It seems I can’t get away from Wales this year! When my best mate said he wanted to take a holiday away from the Italian summer heat we both agreed a five-day tour of Wales was just the ticket—two nights in Brecon and and two in Snowdonia in Northern Wales.
Due to its aluminium panniers, greater payload capacity and more versatile 50/50 tyres, my F800GS was the perfect machine for the job. Fed arrived in the evening on 24 July and by 10:30pm we’d fully packed everything in the bike, ready to set off first thing the next morning—in fact everything fit within the panniers save for pillows and extra blankets (a little luxury goes a long way) which easily fit in my waterproof Overboard bags strapped onto the panniers, and paperwork/electronics in the tank bag. Total weight, including us and our gear came in at 20 kg below the payload capacity of the bike, which meant the bike felt light on its feet, and, more importantly, was safe throughout the trip—an overloaded bike is not a happy bike!
I’ve previously said pretty much all there is to say about motorbiking in Wales—that is, I absolutely love the beautiful scenery combined with very little traffic—so I will let the photos tell the story.
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| Fed relaxes next to a stream in the Brecon Beacons |
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| Stream in the Breacon Beacons |
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| On the dales |
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| Set up and ready for a sleep! |
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| Doesn’t look steep... was very steep |
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| On the way up to Llyn y Fan Fach—rain wouldn’t stop! |
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| View from Dinefwr Castle |
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| Dinefwr Castle |
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| Dinefwr Castle |
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| Morning coffee |
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| Ready to set off to Snowdonia! |
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| Stream near Nantmor |
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| Stream near Nantmor |
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| B&B near Nantmor |
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| Snowdon Base Camp |
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| Dock overlooking Llyn Cwellyn |
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| All set up at Snowdon Base Camp |
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| More grey skies but the F800GS is ready as always |
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| Pub dinner at the Cwellyn Arms—leg of lamb, so delicious! |
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| Fed’s dinner at the Cwellyn Arms—pork belly with red cabbage |
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| Holy Trinity Church, Penrhyndeudraeth |
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| Holy Trinity Church, Penrhyndeudraeth |
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| View from restaurant in Harlech |
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| Beach near Llandanwg |
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| Road towards Nantlle |
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| Finally some sun at Snowdon Base Camp! |
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| Preparing potato and leek soup |
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| Llyn Cwellyn at sunset |
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| Llyn Cwellyn at sunset |
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A4086 towards Capel Curig—the mountains won’t shame the
Rockies but these are among the largest in the UK |
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| One last stop at the Land Rover factory in Solihull on the way home |
