have forgotten (again) my tank bag which contains my phone, camera and wallet. After that we both fuel up. This all takes what seems like 5 minutes but has eaten a good hour before we hit the road, with the nights drawing in early at this time of year this means we really ought to be pressing on.
To get to Wales the motorway is the obvious answer. They're as dull as dishwater but unless time is very much on your side they're the only way to get somewhere relatively quickly. After a little filtering on the M61 I'm happy to cruise with the traffic along the M62 and M56. I don't know if TMQ is though, I've never ridden with him before. He assures me he's not a fast rider but that's all relative. I'm fast compared to a novice on a 50cc moped, TMQ might be slow compared to a Moto GP champion, hell I don't know. As we reach the end of the M56 he overtakes and leads me around the Chester ring road. Not too fast, up on my usual leisurely pace though.
I have been to the Ponderosa before but both times I found it by accident rather than design. TMQ's got his fancy dancy sat-nav and that is guiding him much to my relief. We twist and turn through country roads and the odd small town for a few miles then we start to climb up hill, I figure we're getting close, it's a good job, I'm bursting for the loo and my fingers are starting to hurt now in the cold blast. Another mile or so of damp corners and sunshine in my eyes sees TMQ getting a little bit ahead of me. Slow rider, yeah right.
The Ponderosa on a cold bright November morning. Time to eat...
The Pondy, as it's affectionately known, comes into view and we turn in to the sunkist but still damp car park. There's a couple of other bikes and cars but otherwise it's quiet. Inside we take our gear off and TMQ comments on just how cold it is. I am cold, not shiveringly so but my fingers ache a little as the warm blood returns to them. It comes as a great relief to visit the gentleman's boudoir. We soak up the warmth and enjoy some breakfast with hot tea, TMQ looks at me with disgust as I pour sugar and lots of milk into my tea. He drinks manly tea, mine's baby tea.
Before we leave TMQ disappears, I presume he's gone to the little boy's room. He returns sporting a new "Ponderosa" jumper in the hope it will keep him a little warmer. Outside I take a few pictures then zip up tight before we set off. The sun shines upon us but at this time of year the rays barely warm our bodies and don't dry the roads out. We head down through the Horseshoe Pass, an impressive "C" shape in the road around the hillside edge of a small valley. I can still feel the bike slither beneath me and I treat each corner with the utmost respect.
A few miles later TMQ hesitates, indicates, hesitates then takes a turn to the right into what appears to be a minor road. A hundred yards later he stops so I roll up beside him. He tells me we should have carried on but sat-nav was giving him confusing signals, we should turn around. No! No, not at all, I'll hear nothing of the sort. This is what I love, the small, empty and unknown back roads that lead to who knows where. I sense he's unsure but agrees and we carry on down the narrow and often gritty or muddy lane.
We twist and turn and rise and fall. There's the odd farmhouse or country cottage, there's a gorgeous river swolled by the recent rains, waterlogged fields in the shadow of remote hills and it's all bathed in the low autumn sun. It really is quite pretty. The lane itself is not so good, the centre of the narrow track is covered in leaves, grit, dirt and occasionally established grass. I need to concentrate on the surface when all I want to do is take in the views, it's annoying but you don't get these kind of views along a clean smooth and managed main road. Right now I'm wishing I was on my old SLR 650 big trailie thing.
The swollen river bursting it's banks. What a magical lane this is.
We stop halfway up a hillside to get some snaps and take it all in then a mile or so later we just bump into a main road. Sat-nav has by now stopped telling TMQ to turn around and recalculated the route so off we go again, presumably in the right direction. In fact before long I see signs that we're on the A5, right slap bang back on track. We're going in the right direction, unlike the weather. There's some big nasty grey clouds menacing above us and I can just "feel" that there may be rain ahead. Surely enough little drops appear on the visor and they soon become big regular drops.
"Lo and behold!" I point out the obvious scenery as TMQ takes the picture with my camera.
We're actually a still a fair few miles from Electric Mountain and I'm starting to get quite wet and the tank bag needs moving into the back box otherwise my phone will fry. TMQ must have read my mind as he pulls into a layby. I get out my big bright yellow florescent overjacket and put it on and put the tank bag full of electricals into the dry back box, I'm much happier. With my overjacket on I'm now wearing...here we go...a t shirt, a jumper, a lumberjack shirt, a cordura bike jacket, a leather cut-off and finally the overjacket. I relish the warm, padded, tight, secure feeling of six layers as the rain taps on my visor and the tyres splash throuth the rain.
We fuel up at Betws-Y-Coed, I can barely move to reach my cash but I don't care, I'm snug as a bug in a rug. The road rolls on and the rain comes and goes, the road is no longer damp but very wet. I still find little to take confidence in through the bends and I'm getting a little frustrated as TMQ seems to just glide around them. We climb and climb the road to Llanberis, stopping for a moment to admire the views. It is a magnificent area and the valley below us looks lost, harsh, cruel and most inhospitable. I take a few more pictures, I love feeling like a wild adventurer although the passing cars and a tourist bus kind of takes the sense of discovery away somewhat.
TMQ looking out over the bleak moorlands on the Llanberis road.
