A Day of Two Halves

[King Rat]

Yesterday was a day of two halves. Beautiful run down to Bristol, it was scorchio by the time I got there, so much so Mark, the site manager, and I were in shirt sleeves to suss out the site for boat launching. I was only in Bristol until about 11.00 and had to open all the vents on my riding jacket to stop me from sweating even at 60mph! I got through to Pyle, between Swansea and Porthcawl, and showed Gerald how to put it up and the various features of it, he is off on a big trip around Europe with it in a fortnight. We were still under the sun at this stage and I set off up through the valleies to Treorchy. The valley road is good, but the hill out of Treorchy is proper switchback hairpins up the side of the mountain, what is left of it from quarrying and mining. Then on to Bwlch mountain, where the thunder started. Deep joy. I put my waterproof trousers on but both they and my top of the range KLIM jacket couldn't deal with the downpours I encountered. My Altberg boots though, a bit damp around the top where the capillary action from my trousers wicked down but my feet were bone dry, everything else was as wet as if I had stepped into a shower, but I wasn't cold so pressed on...... until somewhere just outside Builth Wells, where I parked the bike under a yew tree and I dived into a barn for cover, sharing it with several families of swallows who were also sheltering from the absolutely torrential rain. I haven't seen rain like that since monsoon time in India.
I waited the worst of it, dripping from the cuffs and bottom of the jacket, tee shirt and rugger shirt were drenched underneath, so I daren't take it off, instead got going again as the worst had passed. All the way to Newtown it thundered and chucked it down at me, seeing required total concentration with an open face helmet, the rain stung constantly but I had to press on. The A483 is a lovely road normally but in this, every inside of the corner was flooded, the sides were flooded and between Newtown and Welshpool it was at its height of the storm - there were cars stranded in the middle of the road, flooded and stopped. The standing water was up to my cylinders at times but the old girl got me through. I left home at 06.30 and got home at 21.30 after a really testing 500 miles (507 to be exact) with 150 of those miles through those constant thunderstorms. I stripped off and went had a shower to warm me up then the shivers set in... it took a towelling robe with a fleecy robe over that and hot bean bags and plenty of hot coffee with some Bailey's in it to get me sorted. But, I loved it, fighting the elements and winning - I can still do it and so can the old GS!

 

[KMD]

I hate that feeling, when you are absolutely soaked through to the skin and are still in the middle of where you’ve been and where you are going!

 

[King Rat]

The sun is out, my gear is drying off.... rooky mistake. The Klim jacket only leaked because I had left one of the big, side vents open. I will still blame the jacket though, even though it isn't its fault.