Dragon Rally 2005

Not everything we do is off-road competition. Occasionally some of us go and do something else equally daft. Last weekend, myself, Kev, Glen and his workmate Dave went camping for the weekend. In Snowdonia. On our bikes. This is our annual trek to the Dragon Rally, not a rally like the Hafren or Cambrian, just a normal bike rally.

We left home on Saturday morning in relatively warm dry weather and made our way to Leominster where we met up with Dave. From there we had a very pleasant ride across country through Welshpool and Bala, and on to Cerrig-y-Drudion on the A5 where we found the rally site. Getting into the campsite was a bit tricky after all the recent rain, so perhaps this event isn't too different to an off-road rally, it's just the balance is more towards beer drinking than riding off-road!!

As we had arrived about 1pm, we pitched our tents and then went off into Betws-y-Coed for a bite to eat, followed by a scenic tour of the mountains down to Blaenau Ffestiniog and back round to the campsite. And very pretty it was too.

Then it was time for a few beers, in a barn to the sounds of a folk band - very 'traditional'. We must all be showing our age now, Glen wouldn't let us go to bed before 10 - "it's too embarrassing to crash out before then". Not that anyone got a full night's kip, as the wind continued to howl across the open hillside where we were camped. At least all our tents stayed up unlike some poor souls.

About 7am on Sunday it was light enough for me to see my map, and I started to plan a nice interesting route home. Then it started snowing. It was only showers, but enough to choose the route for us - straight home on the A5. So that was it, we left about 10, stopped in a Little Chef for breakfast and arrived home just after 1.

Daft it maybe, but it breaks up the monotony of the winter months and is always good for a few laughs.