Electric Mountain, or the power station visitor centre in Llanberis, comes into view and no matter how warm and secure I feel in my many layers, I'm ready for another rest, toilet break and some more hot tea. I'm also curious to see what the whole place is about. Is there a guided tour? Can we just wander around? Will they let me play with the controls? Can I see the water gushing through the turbines? More importantly, will it be open? It is mid November and the tourist season is far behind us. Only real bikers with 6 layers of clothing would come here at this time of year, I can tell you.
I think TMQ is only wearing 5 layers, he looks cold. It's open! Yey! The next guided tour is Saturday, No! It seems the tours only run during the week through the holiday period. Understandable, but TMQ's quite disappointed and possibly a little embarrassed, after all that was the ultimate purpose of the trip. We can walk around the visitor shop and use the loo and have a drink in the cafe, but no tour. I'm a little let down but I'm not bothered, there's always another day. Right now all I need is hot tea and the relief of a urinal. That's what I get, even better TMQ's paying and there's a Twix thrown in too. I'm as happy as larry just sitting here talking about work, life, power stations and tourists while our jackets drip little puddles onto the cafe floor.
Tom say's "Get a picture from the front". I say "No Tom, it's OK" Upon reflection, maybe he was right. The SIDE of the Electric Mountain Visitor Centre.
Looking at the clock, the weather and how far we've yet to travel to get back home I think missing the tour will be no bad thing. It's getting on for 1400 and it'll be dark by 1630 I reckon. Don't get me wrong, TMQ's mummy has given him an after dark pass but we roughty toughty bikers get a little frightened of the bad people in the dark. That and the cold. Still, we'll just hop onto the A55 and it's a straight simple run along a dual carriageway then motorway. There shouldn't be too many bogeymen if we follow that route.
As we approach a roundabout, clearly signpost A55 to the left, TMQ signals left, hesitates, wobbles, turns right then indicates. I'm confused, but not as confused as the transit van who's path we've cut across, unannounced. We're heading back towards Betws-Y-Coed. Ho well not to worry, it's just another interesting magic detour. In Bethesda TMQ pulls over and explains sat-nav was having another funny turn, but we can get home this way. I concur, and laugh to myself, looks like it'll be dark before we get to the motorway.
It's already a little dark. The rain's stopped but the clouds are still leaden and heavy, I wonder if we'll get even wetter yet somehow I just don't feel like we will. TMQ's making solid progress down through the vast valleys, I'm still a little frustrated at his pace through the bends, or more accurately my lack of pace through the bends. It's me, it must be, well it could be TMQ has better tyres, yes, that'll be it, well no, I'm never any good in the rain, seen to many oil slicks, slipped on too many leaves, aquaplaned once or twice, yeah, perhaps TMQ's not had the miles I have to know the pitfalls. Who am I kidding, I'm just crap in the wet. Deal with it Ren will ya.
We get stopped at a set of road work lights just after Betws-Y-Coed, I pull alongside TMQ and suggest we take the Denbigh road. He just waves me on, I'm leading now. I spot the Denbigh road turning and take it. I first rode this road what must be 15 years ago, in the other direction on a CB 400 super four grey import with my mother on the back. I loved it then and I'm loving it today. It climbs and falls then climbs some more through empty sodden moorland and across lonesome open plains. It twists and turns from time to time past empty waterlogged fields and remote cold farmsteads. Today it looks bleak, uninviting and even though we're but a few miles from Denbigh I feel isolated apart from TMQ's light behind me.
Denbigh passes and I pick up signs for the A55 again. I consider leading us westbound through Mold and more countryside roads, but I'm getting tired and I can see the light is starting to fade. No, the A55 is the best option, for me at least. As we get closer the road gets busier and traffic soon forces the speeds down and by the time we join the A55 at St Asaph I am ready for another break to warm up, tea up and empty out the bladder. On the A55 we get up to a legal cruising speed and I look for somewhere to stop.
We pull off into a Little Chef services, still some way before the end of the A55 and the start of the motorways. We've still a fair few miles to cover and I know I can't go much further without wetting myself. Inside we get a brew and warm ourselves. I mention the wet corners and how TMQ seems comfortable on them. He doesn't comment at all on my lack of pace, either he didn't notice, is being polite or is quite happy to ease off and follow. We do discuss tyres, he reckons his current fitment is the bee knees. Maybe it is tyres, I'm too tight to change mine until they're worn out to see if I'm right.
The motorway ride home is predictably but happily dull and uneventful. No crashes, no being cut up or carved, just a long slow steady trundle from Chester to Manchester, a bit of queuing around the M60 then a short blast back to the comfort of TMQ's living room and another cup of warm tea. We've covered 260 miles, not bad considering it's been a cold, wet and grim mid November Friday. We didn't get to see the power station tour but we did get to see some of the Welsh splendor bathed in sunshine before the rain. We also drank lots of tea, mine weak and sweet, TMQ's strong and dark and talked a lot. Those are the things I like to do alongside riding a bike. TMQ summed it up perfectly when he said "I could have been sat in the office, working, this is so much better"
Reader's Comments
Tom McQ said :-
Had a great day out - and the dodgy satnav made the route more interesting than it might otherwise have been. No idea why it played up, but hey ho! We'll have to do it again when the Electric Mountain tours restart in Easter.
In the meantime, I'm sure there's plenty more little ventures we can look forward to :-)
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
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