Rich's Amazing Wales Road Trip 2013

[RichwiththeS2000]

nta16 said:

really sorry Rich I've confused you by saying about Pandy - you've put it a diversion off the A470 at Llanbrynmair on the road passed another village called Pandy on to join the A458 to rejoin the A470

I don't know if I've ever been on that (other village of Pandy) road so can't say if it's any good

sorry about confusing you

the Pandy I meant is next to Llanuwchllyn, near Llyn Tegrid

that Pandy isn't shown by Google but is on my road atlas (perhaps it's in the wrong place om my map?)

Ah - no worries. I've updated day 2 route again to remove the diversion to the "wrong pandy" and for us to look Lake Bala after all. As we'e going up passed Llanuwchllyn and Llyn Tegrid I will keep an eye out and if we see the "Real Pandy" we can take a detour!

(I couldn't find the Real Pandy on google maps, could be inaccurate maps of the area..)

In fairness the routes are a guideline and on the day if/when we spot some nice diversions it will be nice to do a bit of exploring anyway rather than sticking to a strict itinerary

Cheers

[RichwiththeS2000]

hoyin said:

Rich

Well done with getting all this setup.

Everyone who is contributing thank you for your valuable input.

I am getting very excited about this road trip! I cannot wait.

Just a quick note - personally I prefer nice twisty roads and lovely scenery rather than going fast speeds.

No problem! I'm the same, I'm not setting this trip up to lose my license by doing silly speeds but will enjoy the twisty bits and the awesome views most

As well as the video/photography parts.

What I'll do is print out itinerary for each day and hand them out, with co-ordinates for peoples sat navs, and basic directions. That way if anyone wants to speed off and do their own thing we can easily all catch up with each other at one of the points.

As mentioned before I may well do a few sections of the best roads a couple of times in order to get some nice video clips! Totally understand if people aren't interested in being part of that and want to carry on although it's a nice time to let the cars cool down, have a chat, see how everyone's doing and generally break the days up a bit as well as getting some nice clips for a movie

[RichwiththeS2000]

Ah ok, well I'll leave them as they are for now and may add the The Penybontfawr to Bala stretch topalwaysdown mentioned back in to the day 2 route / remember to have a quick detour down there when we get to it

[RichwiththeS2000]

That looks like a great little section!

Really looking forward to this

[RichwiththeS2000]

2 week countdown / bump!

Anyone wanting to attend who has not booked some accommodation yet I'd advise you do so now!

I'm pretty happy with the route now, after some valued input on here I think its a great tour that will take us down some awesome roads! Looking forward to meeting everyone too


Next week I will make some print outs available for download of each days route, with the key points and sat nav co ordinates. I'll try to keep them simple though and provide an outline as it's not fun to be worrying about a list of directions while trying to drive.

I'll also pick a meeting point at a services on the M4, and try to find a good point (probably a petrol station) near the start of the Brecon Beacons so we can fuel up and meet anyone else who didn't make the M4 stop.

[RichwiththeS2000]

Hi,

No worries. I'm staying for 2 nights at the Giler arms - camping. Friday and Saturday night.

When I release the final plans I'll have morning meet and leave times for the Saturday and Sunday so that people staying else where can join.

[RichwiththeS2000]

Not got that far exactly yet mate but will be around 10am somewhere near the Giler. Maybe Bewts Y Coed as there is a shell garage there!

Stay tuned though, will have a full plan up for each day some point next week

[RichwiththeS2000]

Awesome! I've just got a monopod to hold my main camera to get some nice drive bys and stuff with, and a windscreen mount to use my phone as a poor-mans dash cam

[RichwiththeS2000]

Hi Ganan,

That could be a nice idea - probably the Saturday evening would work best as we will need to find somewhere to stop for dinner! There's the possibility we could go into Betws-Y-Coed for food as it's a nice little town with a few restaurants/pubs. It's also near Snowdon and the Evo Triangle.

It's hard to gauge timings exactly though so it might be best if I give you a call or text on the Saturday at some point when we know more likely when and where we could meet for food. There's also the chance we might discover somewhere good for dinner along the way as well so again it's probably best to play it by ear and if we can arrange something we will! Failing that I'm sure you'd be welcome to visit the Giler Arms camp site on the Saturday evening and join us for a couple of drinks and maybe an evening run around the triangle?

Drop me a PM with your number and we'll see if we can sort something out!

[RichwiththeS2000]

^

All cars are welcome mate, I dont discriminate!

Maybe hang near the back if you think you might hold people up but as before its not a race/rally stage its to enjoy the twisty bits, awesome scenery and get some nice pics and vids of our cars in a nice environment! When you spend most of your time in a built up town the thought of just getting a bit of space to do that is pretty amazing in itself

[RichwiththeS2000]

Hey, a camera car - there's an idea!

If you can take a tool kit that could be a good plan, just encase. I know the boot on my S2k is going to be struggling as it is

[RichwiththeS2000]

OK guys, the routes have been finalised now! Thanks to everyone who contributed tips for the route.

I've updated the first post and added a link to a PDF which contains directions and timings (including convoy meeting points) which can be found here:
http://www.gtxm.org/public/Wales%20Road%20Trip%202...

Hopefully that should include everything you need!


Cheers
Rich

[RichwiththeS2000]

We'll have to keep an eye on this, I think we should be OK though, obviously if we start knocking on the door of a quarter of a tank left and happen to be in the arse-end of no where it might be worth seeing if a detour is in order to find a station! (at which point we can enjoy the "Wales Hyper Miler challenge 2013"

[RichwiththeS2000]

hoyin said:

What is this mpg people talk about.

Never heard of it. Sounds like a myth to me!

:-p

I will transfer the route to an ITN file for those using tomtom over the weekend.

That would be great

[RichwiththeS2000]

nta16 said:

. a cultural note – Rhandirmwyn is pronounced Rhandi – wymin so if you can’t find what you’re looking for ask anyone in the area and they’ll be able to direct you

Noted.

Thanks for the tips! Really looking forward to this now, should be a lot of fun

[RichwiththeS2000]

Bugger. The iPhone TomTom app doesn't support .itn files! So I've gone and added some key points as "favorites" on my phone which I'll need to manually switch on if I get lost.

If anyone has a spare walkie I'd be happy to grab it and try it in my car but not sure how much I'll hear with the roof down!

[RichwiththeS2000]

Thanks! This is the first PH meet I've been to so looking forward to meeting everyone too

Could anyone planning to meet us at the Cheievely services or Murco meeting points on Day 1 let me know please? Just so we know who to wait for / watch out for! Name + the car you'll be in would be handy!

[RichwiththeS2000]

Thanks chaps

Will be making a list of everyone so hopefully we won't miss anyone off! My numbers up on the FB group if you've not got it already!

Looks like we are due a bit of rain over the weekend but it should just be the odd shower and not spoil the fun!

[RichwiththeS2000]

Will do ^

The forecast did say showers but seems to be improving as time goes on so I'm quietly confident we should be OK!

Looking forward to meeting everyone :]

[RichwiththeS2000]

It was a brilliant trip and I'm glad everyone had a good time! In the next couple of days I'll PM you guys a place where you can upload any video clips you'd like included in the final movie. For pics, just stick them on photobucket and share here or post to the FB group if you use it!

Thanks to everyone who took part, I really enjoyed the roads and meeting everyone and will definitely be doing it again!