Day 2 - Sunday 13th: Bristol - Wales - Cat & Fiddle

Starting from our overnight stop in Bristol, with the Old Severn Bridge closed, the route took us via M4 before heading via Abergavenny, Brecon and Builth Wells to our rendezvous point at Crossgates, just North of Llandrindod Wells.

We met up with IAM groups from South Wales and the Midlands, as well as lots of other biking groups just out enjoying the fine weather. The eclectic mix of bikes at the rendezvous included two nicely restored Norton Internationals,


and a 5-litre V-8 powered by an American Ford engine, that sounded incredible:

A team of four riders from Congleton Advanced Motorcyclists, led by Graham and Hamish

then led us up through North Wales and Shropshire to Cheshire and the illustrious Cat and Fiddle run from Macclesfied to Buxton.

The run through Cheshire took us right past Jodrell Bank - which seemed a fitting image for this Blog - as we are trying to communicate with the world about our events and the need to raise funds, Jodrell Bank is listening to communications from the rest of the world


The morning's sunshine deserted us, and severe rain accompanied us most of the afternoon. The Cat and Fiddle run was completed in cloud, with water several inches deep creating extra, unexpected hazards in places, to add to the notoriety of the road. From the Cat and Fiddle itself, the view was of nothing but cloud


The final leg brought us to Manchester - Trafford Park specifically, with an early start tomorrow morning to take us to Windermere via Hawes Creamery - home of Wensleydale, and these days an homage to Wallace and Grommit. Something to look forward to, in hopefully better weather than today. The BBC 5 day forecast tonight is for a good week, dominated by high pressure until Friday, so fingers crossed for a good run. And hopefully we can work out a way of restoring the photo service.